Cuper's Cove - Beothuk Contact

Beothuk Contact

No mention of the natives of Newfoundland, namely the Beothuk, is made in the petition of the charter of the Newfoundland Company, a fact that had helped speed it through Privy Council. There was a brief notation in the charter that stated explicitly any contact with natives would be to convert them to Christianity. Guy had assumed that the natives had long since left Conception Bay, but he knew that they lived not far away. One reason for his construction of the bark (Barque) Endeavour was to explore nearby Trinity Bay and to make contact with the Beothuk.

Two failed attempts to make contact with the Beothuk overland (see article on Henry Crout and construction of Crout's Way) Guy had readied his bark and one of his newly constructed fishing vessels to set of in search of the Beothuk at Trinity Bay. In October 1612, Guy, Crout and seventeen others set sail in both vessels in search of the Beothuks. They had entered Mount Eagle Bay (Hopeall) on October 22 and two days later they found several Beothuk houses in a place they called Savage Harbour located at Dildo Arm. They found a path leading to a freshwater pond that proved to also be a campground for the Beothuk. A modern excavation at this site called Russell's Point has yielded many artifacts of this campsite.

John Guy and his party eventually did meet with the Beothuk at a Bull Arm, where they shared gifts and a meal. The Beothuk had lit a fire to express their willingness to trade and they also produced a white flag made from a wolf skin.