Beothuk at Dildo Island
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The first document to mention Dildo Island is Henry Crout's diary. Henry sailed with John Guy on his voyage into Trinity Bay. At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon on October 24th, 1612, they sailed into Dildo Arm. On their way in Henry wrote in his diary that they passed “three fine Islands”. These are the three islands at the entrance to Dildo Arm. The largest one is Dildo Island.
When they sailed out of Dildo Arm a week later, they spent a night moored off an island. This was probably Dildo Island. Guy's men probably moored their boats in Barry's Cove on the western side of the island.
Back to Trinity Bay
Dildo Island at Sunrise. (Image by William Gilbert. Reproduced with permission of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation.)
John and his men saw a lot of Beothuk camps while they were in Trinity Bay. They also met and shared a meal with some Beothuk in Bull Arm. Henry wanted to meet the Beothuk again. In July 1613, he sailed back into Trinity Bay with three other men from Cupers Cove.
One of the places they had seen the Beothuk the year before was on Dildo Pond near the bottom of Dildo Arm. This is where Blaketown is today. Henry wanted to see if the Beothuk were still living at Dildo Pond.
A Beothuk Camp
On July 2nd they sailed into Dildo Arm just as the sun was rising. As they sailed past one of the islands, they saw a Beothuk canoe and then they saw a Beothuk house. They went ashore and visited the house. It was a wigwam covered in hides. Henry said the Beothuk had made a bed inside the wigwam. They had laid down ‘long green grass' and covered it with furs to sleep on.
Henry said the house was only big enough for a man, his wife and one child. There was a little fireplace inside the house. The rocks in the fireplace were still hot but the Beothuk were gone. Henry said they must have gone into the woods. He also said that the Beothuk were roasting different kinds of meat on sticks. Henry and his men left presents in the house for the Beothuk. Then they got back in their boat and sailed into Dildo Arm.
Hunting for Birds
The Great Auk which is now extinct. (© Public Domain.)
There was no one at the camp on Dildo Pond when Henry got there. Henry said that this was because the Beothuk had gone looking for birds and birds eggs on the islands in Trinity Bay. He said that the Beothuk dried the birds and the eggs so that they could keep them over the winter.
A Present for Henry
The next morning the explorers sailed out of Dildo Arm and passed by the island they had visited the day before. The Beothuk were gone, but they had left behind some of their meat roasted on sticks. Henry said that they had left the meat as a present for him and his men.
Strange Stones
Chert. (Image by William Gilbert. Reproduced with permission of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation.)
Archaeologists now believe that the island where Henry saw the Beothuk camp was Dildo Island. For many years fishermen from Dildo had been finding strange stones on the island. The stones were like flint and some of the fishermen used them to make gun flints for their muskets.
When archaeologists looked at these stones they found that they were actually chert. Chert is a type of stone that was used by Native Americans and other people to make stone tools. Flint is a type of chert.
Two Different Peoples
Archaeologists working on the island have found that at least two different groups of native people once lived there. One camp that they found on the island was used by Native American people who may be the ancestors of the Beothuk. Pieces of carbon from a fireplace found at this camp have been analyzed. From this we know that these people lived at the camp about 1200 years ago.
Archaeologists have also found the remains of two houses that were built by people called the Dorset Eskimo. Carbon samples were also found in these houses. These samples were also analyzed. From this we know that the Dorset people lived on Dildo Island for about 600 years and that they first arrived on the island over 1900 years ago.
Dorset Site on Dildo Island. (Image by William Gilbert. Reproduced with permission of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation.)