Journal Entry #3

Donald Holly and Ralph Pastore are arguing that the supposed idea that the Beothuk people had no agency is completely untrue. When looking at the first contact between Europeans and the Native people it is assumed that the natives were docile and accepting of their fate and lack of agency. Holly argues that the opposite is true. He says that “Even in the midst of great historical turmoil, they held feasts, they secretly stole or destroyed equipment, openly attacked settlers”[1] Holly fights for the Beothuk’s agency by giving evidence to the fact that they fought back against the European settlers of the time. He insists that “the Beothuk, illustrate, through confrontation, that they were agents” [2] Holly wants to ensure that the historical record is set straight about native engagement and agency at this time period. Now, Pastore is more focused on how the Beothuk people were also interested in stealing from the Europeans and remaining autonomous. Pastore says that “these seasonally-abandoned fishing premises were treasure troves of metal objects”[3]  the Beothuk’s had no need to trade with Europeans because they found whatever they needed at the abandoned shores of the Europeans. As a result of this, Europeans were forced to trap their own fur and it became next to impossible to negotiate trades between the two groups. Due to the lack of resources there was no presence of missionaries in Newfoundland, which at the time was another way that Europeans would make contact with the Native people. Ultimately, both Pastore and Holly are trying to resist the old notion that the Beothuk’s in particular had no agency. They insist that through violence, confrontation, and scavenging the Beothuk people carved out their own existence independent of European help or trade. Although they did eventually die out the notion that they were doomed to this fate is no longer valid.

 

Bibliography

Holly H. Donald, “The Beothuk on the Eve of Their Extinction,” Arctic Anthropology 37 (2000): 79-95.

Pastore Ralph, “The Collapse of the Beothuk World” Acadiensis: Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region 19 (1989): 52-71.

[1] Holly H. Donald, “The Beothuk on the Eve of Their Extinction,” Arctic Anthropology 37 (2000): 90.

[2] Holly, “The Beothuk on the Eve of Their Extinction,” 89.

[3] Pastore Ralph, “The Collapse of the Beothuk World” Acadiensis: Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region 19 (1989): 57.