Reading Log Week 3: Beothuk’s Take Independence to a Whole New Level
Donald H. Holly Jr., “The Beothuk on the Eve of Their Extinction” Arctic Anthropology 37:1 (2000), p.79-95.
Ralph Pastore, “The Collapse of the Beothuk World,” Acadiensis 19:1 (Fall 1989), p.52-71.
In both articles “The Beothuk on the Eve of Their Extinction” [1] and “The Collapse of the Beothuk World,”[2] the authors focus on answering the question, why did the Beothuk fail as a group? This question is arduous to answer since the majority of the evidence to support it is based upon archaeological findings rather than written documents. At this time the Beothuk had no means or understanding of documentation because they had withdrawn their group from the burgeoning world. Both articles agree that Beothuk primarily failed due to their withdrawal from European communication, or “avoidance model”[3]. Their evasion towards assimilation was a surprise to many, and strongly sustained through all the people; they were quite literally, their own group of people in their own territory.
The primary reason for the extinction of the Beothuk people was their lack of contact with the assimilating Europeans. The Europeans were seen as a threat to the Beothuk’s; therefore, the Beothuk’s moved their place of inhabitants from the coast of New Foundland where they were able to thrive, to the inner depths of the island, where they were farther from the newcomers; but, resources were harder to come by. It is no surprise the Beothuk became extinct, they had no ties with any outside sources. They did not participate in the fur trade, had no easy to access to their most recognized source of food (sea animals), no firearms which denied them access to war, and no missionary visits[4]; this all lead to their failure to expand and thus, thrive.
Donald Holly’s article proposes that the Beothuk’s were seen as a group with no potential from the start, but opposes this theory and states that they did actually stand a chance. He states that their settlement, sustenance, emphasis on identity, and avoidance of the Europeans, were them actively seeking a means of adaption; but also makes a point of calling it an “inevitable extinction.”[5] This article had contradicting points of view from the sources and even made a point of referencing on of them as a ‘revised’ version, which made the points less convincing. He was also quoting data of Pastore, the author of the second article “The Collapse of the Beothuk World,” which makes him seem less knowledgeable.
Pastore’s article is much more convincing than Holly’s. He makes an effort to introduce his sources in such a way that composes them as scholarly and reliable with sayings such as: “remarkable collection of documents”[6] and “used by popular researchers”[7]. He goes into more depth for explaining how the Beothuk’s withdrew from society and how this effected them by giving the examples of their lacking participation in fur trade and pointing out that they were unique from other Native groups because they did not struggle with the same things like: disease, alcoholism, and assault on their beliefs[8].
Holly and Pastore share similar points of view in explaining why the Beothuk’s became extinct, but Holly carried out his article in a more understandable and scholarly fashion with his use of erudite examples and quotes.
[1] Donald H. Holly Jr., “The Beothuk on the Eve of Their Extinction” Arctic Anthropology 37:1 (2000), p.79-95.
[2] Ralph Pastore, “The Collapse of the Beothuk World,” Acadiensis 19:1 (Fall 1989), p.52-71.
[3] Holly, “Beothuk on the Eve of Their Extinction” p. 83.
[4] Pastore, “The Collapse of the Beothuk World” p. 57.
[5] Holly, “Beothuk on the Eve of Their Extinction” p.83.
[6] Pastore, “The Collapse of the Beothuk World” p. 56.
[7] Pastore, “The Collapse of the Beothuk World” p.56.
[8] Pastore, ““The Collapse of the Beothuk World” p.57
