Saturday, May 23, 2009

Theory of the chicken or the egg

Beothuck stone quarry at Bloody Point

So, what came first? The chicken or the egg? We know with certainty that the native Newfoundland Beothuck were here before the English arrived to settle Newfoundland. There's no doubt about that. There's plenty of archaeological evidence for that, and previous occupiers of the land.

This was a stone quarry of the Beothuck where they came to collect rock for arrow heads and stone cutting tools. Its not a natural talus slope where natural processes weathered the rock from the cliff face. These rocks were discarded by the Beothuck quarriers as unsuitable for their needs.

Standing on this spot is a little awe inspiring. First they had to collect the rough rock, carry it back to camp and then fashion it into arrowheads and tools. No Wal-Mart then. We maybe should have appreciated the culture more when it still existed. We're still struggling with how to treat first nations. I'm not directly involved with that but I hope that those who are do remember who came first and treat their culture with the respect it deserves.

Tony :-)

View towards Rocky Bay, Bloody Reach in the foreground from the top of Bloody Point. A friend has a cabin on the small island tucked in behind the larger island right of center. We visited there 20 years ago and it was interesting seeing it again from this vantage point. I wonder if the Beothuck also identified points of interest from here hundreds of years ago?

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