|
2030, Monday, July 24, 2023
The Inuit were here first. They came before the Basques or the Norwegians who came to hunt whales. They came before Europeans arrived to harvest cod and create fishing outports and villages on this coast of Labrador. They came before fish processing plants were built in harbors. They came before the Hudson Bay Company worked this coast trading and trapping for furs.
I have been struck, over the past week, to see the rusting hulks of whale catcher boats, closed and crumbling fish plants, ghost towns of resettled outport villages that are nothing more than a window to the memory of those who came to harvest the bounty of natural resources here in Labrador. It sometimes seems as if these people from afar came and took from the land and the sea and then left, leaving behind the vestiges of their harvest. These places are still rich in natural beauty; but, have a haunting feel of those who came, reaped and for one reason or another, left. Photos of these places are at the bottom of this email.
The Inuit remain.
Yesterday we arrived in Makkovik, one of the Inuit communities of this coast. We visited a craft center with wondrous handcrafts, visited the local museum and met and talked with many of the 350 residents. Makkovik both struggles and survives. The Inuit still live here and adapt to a changing world. Many youths are tempted by a life in Goose Bay, St.John's or beyond. They were here first, and they are still here making a life in the north.
We have found everyone warm and welcoming. They share with us in ways that are giving and vibrant. Their visages, smiles and eyes shine. Larry, his wife and granddaughter came down to Tazzarin this evening with arctic char and smoked salmon and wanted nothing in return. A photo of Larry's wife and granddaughter is at the top of this email. Good, warm people whom I will remember. These people still harvest from the sea. When others are gone, the Inuit remain.
Bill
| 
