Map a-day-in May (a thirty-one cabinet display) Shanawthitit
Born in Newfoundland in 1801, Shawnadithit's childhood with her Beothuk tribe was cut short as she witnessed her own people intentionally driven to extinction by the British Marines. She survived against all odds and "eventually became known as the last "full-blooded" member of her tribe, the last Beothuk left to tell her people's stories. In her twenties, Shawnadithit found work as a servant in a white settlement. It was there that the explorer William Cormack, who was working to found a center devoted to Beothuk history, took great anthropological interest in Shawnadithit. After learning English, she recited her tribe's stories to Cormack, however she showed a greater affinity for drawing.
In 1829, Shawnadithit created narrative maps of the lake where her people made camp in central Newfoundland, today the lake is known as Red Indian Lake. Her maps showcase the Beothuk movements and European conflicts from eighteen years prior. The drawings contained incredible geographical accuracy and signified the last accounts of the Beothuk people in Newfoundland. Her stories, maps and beliefs she shared after her devastating childhood have become a symbol of a chapter in Canadian history marked by tragedy.
Map a-day-in May (a thirty-one cabinet display) Shanawthitit
Title : Shanawdithit's Drawings
Creator : Shanawdithit, 1801-1829
Physical Description : negatives
Sketch #4 Last resting place of Beothucks on Badger River.
Negatives of Shanawdithit's drawings in James P. Howley's The Beothucks or Red Indians, the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland. Cambridge: University Press, 1915. The negatives were prepared for the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Title from the section of the same name in Howley's book.
Shanawdithit, The Last of the Beothuk
2003 / Sculpture
In 1823, English furriers captured Demasduit’s niece, Shanawdithit, who lived in St. John’s until her death in 1829 and became legendary as the last of the Beothuk. In Shanawdithit, The Last of the Beothuk, Belmore commemoratively evokes the woman’s presence (and absence) with haunting stone sculptures of her feet and hands, rounded as if worn by water, sensuously connecting her to the land from which she was taken. These objects also suggest traces of ‘primitive’ culture, the artifact-like qualities echoing the anthropological interest Shanawdithit endured.
Heather Anderson, Rebecca Belmore: What Is Said and What Is Done, Carleton University Art Gallery in partnership with
National Gallery of Canada’s Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art, June 2013
Photo credit: Trevor Mills / Vancouver Art Gallery, Justin Wonnacott / CUAG (detail)
Online: https://www.rebeccabelmore.com/shanawdithit-the-last-of-the-beothuk/
A bronze statue of Shanawdithit, the last known Beothuk woman, is located at Boyd's Cove, near the Beothuk Interpretation Centre in Newfoundland. The statue, titled "The Spirit of the Beothuk," was created by artist Gerald Squires and unveiled in 2000. It stands as a memorial to Shanawdithit, who died in 1829.
The statue is a life-sized depiction of Shanawdithit, and it is located in the forest surrounding the interpretation center. The unveiling of the statue coincided with Shanawdithit's recognition as a National Historic Person in 2000. In addition to the statue, a plaque commemorating her life was also unveiled at Bannerman Park in St. John's in 2007.
From: Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador -- Disappearance of the Beothuk https://tinyurl.com/3nvd4p9x
Map a-day-in May (a thirty-one cabinet display)
Shanawthitit The last Beothuk left to tell their stories
More info/links: #cartobibliography tinyurl.com/34hn54c3
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William C. Wonders Map Collection #WCWMC