Shanawdithit - Following Her Death

Following Her Death

St John's hospital gave Shanawdithit's skull to the Royal College of Physicians in London for study. The rest of her body was buried in the graveyard of St. Mary the Virgin Church on the south side of St. John's, Newfoundland. In 1938 the Royal College of Physicians gave her skull to the Royal College of Surgeons. It was lost in the German Blitz bombing of London in World War II.

Meanwhile in 1903 the church graveyard had been lost to railway construction. The church was torn down in 1963. A monument on the site reads: This monument marks the site of the Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin during the period 1859 - 1963. Fishermen and sailors from many ports found a spiritual haven within its hallowed walls. Near this spot is the burying place of Nancy Shanawdithit, very probably the last of the Beothuks, who died on June 6, 1829.

Shanawdithit is widely known among Newfoundlanders. In 1851 a local paper, the Newfoundlander, called her "a princess of Terra Nova." In 1999 The Telegram readers voted her the most notable aboriginal person of the past 1,000 years. She had 57% of the votes.