The Social Dynamics of Early Beothuk-European Relations in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland

1612年秋，新任命的纽芬兰第一个正式殖民地（库珀湾）总督约翰·盖伊（John Guy）与其他殖民者一起启航进入三一湾。盖伊希望与岛上的土著居民比乌uk印第安人取得联系，从而与他们建立贸易关系。经过几天的探索和参观无人居住的营地，盖伊的探险队终于在11月6日遇到了一小群比乌克人。虽然一开始很谨慎，Beothuk人还是邀请殖民者和他们一起吃饭，并交换了礼物。然后两组人分道扬镳。殖民者肯定对这次会面很满意，并对与当地人建立长期、有利可图的贸易关系的机会持乐观态度，但这种关系从未发展起来。在十年内，贝乌克人撤退到三一湾北部和西部的沿海地区；一个世纪后，由于欧洲人的捕鱼活动、定居和敌对行动，他们被迫离开海岸，生活在岛屿的内陆；到19世纪中叶，他们就消失了——1829年，“最后的贝乌图克人”在圣约翰市死于肺结核。盖伊与贝乌图克人的会面标志着一个关键时期的结束，但在岛上的欧洲原住民关系中，人们对这个时期知之甚少。该项目希望通过在三一湾新发现的Beothuk遗址的探索性考古发掘，发现新的数据，从而揭示这一时期。这个遗址是在2009年夏天被发现的，就在盖伊与比奥图克人著名会面的几天前，他被认为在这个地方观察到了“九个野蛮人的房子”。2009年在该地点进行的测试挖掘发现了比乌uk抛射点，这些抛射点与改良铁钉、加工过的压石、玻璃瓶和陶瓷有关，可能可以追溯到16世纪晚期。在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，2010年的考古实地工作将评估该遗址的空间范围和丰富程度，并建立Beothuk占领的时间参数。总体目标是评估该地点是否值得进一步调查。如果这个遗址被证明是丰富的，并且确实可以追溯到盖伊的航行时期，它将对我们理解岛上早期欧洲原住民的关系做出重大贡献，也许还能提供线索，解释为什么这种关系在17世纪中期恶化。在更广泛的层面上，这项工作将为欧洲-美洲原住民在新大陆历史的早期篇章提供一个考古学的视角，并为理解欧洲殖民努力的社会层面提供一个案例研究。该项目将包括一个由来自美国和加拿大的科学家和本科生组成的小团队。学生将有机会参与合作研究，并作为国际团队的一部分工作。在这项研究中获得的数据将传播给该领域的其他学者。这项研究也将接触到更广泛的受众，因为Beothuk印第安人的故事在纽芬兰和拉布拉多省以及加拿大的历史上占有重要地位。如果需要进行更多的工作，这项研究将有助于该地区历史旅游的进一步发展。

In the autumn of 1612, John Guy - the newly appointed Governor of Newfoundland's first official colony (Cuper's Cove) - set sail with fellow colonists into Trinity Bay. Guy hoped to make contact with the native inhabitants of the island, the Beothuk Indians, so as to establish a trading relationship with them. After several days of exploring and visiting unoccupied campsites, Guy's expedition finally encountered a small group of Beothuk on November 6th. Although cautious at first, the Beothuk invited the colonists to share a meal with them and gifts were exchanged. Then the two groups parted ways. The colonists must have been pleased with the meeting and optimistic about their chances for establishing a long term and lucrative trading relationship with the natives, but such relations never developed. Within a decade, the Beothuk had retreated to coastal areas north and west of Trinity Bay; a century later they were living in the interior of the island, having been forced from the coast by European fishing activity, settlement and hostilities; and by the middle of the following century they were gone-the "last of the Beothuk" succumbing to tuberculosis in the city of St. John's in 1829. Guy's meeting with the Beothuk marks the end of a critical, but poorly understood period in Native-European relations on the island. This project hopes to uncover new data that will shed light this period through exploratory archaeological excavations at a newly discovered Beothuk site in Trinity Bay. This site was discovered in the summer of 2009, in a location where Guy is thought to have observed "nine savage houses" just days before his famous meeting with the Beothuk. Test excavations in 2009 at this location yielded Beothuk projectile points in association with modified iron nails, worked ballast flint, bottle glass and ceramics that may date to the late sixteenth century. With support from the National Science Foundation, archaeological field work in 2010 will assess the spatial extent and richness of the site, and establish temporal parameters for the Beothuk occupation. The overall aim is to assess whether the site warrants further investigation. If the site proves to be rich, and indeed dates to the time of Guy's voyage, it stands to make a significant contribution to our understanding of early Native-European relations on the island, and perhaps, offer clues as to why such relations deteriorated in the mid-seventeenth century. On a broader level, this work will offer an archaeological perspective on the earliest chapters of European-Native American history in the New World, and a case study for understanding social dimensions of the European colonization effort. The project will include a small team of scientists and undergraduate students from the United States and Canada. Students will benefit from the opportunity to engage in collaborative research and work as part of an international team. Data obtained during this research will be disseminated to other scholars in the field. This research will also reach a broader audience, as the story of the Beothuk Indians figures prominently in the history of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Canada. In the event that additional work is warranted, this research could contribute to the further development of historical tourism in the area.