The Beothuk people of Newfoundland were not the very first inhabitants of
             the island. Thousands of years before their
             arrival there existed an ancient race, named the Maritime Archaic Indians
             who lived on the shores of Newfoundland. (Red Ochre Indians, Marshall, 4.)
             Burial plots and polished stone tools are occasionally discovered near
             Beothuk remains. Some people speculate that, because of the proximity of
             the artifacts to the former lands of the Beothuk, the Maritime Archaic
             Indians and the Beothuk may have been related. It is not certain when the
             Beothuk arrived on the island. In fact little is actually known about the
             people, compared to what is known about other amerindian civilisations,
             only artifacts and stories told by elders tell the historians who these
             people really were. Some speculate that they travelled from "Labrador to
             Newfoundland across the strait of Belle Isle, which at one time was only
             12 miles wide. By about 200 AD the Beothuk Indians were probably well
             settled into Newfoundland."(Red Ochre, 8)
             The Beothuk were not alone on Newfoundland wither. The Dorset
             Eskimos, who came from Cape Dorset regions of the north around 500 BC also
             shared the island. They presumably had contact with the Beothuk,
             exchanging tools or engaging in battle. In any case the Dorset Indians
             died out leaving Newfoundland empty to the control of the Beothuk people
             who now had no enemies and a wide vast territory. The Beothuk, although
             part of the Algonkian family developed their own language and culture. The
             400 words that are still known from their language prove their Algonkian
             heritage. The development of their culture was a great success. The
             success of the Beothuk people as a whole was in part because of their
             skills in fishing, hunting and travel. They were the "only amerindian
             group to navigate on the high seas."(Grabowski lecture Oct 4,`96.) This
             was because of the construction of t...