We do owe them that much

The Scoop with Coop - We've all heard or said the phrase "that'll go down in history". Whether it does actually make it to the history books is one thing, whether it is an event that is remembered and passed down from generation to generation, well that is up to us.

One of the easiest things that can get lost forever is history.

How we became the people we are today, how our communities came into existence, who our forefathers were and where they came from - these are all parts of our history that it is up to us to preserve.

Unfortunately there are some groups that are no longer represented, groups that throughout the history of the province and country are now extinct. One such group is the Beothuk. We have the Beothuk Interpretation Centre in Boyd's Cove that does an absolutely awesome job of preserving the history of the Beothuk. There is however another group out there, the Beothuk Institute, who are also focused on preserving the history of the Beothuk people that once lived in this province.

This group welcomes members of the general public to get out and get involved in preserving the past. The Beothuk Institute is made up of volunteers with a common interest, preserving the history of the Beothuk people and seeing that artifacts and things once belonging to the Beothuk from this province stay where they belong, right here in Newfoundland.

If you have an interest in helping preserve the past, the Beothuk Institute welcomes you as a member. You can get as involved as you wish, there is an annual general meeting each year when people can run for executive positions or you can simply become a paid member and be kept up to date on the work the institute is doing.

The Beothuk Institute itself already has historical significance in this province, they were after all originally formed back in October of 1827; that certainly qualifies as history well in the making.

We can't bring back the Beothuk but we certainly can do all that we can to ensure their history lives on through us, after all we do owe them that much.