The harsh winds of the North Atlantic roll ceaselessly across rocky islets off the north coast of Newfoundland. These outcroppings of rock, crowned only in mosses and lichens, serve as cemeteries for people of a lost culture. For centuries, the Beothuk people came to these islands in 18-foot birchbark canoes bearing the bodies of friends and family. The dead were placed in graves dug in the meager soil, or under rocky overhangs, wrapped or covered in birchbark. Bark containers, tools, and sometimes model canoes barely the length of an arm…
