#demasduit

The remains of a Beothuk couple who were taken from a grave in central Newfoundland and sent to Scotland almost two centuries ago have been returned to their home province.

The skulls of Nonosabasut and Demasduit were repatriated at a sombre ceremony Wednesday evening at The Rooms, the province's archive and museum in St. John's.

"This is for me a sacred moment in our history," said Chief Mi'sel Joe of the Miawpukek First Nation in Conne River, who began the campaign to return the remains about five years ago.

Demasduit (flourishing ca. 1796-1820) was a Beothuk, and was renamed Mary March by her Newfoundland captors, in reference to the month in which she was captured in 1819. Her husband died trying to prevent her capture, and her newborn baby left behind (perhaps unwittingly) by her abductors, died several days after. Monetary rewards were offered by the British authorities to anyone who was successful in establishing friendly contact with the Beothuks, in an attempt to reconcile past differences between the settlers and the tribe. Unfortunately, it encouraged greed that resulted in the abduction and death of many of her tribe, a practice that ultimately contributed to their extinction. In 1819, this delicate portrait was painted in St. John's by Lady Hamilton, wife of the Governor of Newfoundland. Demasduit died of tuberculosis early in 1820 before she could be reunited with her people.