Demasduit ( 1796 – January 8, 1820) was a Beothuk woman, one of the last of her people on Newfoundland. Biography Demasduit was born , near the end of the 18th century. It was once believed that the Beothuk population had been decimated by conflict with European settlers. However, the most reliable research today suggests instead that the Beothuk population was very small, between 500 and 1000 people at the time of European contact, and when European settlers arrived permanently, the Beothuk were cut off from their traditional coastal hunting grounds. Furthermore, there was no one to promote peaceful relations between the Beothuk and the settlers. As Newfoundland's population was so small, a missionary effort could not be supported, and the European governments were mainly interested in marine resources, so no agents were appointed to deal with the native population. Further contributing to the Beothuk's demise was the arrival of European diseases in North America. In the fall of 1818, a small group of Beothuks had captured a boat and some fishing equipment near the mouth of the Exploits River. The governor of the colony, Sir Charles Hamilton, authorized an attempt to recover the stolen property. On March 1, 1819, John Peyton Jr. and eight armed men went up the Exploits River to Red Indian Lake in search of the Beothuks and their equipment. A dozen Beothuk fled the campsite, Demasduit among them. Bogged down in the snow, she exposed her breasts, a nursing mother, begging for mercy. Nonosbawsut, her husband and the leader of the group, was killed while attempting to negotiate for Demasduit’s release. Her infant son died a few days after she was taken. Peyton and his men were absolved of the murder of Nonosbawsut by a grand jury in St. John's, the judge concluding that "[there was] no malice on the part of Peyton's party to get possession of any of [the Indians] by such violence as would occasion bloodshed". Demasduit was taken to Twillingate and for a time lived with the Anglican priest there, Rev. John Leigh. He learned that she was also called Shendoreth and Waunathoake, but he renamed her Mary March, after the Virgin Mary and the month in which she was kidnapped. Demasduit was brought to St. John's and spent much of the spring of 1819 in St. John's, brought there by Leigh and John Peyton Jr. While there, Lady Hamilton painted