Shanawdithit (1801-June 6 1829), also referred to as Nancy April, is believed to have been the last surviving member of the Beothuk people.
She is thought to have been born in 1801. After the capture of Shanawdithit's aunt, Demasduwit, in 1819, the few remaining Beothuk people had fled. She was captured with her mother and sister in the spring of 1823. Her father had died earlier while trying to escape from a group of hunters. The three women were taken to St. John's, where Shanawdithit's mother and sister died.
She was then taken to Exploits Island and worked as a servant in the household of John Peyton Jr. In September 1828, she was taken back to St. John's by William Cormack , who was able to write down much of what she told him about her people. She died in a St. John's hospital of tuberculosis in 1829.
