1801-1829+Shawnadithit

__** Shawnadithit **__ __When__ 1801-1829

__Who__ Shawnadithitthe last known living member of Beothuk people of Newfoundland, Canada. She was the niece of Demasduwit's husband, Nonosbawsut.

__What__
 * The Beothuk population was decreasing at that time because their traditional way of life was affected by the European settlements on the island.
 * They also suffered from European diseases which they had little or no immunity.
 * Trappers and furriers regarded the Beothuks as thieves and would sometimes attack them.
 * William Cull took Shanawdithit, her mother, and sister to St.John's, Newfoundland.
 * The British renamed Shanawdithit //Nancy April.//
 * Beginning in September 1828 she lived in the household of William Eppes Cormack. He founded the Beothuk Institution to study the tribe and drew funds to support Shanawdithit.
 * She is one of the prime witnesses to the Beothuk language, the customs of her people, and the events and general condition of the tribe in the final years when their numbers had largely decreased.
 * Shanawdithit told William Eppes Cormack about her people.
 * She was gifted with pencil and sketch-book, and her drawings (frequently reproduced) are especially valuable.
 * The government hoped she would become a bridge to her people, but she refused to do that. She said the Beothuks would kill anyone who had been with the Europeans, because the Europeans killed a lot of them.
 * In 1829 Shanawdithit died in a St John's hospital after her long fight with tuberculosis.
 * She was 28 years old and the last known survivor of the Beothuks.

__Where__
 * Shanawdithit was born on the island of Newfoundland in about 1801.
 * Shanawdithit, her mother and sister got help from the trapper William Cull and the three women were taken to St. John's, Newfoundland. (Shanawdithit's mother and sister died of tuberculosis.)
 * Beginning in September 1828 she lived in the household of William Eppes Cormack.
 * With her death, the people of the ochre became officially extinct as an ethnic group, but thanks to Shawnadithit, they have not been forgotten.

__Why__
 * Because she is the last known living member of Beothuk people of Newfoundland, Canada; she was the source of much of what is known about the customs, language, and last days of her people.
 * With her death, the people of the ochre became officially extinct as an ethnic group, but because Shawnadithit's records, they have not been forgotten.

"SHAWNADITHIT." //Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online//. University of Toronto, 2000. Web. 15 May 2012. .