Rare DNA Was Found In Canada From People Who Allegedly Went Extinct 200 Years Ago
Modern-day meets ancient times. In Newfoundland, the Beothuk people were thought to be extinct but DNA was found linking them to people living today. The last known member of the people died almost 200 years ago.
A genetics specialist in Newfoundland found those DNA connections between the Beothuk people and modern-day people.
Steven M. Carr, a biology professor at Memorial University in St. John's, had his findings published in the journal Genome.
His article states that the Beothuk people that occupied Newfoundland were succeeded by the Mi'kmaq.
According to the CBC, indigenous people in Newfoundland, including the Mi'kmaq have said they're related to the ancient people.
"The question was whether those genetic descendants had descendants, and those descendants had descendants, and whether they persist to the modern times. And the answer from my analysis is, yes they do," Carr told CBC.
DNA was taken from the skulls of two Beothuk individuals, Demasduit and Nonosabasut, and it was compared with databases.
"There is a living person who is genetically identical to Nonosabasut," Carr said.
Even though there are no direct descendants of Demasduit and Nonosabasut, their family tree still lives on today.
Carr believes that while the Beothuk have been called extinct, a more appropriate term would be culturally extinct because of the DNA findings.
Carr said that though Demasduit and Nonosbawsut were part of the last band of the people, it's possible that their brothers, uncles or grandfathers had children who survived
"The modern persons that we find who are identical to or similar to Nonosabasut and Demasduit are literally their cousins," he said.
Chief Mi'sel Joe of the Miawpukek First Nation wasn't shocked by Carr's genetic findings.
"I wasn't surprised. We knew it all along," he told the CBC. "But it was good to have it confirmed."
According to Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador, the ancient people were Algonkian-speaking hunter-gatherers.
The Beothuk probably had a population of less than a thousand at the time of first European contact.
The last known member of the people, Shanawdithit, died back in 1829 which is when they were thought to have gone extinct.