Beothuk remains finally coming home

Scotland to return remains of Nonosabasut and Demasduit

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The journey has lasted for nearly two centuries. Now, it’s approaching its end as the National Museum of Scotland has agreed to return the remains of Beothuks Nonosabasut and Demasduit closer to their home.

Their remains have been in Scotland since 1827 and will be transferred to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa. They were discovered by a Newfoundlander, unearthed and shipped to Scotland.

The plight of the Beothuk people, extinct since 1829 when last known survivor Shawnadithit died in St. John’s, has been a concern of the Indigenous community in Newfoundland and Labrador for many years, shared by people in this province and across Canada.

Chief Mi’sel Joe of the Miawpukek First Nation in Conne River led the charge to have the remains repatriated.

“It’s just a little bit overwhelming,” he said this week in Conne River, where he was attending a Salite, a sacred Mi’kmaq post-burial tradition, for Chantel John, the 28-year-old woman murdered in Conne River Jan. 9.

“This morning, when I spoke to the premier, I want to keep saying ‘yahoo!’ … I’m glad it’s happening. It’s long overdue, almost 200 years or so,” Joe said. “This is finally happening after four and a half years for me. It’s been since 2018 for the premier and the provincial government making the request.”

It’s good news for the Indigenous community and for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, he said.

“Our government and Indigenous leaders throughout our province came together at Newfoundland and Labrador’s first ever Indigenous Leaders Roundtable in 2017 to make this a priority – and to partner with the federal government in advancing this work,” Premier Dwight Ball stated in a news release.

Joe first started advocating for the return in 2014 but ran into roadblocks. Once he got others involved, he travelled to Scotland to meet with officials at the museum and brought information back to local politicians and Indigenous leaders.

Museum officials said in 2016 a request would have to come from the federal government to have the remains returned, which was done, making Monday’s announcement possible.

His first visit to Scotland, he didn’t see the remains.

“The next time I went back, I was able to see the remains and did a little sweetgrass ceremony. I said, ‘I’ll be back, we want to have those remains back in Canada.’

“And I jokingly said before I left, if I don’t see them the next time, I’m going to dig up (Scottish poet) Robbie Burns.”

After the second visit, Joe partici- pated in a roundtable discussion in Newfoundland and Labrador with Ball and Indigenous leaders. They made a plan that involved the federal government helping with the repatriation request.

Groups in Canada have been saying an honour guard should leave Scotland with the remains and bring them to Ottawa, for a ceremony there, perhaps involving the Assembly of First Nations.

Brendan Mitchell, chief of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band, said it was a condition of the remains being released by the National Museum of Scotland that they be held in a controlled environment, in a museum. But some early reaction on social media called for the remains to be buried and not held in a museum.

It’s not confirmed where the remains will be sent. Their likely destination is The Rooms in St. John’s, Mitchell said.

SALTWIRE NETWORK FILE PHOTO Chief Mi’sel Joe has worked tirelessly to ensure remains that have been held by Scotland since 1827 are repatriated to Canada.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA Mary March, also known by her Indigenous name, Demasduit, one of the last Beothuk, is depicted in a painting by Lady Hamilton.