“The Collapse of the Beothuk World” by Pastore, examines the significance of the Newfoundland aboriginal peoples who became extinct in 1829. Pastore reflects upon archaeological, historical, and linguistic information to help produce clarity of how this group of natives, known as the Beothuks, ceased to survive. Pastor and Holly have come to the conclusion that it is based on the fragile food resources pre-contact, the avoidance and lack of use for European contact, and therefore the loss of coastal food resources and migration inland. However, in “Beothuk on the Eve of Extinction”, Holly believes that the Beothuks were active members in their isolation, resisting and creating havoc for the Europeans along the way. Although, there have been instances of native populations becoming extinct before the arrival of Europeans, it is “very likely because of changes in the availability of vital food resources.” (Pastore 1989, 55) However, with the Beothuk, the arrival of Europeans pushed the Beothuk people out of their land and away from their available food resources. With a pre-existing fragile and seasonally available food sources, an interruption in hunting and gathering of one season could have been enough to diminish populations substantially. “Newfoundland native groups had little margin for survival if one of their major food resources, caribou or harp seal, failed. A few years of such failures might well cause the sort of extinctions that appear.” (Pastore 1989, 55) Archaeological evidence shows instances of extinct native populations prior to European contact “very likely because of changes in the availability of vital food resources.” (Pastore 1989, 55) Pastore and Holly each have a different idea to why the Beothuk’s withdrew from the Europeans and moved into the deep interior of the island. Pastore believes it was merely because the relationship wasn’t useful. There was an absence of missionaries in Newfoundland at the time, and the Europeans knew how to retrieve coastal resources independently. Archaeological facts hint, “that the Beothuks did not need to enter into a fur trade to obtain European goods, especially metal objects.” (Pastore 1989, 57) They would scavenge the beaches in the winters after the European fishermen left, and would find a variety of tools and debris that they used for onshore fishing. This forced the whites to trap their own furs on the island during the 17th century. Holly argued, “The avoidance and resistance in the late historic peiod should not be viewed as a radical idea.” (Holly 2000, 86) He believes that the movements emerged out of a context of economic and cultural ideologies. Beothuks who chose to live with white men would be sacrificed upon returning to the band and would continue to be punished after death. “Traitors were both socially and spiritually ostracized from their community.” (Holly 2000, 86) Holly states that on several occasions Beothuks were actively challenging European intrusion rather than fleeing from it. Also instead of gathering scrap metals from the beach it is suggested that they “regularly destroyed equipment and firearms, burned boats or cut them loose, killed and wounded livestock, and even soiled laundry with human excrement.” (Holly 2000, 88) Pastore focused on the fact that Beothuks were passive and worked around the Settlers, and Holly believed that the Beothuks were actively pursuing their own social agenda’s. Perhaps the truth lied somewhere between both of these theories. References Holly, Donald H. “The Beothuk on the Eve of Their Extinction.” Arctic Anthropology 37, no. 1 (2000): 79-95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40316519. Pastore, Ralph. “The Collapse of the Beothuk World” Acadiensis [Online], Volume 19 Number 1 (9 September 1989)