| | The Beothuk were the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland. The total Beothuk population is thought by present day archaeologists to have numbered between 500 and 1000 individuals. The Beothuk became extinct in 1829 due to contact with Europeans, disease, malnutrition, conflict, and the disruption of there way of life.
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| The Beothuk, are believed, to be of Algonkian origin (as were the Micmac, Montagnais and Naskaupi Indians). They were taller and their complexions lighter than other North American Indians. However, their habit of using red ochre to paint their bodies lead Europeans to call them Red Indians.
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| The last known Beothuk was Shanawdithit (also called Mary March). She was captured in 1823. In 1828, Shanawdithit was moved to the home of William Cormack in St. John's. Not long after, she was transferred to the home of James Simms (Newfoundland's Attorney General at that time).
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| Her health began to fail in the spring of 1829. As a result she was hospitalized. She died of tuberculosis (consumption) on June 6, 1829. Her death marked the extinction of the Beothuk. She is buried in the Church of England Cemetery, in St. John's.
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