Aichmudyim: Beothuk word for devil.
Beothuks: An extinct First Nations people of the island of Newfoundland who were Algonquian-speaking hunter-gatherers. They may have been the aboriginal people referred to as skraelings in the Vikings’ sagas, and if so, were first encountered by Europeans around the early eleventh century. After the voyage to Newfoundland in 1497 of the Italian John Cabot, who was in the employ of the English, European contact with the Beothuks increased greatly as the white man’s fishing stations, fur trapping, and then settlements spread throughout the island. Early European settlers and trappers called the Beothuks “Red Indians” because of the red ochre the aboriginal people covered their bodies with. Eventually, this term was applied to First Nations people in general, even those to whom red ochre had no cultural significance whatsoever. The Beothuks probably never numbered much more than a couple of thousand people, but by the late eighteenth century their population had dwindled to likely a few hundred at best. The reduction in numbers was probably due to a number of factors, including lack of resistance to European diseases such as tuberculosis, increasingly fierce competition with Europeans for traditional sources of food such as fish and game, and ever more violent encounters with European settlers. The woman Shanawdithit, who died in 1829 of tuberculosis, is said to have been the last Beothuk, though some say a few Beothuks may have survived and intermarried with other First Nations people.
Birchbark: The bark of the paper birch tree is a strong and water-resistant cardboard-like substance that can be easily cut, bent, and sewn. To First Nations people, voyageurs, and early European settlers, it was valuable as a building, crafting, and writing material. Today birchbark remains popular for various handicrafts and arts. Birchbark also contains substances of medicinal and chemical interest.
Consumption: See Tuberculosis.
Cormorant: A medium to large coastal seabird commonly found throughout most of the world.
Drona: Beothuk word for hair.
Ebanthoo: Beothuk word for water.
Great Auk: A flightless, web-footed, extinct black-and-white bird that was once found in great numbers on islands off Canada’s East Coast and in Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain. The bird became extinct by the middle of the nineteenth century.
Kittiwake: A type of gull widely dispersed in North America and Europe, the kittiwake’s name is derived from its distinctive call.
Mamateek: Beothuk word for dwelling.
Moosin: Beothuk word for moccasin or shoe.
Murre: Largely found in North America and Europe, this seabird congregates and breeds in noisy colonies on islands, rocky shores, cliffs, and sea stacks.
Odeman: Beothuk word for red ochre.
Osweet: Beothuk word for caribou.
Paushee: Beothuk word for birchbark.
Red Ochre: A pigment extracted from iron oxide clay deposits in Newfoundland, red ochre was a substance that held great significance in the culture of the Beothuks, who used it to coat their implements, their bodies, and the remains of their dead. The colour red played an important role in Beothuk tribal identity. Forcing disgraced band members to remove the pigment was viewed as a very serious punishment. It is quite likely that the red hue also had spiritual overtones for Beothuks. The extensive use of red ochre caused Europeans to name the Beothuks “Red Indians.”
Schooner: A ship with two or more masts, the foremast being smaller than the other masts.
Tabus: Beothuk word for rules or rituals.
Tilt: A term in Newfoundland that refers to a temporary shelter such as a cabin or shack.
Tuberculosis: A highly infectious bacterial disease, often called consumption in previous times, tuberculosis is characterized by tubercles (small, rounded swellings or lesions) in the body’s organs, especially the lungs. Once a disease that plagued much of the world, including North America, tuberculosis is still a major problem in many developing countries and has seen a resurgence even in places where it had almost been eradicated, though antibiotics and vaccines are now available to combat it. However, new, drug-resistant strains of the disease continue to manifest themselves. It is estimated today that more than fifteen million people in the world have active tuberculosis and that approximately two million people die of the disease each year.
Winterhousing: The tradition in Newfoundland of moving to sheltered homesteads in winter.