Vandalism at site honouring Beothuk people is a 'black eye,' says Botwood mayor

Despite a recent string of acts of vandalism, the mayor of a central Newfoundland town says a memorial honouring theBeothuk people in Newfoundland will be ready for its unveiling next month.

Botwood Mayor Jim Sceviour told CBC News he was disappointed to learn the site was damaged by vandals last week.

"It is somewhat of a black eye to our community, and we don't want that. We don't need that. We don't deserve it. And certainly we're in a good relationship with our Indigenous nations and a good collaboration on this project," Sceviour said Wednesday.

The memorial site is "one of the greatest causes in the world," he said.

"I mean, to honour the Beothuk people and Indigenous people, we're all in for it," he said. "And to see this disrespect shown it just hurts to the core to people like yourselves in the community. It's a shocking action."

The RCMP are investigating the vandalism at the memorial site, on Blueberry Hill.

Sceviour said a statue depicting Demasduit one of the last Beothuk people her husband Nonosabasut and their infant will be unveiled Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Demasduit was captured in 1819 by a group of English settlers who killed Nonosabasut. Their son died soon afterward, and she died the following year.

Scevioursaidthe site overlooks Botwood harbour, where Demasduit died.

LISTEN | Sceviour speaks about the vandalism at the Beothuk memorial site:

CBC Newfoundland Morning8:27The mayor of Botwood reacts to vandalism of a Beothuk monument due to be unveiled on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The vandalism was planned, said Sceviour, who explained the site's perimeter is marked by larger and smaller boulders that had to be moved.

"The vandals actually hooked on to one of the boulders and towed away the boulder with some kind of a pickup truck. And then backed the pickup truck up all over the landscaped area, sat the rear of the truck, I guess, around the concrete foundation, and decided to spin their tires."

He said it left black marks all over the concrete. Two more incidences followed in which people drove dirt bikes over the freshly laid seed and topsoil, destroying the work.

Repair work

Sceviour said workers have gone back to the site and repair work is underway so the site can still be unveiled on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.

"They've had to clean the concrete pad itself, get the black marks off. It's quite a bit of work for that," he said.

"These few bumps in the road we're going to get over it, [with] hopefully no other interference from outside sources."

Sceviour said he doesn't know whether the culprits are the same people on all three occasions.

"The RCMP has this under investigation. They've talked to some people and certainly, we're looking for whatever help and leads we can get on this here to arrest or charge these suspects," he said.

Given the nature of the memorial site, he said he hopes racism wasn't a factor. Many people have worked hard on the site, he said, which is a collaboration with the town, government, church groups and all five Indigenous nations in the province.

"What goes through these people's minds to go up and do that kind of destruction?" he said.

Sceviour said the town has big plans for the memorial's official unveiling, where they will be joined by Indigenous chiefs and other support groups.

"I'm sure it's going to be a great day to honour the Beothuk people and also Demasduit and Nonosabasut," he said. "It'll be a sight to behold. No question."

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.