News and Reflections: Beothuk DNA Then and Now: Old theories fall in the face of new findings -- October 18, 2017

An article published in 2013, "Local Post: Extinction of Newfoundland's 'Lost People' is a myth," includes Chief Mi’sel Joe of the Miawpukek First Nations assertion that "there is Beothuk blood somewhere in our genes, through the intermarriage that took place."  He references Mi'kmaq oral history that has the Beothuk leaving the area and intermarrying with other groups as Europeans took control of Newfoundland.  However, official Newfoundland history has that the Beothuk are extinct and that the last known Beothuk woman, Shanawdithit,  died of tuberculosis in 1929. 

The article touched on the the idea that DNA testing could provide answers but cited a lack of funding.

​In October of 2017, another article was published, "DNA deepens mystery of Newfoundland's lost Beothuk people," by Ivan Semeniuk of The Globe and Mail.  Referenced in the Globe and Mail story is an article published in the Journal of Current Biology that offers a partial understanding of the Beothuk: that based on the analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) samples, the Beothuk were not at all closely related to the prehistoric culture of Newfoundland as was once thought, and that the last common ancestor between the two groups may have lived 10,000 years ago! Moreover, the Beothuk, Paleo Eskimo, and Maritime Archaic populations, represented by the samples, were not at all related. This finding is not at all what was expected by researchers -- nor Chief Mi’sel Joe.  Still not addressed by this most recent study, however, is Chief Mi’sel Joe's 2013 assertion: that traces of Beothuk blood may be found among people living in Newfoundland today.  As noted in the 2017 article, further research would require comparison of DNA samples from the Beothuk, First Nations groups, and Newfoundland descendants. 

In any case, old theories about the "peopling of Eastern Canada" have been challenged by the new findings of 2017 as described in the article -- adding to the already complex story of the Beothuk in Newfoundland.

References: ​"DNA deepens mystery of Newfoundland's lost Beothuk people," by Ivan Semeniuk, The Globe and Mail (October 12, 2017)
"Local Post: Extinction of Newfoundland's 'Lost People' is a myth," by Tristin Hopper, National Post (April 18, 2013)

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