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Nonosabasut (died March 1819) was a leader of the Beothuk people. Family head and partner of Demasduit, born on the island of Newfoundland (present-day Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada). Sometimes referred to as Chief Nonosabasut, his stature within the last remaining Beothuk would better be described as that of a headman or leader.
Nonosabasut was one of a group of Beothuk who was encountered by David Buchan on January 24, 1811 at Beothuk Lake. Buchan had left two marines at the native camp while he, Nonosabasut and three other Beothuk went to retrieve a cache of presents Buchan had left behind. Fearing the worst, Nonosabasut became suspicious of being captured; he and the two Beothuks fled. While back at the camp they had convinced the rest of the group that the intentions of Buchan and his marines were hostile. The two marines were beheaded and the camp was then dispersed.
Another expedition authorized by Governor Charles Hamilton to recover stolen property was led by John Peyton Jr. in March 1819. Apparently, some items had been stolen by the Beothuk from nearby fishing stations in the Bay of Exploits. The fate of the last remaining Beothuk was very much a concern at that time, and the expedition was also requested to establish friendly relations with them. On March 5 the party of Peyton's armed soldiers surprised a small group of Beothuk at Beothuk Lake who attempted to escape. Peyton captured Demasduit, the wife of Nonosabasut. Nonosabasut approached the party of armed men, holding the tip of a pine branch, a symbol of peace, and through words and gestures asked Peyton to release Demasduit. A scuffle broke out when Peyton refused to release her, and Nonosabasut was shot and killed.
Later, a grand jury in St. John's, absolved Peyton and his men were absolved of Nonosabasut's murder, the judge concluding that "... (there was) no malice on the part of Peyton's party to get possession of any of (the Indians) by such violence as would occasion bloodshed."
Nonosabasut's body was placed in a sepulchre, later to be joined by his infant son and eventually Demasduit herself.
In 1828, the sepulchre was found by William Cormack, who at that time removed skulls and also some of the goods from the grave. Among the items taken by Cormack was Nonosabasut's skull, which was sent to the Royal Museum, Edinburgh, Scotland.
In 2020, the remains of Demasduit and Nonosabasut were repatriated from Scotland after years of advocacy. [1] Chief Mi'sel Joe of the Miawpukek First Nation in Conne River first began the push for repatriation in 2015, and he was joined by other Indigenous leaders. Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador Dwight Ball and Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly made formal requests to National Museums Scotland in 2016, with Ball crediting Chief Mi'sel Joe specifically for beginning the process by bringing the issue to public attention. [2] Their remains had been in Scotland for 191 years when they were returned to Newfoundland and were stored at The Rooms, a provincial museum and archive in St. John's. [3] This return was praised and recognized by Canadian politicians including Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador Dwight Ball and Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault, as well as by leaders from the Miawpukek First Nation, Innu Nation, Nunatsiavut, NunatuKavut, and Qalipu First Nation. [4] In 2022, CBC News reported that the government of Newfoundland and Labrador was planning a new cultural centre at Beothuk Lake to serve as a final resting place for the remains. [5]
In 2017, Nonosabasut Rock was officially named after the Beothuk chief, lobbied for by retired teacher Anne Warr from Grand Falls-Windsor and her students. Nonosabasut Rock is located in the Exploits River in central Newfoundland, and the left side of the rock is said to resemble the chief's face, with the inspiration for naming it after him being described by the Woodland Primary grade two students back in 2006 as desiring to "recognize the heroic deed of [Demasduit's] husband." [6] [7] The town of Grand Falls-Windsor donated a plaque for Nonosabasut Rock, which features a photo of the rock and a poem "written by Woodland Primary teacher Cheryl Burt, which tells the history of the Beothuk and the chief." [6] Warr's former students from Woodland Primary, as adults, contributed to the campaign to recognize Nonosabasut and the Beothuk. Prior to the official designation in 2017, the grade two class had contacted the town council of Grand Falls-Windsor about the name, saying that "We wrote to our town council and they gave us permission to name the rock, Nonosabusut [sic] Rock" in a letter to CBC. [8] The class wrote the letter in a nomination of Nonosabasut Rock for a competition CBC held in 2007 determining the Seven Wonders of Canada, and the online poll for Nonosabasut Rock received 8,563 votes. [9]
In 2007, examination of short mtDNA sequences was conducted on material from the teeth of Nonosabasut and his wife Demasduit. The results assigned them broadly to Haplogroup C (mtDNA) and Haplogroup X (mtDNA), respectively. [10] These haplogroups are common in Indigenous peoples of the Northeast, including the current Mi'kmaq people of Newfoundland. [11] Oral tradition of the Mi'kmaq on the island states that they had cordial relations with the Beothuk in the Pre-Contact period, and the record documents shared ancestry with European settlers, from 1607 onward. In 2017, complete mtDNA genome sequences were obtained from Nonosabasut and Demasduit, which occur in X2a1b and C1c sub-haplogroups, respectively. [12] Identical or near-identical mitogenomes sequences appear in modern persons of indigenous descent. [13]
The Beothuk were a group of indigenous people who lived on the island of Newfoundland.
The Mi'kmaq are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland, and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as Native Americans in the northeastern region of Maine. The traditional national territory of the Mi'kmaq is named Miꞌkmaꞌki.
Grand Falls-Windsor is a town located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a population of 13,853 at the 2021 census. The town is the largest in the central region, the sixth largest in the province, and is home to the annual Exploits Valley Salmon Festival. Grand Falls-Windsor was incorporated in 1991, when the two former towns of Grand Falls and Windsor amalgamated.
Demasduit was a Beothuk woman, one of the last of her people on Newfoundland.
Shanawdithit, also noted as Shawnadithit, Shawnawdithit, Nancy April and Nancy Shanawdithit, was the last known living member of the Beothuk people, who inhabited Newfoundland, Canada. Remembered for her contributions to the historical understanding of Beothuk culture, including drawings depicting interactions with European settlers, Shanawdithit died of tuberculosis in St. John's, Newfoundland on June 6, 1829.
Botwood is a town in north-central Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada in Census Division 6. It is positioned on the west shore of the Bay of Exploits on a natural deep-water harbour. Historically, this harbour has been a significant hub for cargo ships and seaplanes. Botwood served as the North American endpoint for the first transatlantic commercial flights.
David Buchan was a Scottish naval officer and Arctic explorer.
Beothuk Lake, formerly Red Indian Lake, is located in the interior of central Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The lake drains into the Exploits River which flows through the interior of Newfoundland and exits into the Atlantic Ocean through the Bay of Exploits. Lloyds River, the Victoria River and Star River feed into the lake.
Henrietta Martha, Lady Hamilton (1780–1857) was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, England, and was the wife of Sir Charles Hamilton, Governor of Newfoundland. She is best known for her miniature portrait entitled Mary March. The painting is a watercolour on ivory of a Beothuk Indigenous woman Demasduit, and is considered by many to be the only representation of a Beothuk taken from life. It was painted in 1819 at St. John's where she lived with her husband during his term as governor from 1818 to 1824.
Michael Crummey is a Canadian poet and a writer of historical fiction. His writing often draws on the history and landscape of Newfoundland and Labrador.
St. George's is a Canadian community in the St. George's Bay on the southwest coast of Newfoundland of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Peterview is a town located in the Exploits Valley area of central Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, where Peters River empties into the Bay of Exploits, just south of Botwood, off Route 350.
Noel Joseph JeddoreWe’jitu also Newell Jeddore Gietol, Geodol was Saqamaw "grand chief" of the Mi'kmaq at Miawpukek in Bay d'Espoir on the south coast of Newfoundland in the Coast of Islands region. Jeddore served as chief from July 26, 1919 until he was forced into exile to Eskasoni, Nova Scotia, in 1924. He was born at Indian Point, Bay d'Espoir and he died at Eskasoni, Cape Breton.
Miawpukek First Nation is a Mi'kmaq First Nations band government in Conne River, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a registered population of 836 living on-reserve as of May 2023, with another 2,265 living off-reserve. They control the reserve of Samiajij Miawpukek in Bay d'Espoir on the island of Newfoundland. It was formerly known as Conne River Indian Reserve until the mid-1980s. Samiajij Miawpukek was established as a federal Indian reserve in 1987, the first in Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1991, Miawpukek was one of the poorest communities in Atlantic Canada. Due in part to increased education of its members, it has gone on to become the most well-off First Nation in Atlantic Canada after Membertou.
James Patrick Howley was a naturalist and geologist, one of the first Newfoundlanders of European descent to visit the interior of the island of Newfoundland at the Bay du Nord River system.
Newfoundland is a large island situated off the eastern coast of the North American mainland and the western part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, referred to as Labrador.
The Qalipu First Nation, is a Mi’kmaq band government, created by order-in-council in 2011 pursuant to the Agreement for the Recognition of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq Band. After the band was approved as a First Nation, 100,000 people applied for membership and a total of 23,000 were approved.
Matty Mitchell was a Mi’kmaq chieftain, guide, prospector, and explorer who contributed to the development of the Newfoundland economy. Mitchell has been described as "the greatest and most resourceful woodsman who ever lived." For this, Mitchell was recognized as a Person of National Historic Significance in 2001.
John Peyton Sr. (1749–1829) was an English-born fisherman and trapper in the Colony of Newfoundland.
