Portfolio of Sculptor Morgan MacDonald
Baetha Statues and Healing Garden
Blueberry Hill, King’s Road.
Explore the Baetha Statues and Healing Garden, which offers a stunning view of Botwood Harbour and commemorates the location where Demasduit, one of the last Beothuks, passed away on January 8, 1820. This site honors Demasduit, her husband Nonsosabut, and their child through bronze statues and a healing garden that encourages reflection on the journey toward truth and reconciliation.
At 2 pm, January 8th 1820, a gravely ill, young, Beothuk woman named Demasduit, died onboard HMS Grasshopper at Botwood Harbour. The captain and crew were trying to return Demasduit to her people. Following her death, with her body in a coffin, they travelled by foot, to Beothuk Lake. Finding no Beothuk, they left Demasduit’s body for her band members to discover. When found, her people removed the body and placed Demasduit’s sacred remains in a traditional burial hut with the sacred remains of her husband and baby.
Ten months prior, at Beothuk Lake, Demasduit had been kidnapped by a search party lead by John Peyton Jr. Weakened by childbirth, Demasduit fell while running from those in pursuit. Her husband, Chief Nonosabasut, was shot and killed while trying to prevent her capture. Their baby was taken to safety but, with no breast milk available for nourishment, the infant died two days later. Never aware that her baby had died, Demasduit’s only desire, during her ten months in captivity, was to return home to her child. Demasduit died at a time when the Beothuk were nearing extinction. In 1829, when Demasduit’s niece, Shanawdithit, died, she was referred to as the last known Beothuk. While recent research has identified living persons with Beothuk DNA, the Beothuk, as a culture, have been completely eradicated.
This commemoration joins memory and healing in a powerful natural setting. Over-looking the waterways the Beothuk travelled and upon which Demasduit died, a bronze sculpture titled Baetha (Beothuk for Going Home) honours the moment Demasduit died and was reunited, in spirit, with her husband and infant child. Surrounded by a healing garden, Baetha creates a focal point for quiet reflection where truth can be acknowledged, reconciliation can be nurtured and healing can begin.