Cupids Cove Chatter

On the final day of the Cupids Cove Soiree, the memory of the Beothuk People was evoked. In the afternoon, the Se’t A’newey Choir of Youth from the Miawpukek First Nation in Conne River performed as part of  Spirit of the Land, Sea and People Celebration.  They received  a long standing ovation from the audience.

Standing Ovation from the Audience!!

More photos of the Se’t A’newey Choir of Youth on Flickr > >

They honoured the Beothuk people with a special tribute, reminding us that John Guy and his settlers met and traded with the Beothuk in peace and friendship. Bill Gilbert, chief archaeolist with the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation, also spoke. He has researched the Beothuk caribou hunting grouds at Russell’s Point in Trinity Bay, and retrieved the passages dealing with the Beothuk from journals and other documents written by the Cupids colonists. During the closing performance of “Seeds of Settlement,” on the evening of August 22nd, there was a reenactment of the settlers trading with the Beothuk in Trinity Bay, where the settlers had sailed in the Indeavour.

“Seeds of Settlement” – Meeting the Beothuk in Trinity Bay

More photos from “Seeds of Settlement” on Flickr > >

A portrait of Demasduit, one of the last of the Beothuk People, is part of “Portraits in the Street.” It is the only known portrait of a Beothuk, the last of whom died in 1829.

More photos of “Portraits in the Street”  on Flickr >>

When we look over the 400 years of settlement, it is appropriate to celebrate the lives of the Beothuk People, Squanto, and other native people people and remember “where once they stood, we stand.” We will never know their total story, just as we will never know the stories of many of the other people who have inhabited our land over the centuries. With modern technology, we hope that four hundred years in the future, people will care and know how we celebrated in 2010.

The magnificent celebrations over the weekend paid suitable tribute to all, from the aboriginal Beothuk People to the people of all religions, races, and cultures who reside in this beautiful place today.

Blood Red Ochre about the Beothuk

Cupids 400 was very pleased to welcome Kevin Major as the first guest in the Cupids 400 Visiting Authors Series.  Kevin Major was born on September 12, 1949, five months after Newfoundland became the tenth province of Canada. He grew up next to an American Air Force base in Stephenville, on the province’s west coast. His Award Winning works are written for both young people and adults, and include fiction, literary non-fiction, poetry, and plays. His work has been translated into several languages.

One work of particular interest was Blood Red Ochre which is about the Beothuk people.  The accounts of John Guy and the colonists meeting the Beothuk people  are among  the most interesting accounts in their journals and letters, so this book where the teenagers time travel to meet with the Beothok strikes a cord with those interested in Cupids 400.

For photos of the event see photos on Flickr:  www.flickr.com/photos/cupids400/sets/72157623417226003/

List of Kevin Major’s Books and Awards:

* 1978 – Hold Fast (Books in Canada First Novel Award; winner: Governor General’s Award, Book-of-the-Year CACL, Ruth Schwartz Award; placed on Hans Christian Honour List)
* 1980 – Far From Shore (winner: Canadian Young Adult Book Award)
* 1984 – Thirty-Six Exposures
* 1987 – Dear Bruce Springsteen
* 1989 – Blood Red Ochre – about the Beothuk people (nominated: Book-of-the-Year CACL, Geoffrey Bilson Award)
* 1991 – Eating Between the Lines  (nominated: Ruth Schwartz Award; winner: Book-of-the-Year CACL, Ann Conner-Brimer Award)
* 1993 – Diana: My Autobiography
* 1995 – No Man’s Land and 2005 – No Man’s Land: A Play
* 1997 – Gaffer
* 1997 – The House of Wooden Santas (winner: Mr. Christie Award, Ann Conner-Brimer Award)
* 2000 – Eh? to Zed: A Canadian ABeCedarium  (nominated: Mr. Christie Award, Ann Conner-Brimer Award, Ruth Schwartz Award)
* 2001 – As Near to Heaven by Sea: A History of Newfoundland and Labrador – (nominated: Pearson Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Award)
* 2003 – Ann and Seamus  (nominated: Governor General’s Award, Mr. Christie Award, Ruth Schwartz Award and five others; made into a folk opera of the same name)
* 2005 – Aunt Olga’s Christmas Postcards  Ann Conner-Brimer Award)
* 2007 – Gros Morne Time Lines (with Tara Bryan & Anne Meredith Barry)

The Birth of English Canada

Community groups in the region have been preparing for Cupids 400 for some time.  Baccalieu: Crossroads for  Cultures is a bilingual educational website, developed in 2005, which recounts in detail 17th century events in the region beginning with the arrival of John Guy and his colonists in 1610.   The website follows the interactions among the English colonists, the French, the Beothuk and the pirates.

William Gilbert, chief archaeologist of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation wrote one of the most interesting accounts:   a description of John Guy, Henry Crout, and a number of the colonists meeting the Beothuk at  the bottom of Bull Arm in Trinity Bay where the town of Sunnyside is today.

“..the Beothuk paddled one of their canoes to the shore and two Beothuk men landed on the beach. One of them was the man with the white wolf skin. He walked towards George shaking the wolf skin and talking loudly.”

“George couldn’t understand what the man was saying, but he decided to do the same thing. George shook his white flag and started talking in a loud voice too. When he got nearer to George, the Beothuk threw his wolf skin down on the beach and George threw down his flag.”

- John Guy Meets the Beothuk from Baccalieu: Crossroads for Cultures

Copper Plate Engraving by Theodor de Bry.

Mr. Gilbert has published an article in the journal Post-Medieval Archaeology identifying the copper plate engraving from the 17th century as a depiction of John Guy’s meeting with the Beothuk in Trinity Bay in 1612. The engraving was long identified as one of Bartholomew Gosnold trading with Native Americans in New England in 1602.

CBC article -William  Gilbert’s findings >>