Town of Millertown
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2010 Manning Award
Manning Award for Excellence in the Public Presentation of Historic Places
by Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador
Preserving the memory of extinct peoples is rewarding. Providing an accurate picture of a extinct society is challenging and to do so in a way that teaches visitors about extinct people while preserving their memory is a wonderful fit for the intention of the Manning Awards. The Red Indian Lake Heritage Society has taken on and they are succeeding in that task in its interpretation of the Indian Point site.
Red Indian Lake is one of the most important sites in Newfoundland’s aboriginal history. The Beothuk who had inhabited this Newfoundland for hundreds of years, used the Red Indian Lake region as a wintering home. Stresses on the Beothuk due to territory loss, disease, and conflict which accompanied European settlement made Red Indian Lake a refuge as much as a wintering home.
By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the remaining Beothuk had become more and more secluded in their redoubts of Red Indian Lake and the Exploits River, the encroachment of European settlers meant that even this refuge site did not keep them out of contact with the newcomers.
European attempts at contact often ended violently. The high points of these encounters were John Buchans’ expedition, which ended in the murder of two marines, and John Peyton Jr.’s violent capture of Demasduit in which Nonosbawut, Demasduit’s husband, was killed. In 1823 Shanawdithit left Red Indian Lake to seek help, and with her the Beothuk people passed from existence as a distinct aboriginal group.
This story is told today along the Indian Point site by the informative tools provided by the Red Indian Lake Heritage Society in Millertown, to ensure that the tragedy of the Beothuk people is not forgotten.
The panels were created and placed by the Red Indian Lake Heritage Society, which was established in 1991. This organization works under a mandate to promote, foster, protect, and preserve the historical and environmental heritage of the Millertown and Red Indian Lake area. The Indian Point site and panels, which are located around three kilometres from Millertown exhibit the enthusiasm with which this society operates.
The panels, which were written by Dr. Ingeborg Marshell, laid out and had the artwork completed by Craig Goudie, and reviewed by the Provincial Archaeology Office, are not completed half-heartedly or lacking in information, they are the result of a combined effort by experts, organizations, and activists. In addition efforts were made to preserve the integrity of the site by having the Provincial Archaeology Office ensure that the signs did not disturb any artefacts. This project shows how community based organizations can pull resources together to help make a contribution to their community, province, and nation.
For their efforts to preserve the memory of the Beothuk and the tragedy that befell them we are proud to present the 2011 National Award to the Red Indian Lake Heritage Society for the Interpretation Panels at Indian Point.