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Chapter 5: Beothuk Myths of Human Origins and Afterlife

 

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Introduction

The Beothuk

Notes

Questions

 

Introduction

When humans become conscious of their own existence, they find themselves in a world that has existed and been inhabited for millennia. Many people expect their own life and the world to continue after their death. There are countless sacred writings and myths-dynamic and sometimes supernatural narratives-that seek answers to questions like these:

• How was the world created?
• How did humans come into being?
• What happens to us after we die?

Different faith traditions give different answers to these questions. You read some of those answers on pages 157-158 of Who Am I? In these pages, we will look at how the Beothuk answered these questions.

 

Fig. 1: Shanawdithit, the last known survivor of the Beothuk
( Originally published in THE MISSION FIELD , Vol. 1, 1856).

 

 

 

The Beothuk

The small Aboriginal population inhabiting the island of Newfoundland when Europeans arrived were the Beothuk. They belonged to the Algonkian family of Aboriginal Peoples, to whom today's Innu also belong. By the end of the 19th century the Beothuk were extinct. From archaeological discoveries and grave goods we know that the Beothuk, like many other societies, believed in an afterlife. More specific views about their myths were learned from captives such as Oubee, Demasduit, and Shanawdithit. Oubee was captured in 1792, Demasduit in 1819, and Shanawdithit in 1823. From interviews with these women it appears that the sun and the moon, which were ever-present but mysteriously unreachable, were objects of special veneration. There was also a belief in a specific great power who created the world and an opposing evil figure

 

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Fig. 2: Beothuk Black Man or Devil, drawn by Shanawdithit

Image courtesy of Hans Rollmann

 

   William Sweetland, a magistrate in Bonavista Bay, interviewed Shanawdithit when she lived in St. John's about Beothuk beliefs. When asked about her tribe's origin, Shanawdithit is said to have answered that "'the Voice' told them that they sprang from an arrow or arrows stuck in the ground." (1) Ingeborg Marshall, the leading authority on the Beothuk, notes that this idea is similar to the creation myth of the Montagnais of Labrador who may actually have been relatives of the Beothuk, and who according to Shanawdithit associated with them. The explorer Champlain was told by Montagnais that "after God had made all things, he took a number of arrows and did stick them into the ground, from whence men and women grew." (2)

 

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Fig. 3: Staves of possible ceremonial use, drawn by Shanawdithit
Image courtesy of Hans Rollmann

 

   Likewise, Shanawdithit believed that the individual survived death. In fact, after death, the spirits were said to have remained with the living. Shanawdithit is reported to have often talked aloud with her dead mother and sister.
   Another notion associated with life after death was that there was a happy island in the distant west, also termed "the country of the good spirit," where Beothuk would continue to hunt, fish, and enjoy themselves even after their death. William E. Cormack, who took care of Shanawdithit in St. John's, remarked that this happy afterlife depended on actions and behaviour during one's life. Shanawdithit told Cormack: "If the Beothuks made peace and talked with the white men which belonged to the bad spirit, or with the Mic-maks, who also belonged to the bad spirit, they would not, after they died, go to the happy island." (3)

 

Fig. 4: Statue/Doll from a Beothuk grave

   Marshall thinks that the grave goods and miniature tools and utensils found in Beothuk graves support the belief that the afterlife continues like the life lived here on Earth. Perhaps the notion of sleep in earthly life had led the Beothuk to the notion that death was only a form of sleep. Indeed, the Beothuk word for sleep is also used for death. (4)

 

 

Notes:

1. James P. Howley, The Beothucks or Red Indians: The Aboriginal Inhabitants of Newfoundland (Toronto: Coles [facsimile reprint of the 1915 Cambridge University Press edition], 1980), 252

2. Ingeborg Marshall, A History and Ethnography of the Beothuk (Montreal & Kingston, London, Buffalo: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996), 383.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

 

 

Questions

1. How did the Beothuk answer these questions:
   • How was the world created?
   • How did humans come into being?
   • What happens to us after we die?
2. With a partner or in small groups, review the creation stories on pages 157-158 of Who Am I? What similarities can you spot among the various stories? What are some differences?
3. Use your answers to question 1, or choose one of the creation stories on pages 157-158 of Who Am I , to complete one of the following tasks:
   • Write a newspaper article in which you briefly summarize the creation story you choose. Make sure you include
     • what the belief is about;
     • which faith tradition or group of people hold the belief;
     • a description of the belief.

OR

Illustrate the creation story you chose using coloured pencils, paints, pastels, or other method of your choosing. Be prepared to explain how the creation story you chose is embodied in your artwork.