The story of the Beothuk, the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland, is tragic. Their population steadily declined with the influx of European settlement in the 1700s and by 1829 Shanawdithit, the last of the Beothuk, had died. Conflict with other native groups and disease played a role in their demise, but it was “ruthlessness and brutality” by the English that ultimately led to their extinction. The outcome of twenty years of research, this award-winning book illuminates the origins, history, and fate of the Beothuk.
