Demasduit biography
Demasduit biography wikipedia
Demasduit biography book!
Connect with Connexions
Demasduit
Demasduit (c. 1796 - January 8, 1820) was a Beothuk woman, one of the last of her people on the island of Newfoundland.
Biography
Demasduit was born c.
1796, near the end of the 18th century.
Demasduit biography
By this time, the Beothuk population had been greatly reduced from the numbers that lived in Newfoundland prior to the arrival of Europeans. European fishermen established fishing stations at the mouths of the rivers and in the bays, which had sustained the Beothuk during the summers.
These fishing stations, which were then followed by permanent settlements, cut the Beothuk off from their sources of food. Unequal conflicts erupted periodically, leading to deaths among the Beothuk, who did not have access to guns.
Further pressure came from Micmac, also armed with guns, who came over from Nova Scotia to hunt in traditional Beothuk territory. The result of the pressures, which also included the arrival of European diseases, was a drastic decline in the B