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In conclusion, I congratulate the institution on the acquisition of several ingenious articles, the manufacture of the Boeothicks, some of which we had the good fortune to discover on our recent excursion; models of their canoes, bows and arrows, spears of different kinds, &c. and also a complete dress worn by that people.
That the Boeothicks were a bold, heroic, self-dependant tribe, few will be disposed to question, when it is remembered that they never courted the friendship of, neither were they ever subdued by, any other tribe, or by Europeans by the combined efforts of both Micmacs and Whites, their numbers were greatly reduced, if not utterly exterminated, but they were never conquered.
The Boeothick has the dipthong sh. the other languages, as before enumerated, have it not. The Boeothicks have no characters to serve as hieroglyphics or letters, but they had a few symbols or signatures. The Boeothicks appear to have shown great respect for their dead, and the most remarkable remains of them commonly observed by Europeans at the sea coasts are their burial places.
"In conclusion, I congratulate the institution on the acquisition of several ingenious articles, the manufacture of the Boeothicks, or Red Indians, some of which we had the good fortune to discover on our recent excursion; models of their canoes, bows and arrows, spears of different kinds, &c.; and also a complete dress worn by that people.
Supposing it possible that such may have been the case, then, it follows that Shaw-na-dith-it may not have been, as many persons have presumed her to be, the last of the Boeothicks.
The language of the Boeothicks, Mr. Cormack is of opinion, is different from all the languages of the neighbouring tribes of Indians with which any comparison has been made. The Boeothick also differs from the Mountaineer or Esquimaux language of Labrador. The Micmac, Mountaineer, and Banake, have no "r." The Boeothick has; the three first use "l" instead of "r."
Some account of the usages and habits of this people, and of such particulars as have special reference to them, will now close this narrative: and first it may be observed that the extensive works which they completed and kept in repair for a number of years, would seem to indicate, and that almost beyond a doubt, that the Boeothicks were once a numerous and energetic tribe.
Their opinion is that the whole tribe of Boeothicks passed over to the Labrador some twenty or twenty-five years since, and the place of their final embarkation, as they allege, is yet plainly discernable.
This wanton and unprovoked outrage was discovered by the Boeothicks, who gave no intimation of such discovery, but who, after consulting together, determined on revenge. They invited the Micmacs to a feast, and arranged their guests in such order that every Boeothick had a Micmac by his side; at a preconcerted signal every Boeothick slew his guest. War of course ensued.
From such traditionary facts we gather, that the Boeothicks were once a powerful and numerous tribe, like their neighbouring tribe the Micmacs, and that for a long period these tribes were on friendly terms and inhabited the western shores of Newfoundland in common, together with other parts of the Island as well as the Labrador, and this good understanding continued until some time after the discovery of Newfoundland by Cabot; but it was at length violently interrupted by the Micmacs, who, to ingratiate themselves with the French, who at that time held the sway in these parts, and who had taken offence at some proceedings of the Boeothicks, slew two Red Indians with the intention of taking their heads, which they had severed from the bodies, to the French.
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