Older than the pyramids

Experience Indigenous heritage in Newfoundland and Labrador

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DARCY RHYNO

The wind is whipping across the Gulf of St. Lawrence and onto this barren Newfoundland shoreline. Bracing myself against it while standing at the foot of the Point Riche Lighthouse, I imagine the glass atop the tower, rattling beneath its red metal roof as it has since 1892.

I think of the lighthouse just outside Port-au-Choix on the western shores of the Great Northern Peninsula as a historic structure, deserving of its heritage status. But the wind has been blowing across these wild meadows, running down to the rocky shore where caribou browse, since ancient times.

On this site, human activity predates Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.

The history of Indigenous peoples in Newfoundland and Labrador runs millennia deep and across at least half a dozen distinct cultures. Tracing that long thread through the past is no straightforward task. The tapestry of Indigenous history is so worn by time, some pieces are threadbare.

The story begins more than 7,000 years ago with what archeologists call the Maritime Archaic Indians. Inside the interpretation centre near the lighthouse, I discover artifacts and detailed exhibitions that tell the story of these earliest inhabitants from 7500 to 3500 BP (years before present). Barbed harpoon heads, expertly carved from bone, prove these people were hunters of seal and other marine animals.

Archeologists discovered evidence of the Maritime Archaic Indians from 117 human remains in ancient burial sites in this area, including in the middle of the town of Port-au-Choix and across the gulf in southern Labrador. One site dating from 7500 BP contained the remains of a 12-year-old. That person aside, the evidence suggests they were a healthy people who lived an average of 43 years and led an active, peaceful lifestyle: hunting seals, fishing, and gathering berries, birds’ eggs, and shellfish.

Maritime Archaic cemetery monument in the town of Port au Choix.

Photo: Darcy Rhyno

Other Indigenous inhabitants followed. The Groswater and Dorset Paleoeskimos chose this prime hunting territory between 2800 and 1100 BP, arriving just a few hundred years after Maritime Archaic Indians disappeared. Some 50 house depressions in the ground and thousands of artifacts suggest the Dorsets were a more permanent population.

Because the Groswater and Dorsets migrated south from the Arctic, visitors can make connections to their stories in the Torngat Mountains National Park on the tip of northern Labrador. This remote, wild region is accessible only with a permit and on guided excursions. There are no roads. The rewards of visiting this grand and beautiful landscape of sawtooth mountains and deep fjords are many, particularly when experienced with Inuit elders and young guides from Nunatsiavut and Nunavik, starting at a shared base camp. Whales, polar bears, and caribou are commonly spotted on hikes and other outings, one of which leads to an Inuit burial site.

South of the park in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, learn more about the Indigenous people of the region at the Labrador Interpretation Centre. Through artifacts, recordings, and exhibitions, learn about the history and life of Innu, Inuit, and NunatuKavut Inuit people. In Nain, drop into the new Illusuak Cultural Centre to see exhibits and shop for arts and crafts. Many of Labrador’s Indigenous sites and experiences are only accessible via the passenger ferry that plies the coast. Book Indigenous accommodations, tour guides, and interpreters to make the most of a visit.

Vikings settled in northern Newfoundland about 500 years before European colonization. Both discovered the Beothuk people already occupied the land.

Artifacts at the interpretation centre.

Photo: Darcy Rhyno

Tragically, these European settlers would unleash disease and racist government policies, leading to the extinction of the Beothuk. Some 300 years ago, Beothuk lived in a village at what is now Boyd’s Cove near Twillingate. At the end of a 1.5-kilometre walking trail, the Beothuk Interpretation Centre Provincial Historic Site tells the story of this village. The Beothuk chose the site because it was protected from the elements and provided resources such as fresh water.

Port au Choix National Historic Site.

Photo: Darcy Rhyno

Along the trail, a sculpture of a Beothuk woman evokes the memory of the last known member of her people. Shawnadithit died in 1829 in of tuberculosis and was buried in St. John’s. Observation decks overlook house pits that mark the location of the village. In the Spirit Garden, interpreters sometimes host commemorative events. Inside the interpretation centre, artefacts and exhibits tell the story of a vanished people.

Continuing east to St. John’s, the dramatic provincial museum known as The Rooms houses a permanent exhibition that tells a recent story, also tainted with tragedy. In Their Own Words: Life for Labrador Students at Residential School reflects the spirit of reconciliation between colonizers and Indigenous peoples, a process the entire country is grappling with. Through artifacts, art, and archival material, The Rooms sheds light on this corner of Canada as it comes to terms with the oppression and abuse of Indigenous peoples.

Today, descendents of two Mi’kmaq bands, Miawpukek First Nation and Qalipu First Nation, live on the island. Every July, the Miawpukek host a mawiomi, or gathering, at the mouth of the Conne River on the south coast. It’s a colourful and joyous occasion with lots of music, dancing, and ceremonies. At the Mi’kmaq Discovery Centre, check out the work of local artists and watch for workshops in which you can try your hand at Indigenous crafts such as jewellery making.

Some of Miawpukek’s artisans exhibit their work and tell the story of their community at the Discovery Centre in Gros Morne National Park on the west coast. Artisans like Pam Hall and Jerry Evans celebrate their people’s oral history that tells of the continuous presence of the Mi’kmaq on Newfoundland.

From ancient times to today, the province’s Indigenous inhabitants have called this land home far longer than any lighthouse has marked time on the windy shores. It’s worth getting to know Newfoundland and Labrador’s history of human occupation predating the pyramids.

Local accommodations with Indigenous connections

Pirates Haven

Four-star riverside chalets and a seaside RV park.

Location: Robinsons, about 30 kilometres south of Stephenville on Newfoundland’s west coast. Guided ATV rides, fly fishing, fly tying, beach cookouts. pirateshavenadventures.com

Appalachian Chalets

Colourful, new chalets and an RV park.

Location: Corner Brook.

ATV riding, snowmobiling and hiking on the Appalachian Trail. appalachianchaletsrv.ca

Royal Inn and Suites

40 rooms right in town.

Location: Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador

Featuring made-in-Labrador soaps, fitness room, business centre, and complimentary shuttle to airport and ferry services. royalinnandsuites.ca

Basinview Bed & Breakfast

Four rooms with water views.

Location: Red Bay, Labrador WiFi, laundry service, store and four RV sites with hookups, showers. www.labradorcoastaldrive.com/ home/199

Alexis Hotel

Location: Port Hope Simpson, Labrador WiFi, conference room, restaurant, fishing, boat tours, skiing, dog sledding and customized itineraries. www.alexishotel.ca