A History of Newfoundland and Labrador

• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Land and its First Peoples
• Chapter 2 European Encounters: Vikings and Basques
• Chapter 3 The Migratory Fishery and Early Settlement
• Chapter 4 A Contested Land: English and French Rivalry
• Chapter 5 The Rise of St. John's and the English Shore
• Chapter 6 The West Country Merchants and the Fishing Admirals
• Chapter 7 Life in the Outports: Society and Culture
• Chapter 8 The Struggle for Representative Government
• Chapter 9 The Era of Responsible Government
• Chapter 10 The Labrador Boundary Dispute
• Chapter 11 The Railway Age and Dreams of Progress
• Chapter 12 The Great War: The Newfoundland Regiment and the Home Front
• Chapter 13 The Tumultuous Twenties and the Great Depression
• Chapter 14 The Commission of Government
• Chapter 15 A Strategic Outpost: World War II
• Chapter 16 The Confederation Debates: A Nation Divided
• Chapter 17 Joining Canada: The Smallwood Era
• Chapter 18 Resettlement and the Centralization of a People
• Chapter 19 The Cod Moratorium: A Way of Life Ends
• Chapter 20 From Fishing to Oil: The Offshore Revolution
• Chapter 21 Indigenous Peoples in the Modern Era
• Chapter 22 A Cultural Renaissance: Arts and Identity
• Chapter 23 Politics and Society in Contemporary Newfoundland and Labrador
• Chapter 24 Economic Diversification in the 21st Century
• Chapter 25 Forging a Future: Challenges and Hopes

To understand the story of Newfoundland and Labrador is to understand a place shaped by the sea. This easternmost edge of North America, a rugged island and a vast mainland, has a history carved by its geography, its resources, and the relentless North Atlantic. It is a story of arrivals and departures, of hardship and resilience, and of a unique culture forged in isolation. For centuries, its fortunes rose and fell with the abundance of fish in its surrounding waters, a resource that drew people from across the ocean and determined the very pattern of their lives.

The narrative of this place does not begin with the arrival of Europeans. For thousands of years, it was home to Indigenous peoples, including the ancestors of the Innu, Inuit, and Mi'kmaq, who thrived in this challenging environment. The island of Newfoundland was also the territory of the Beothuk, a people who would tragically become extinct in the early 19th century. The first fleeting European presence came around 1000 AD, when Norse explorers established a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows on the island's northern peninsula. While this Viking outpost was eventually abandoned, it marked the first chapter of European contact with the Americas.

The story of permanent European involvement began in earnest in 1497 with the voyage of John Cabot, who claimed the land for England. What followed was not a rush to colonize in the traditional sense, but a seasonal pilgrimage of fishing crews from England, France, Portugal, and Spain. The waters off Newfoundland, particularly the Grand Banks, were teeming with cod, a resource that would become the economic engine of the region for the next four centuries. This migratory fishery, a global enterprise of its time, initially discouraged permanent settlement, as powerful fishing interests in England sought to keep the island as a mere fishing station.

Despite these official policies, a resident population slowly took root. The first sponsored English colony was established at Cupids in 1610, followed by others, including George Calvert's settlement at Ferryland. These early settlements were often precarious, facing harsh weather, the challenges of a new environment, and the constant threat of conflict between England and France. For more than a century, Newfoundland was a contested territory, with both nations vying for control of its strategic location and rich fishing grounds. The French established a significant presence at Placentia, and the island became a battleground in the larger imperial struggles of Europe. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 solidified British control but granted the French fishing rights on a significant portion of the coastline, known as the "French Shore," an arrangement that would have long-lasting implications.

The 18th and 19th centuries saw the slow transition from a migratory fishery to a resident one, with a permanent population drawn largely from the West Country of England and southeastern Ireland. This unique demographic mix, predominantly English Protestant and Irish Catholic, would shape the cultural and political landscape for generations to come. The system of governance also evolved, from the rough justice of the "fishing admirals" to the appointment of a naval governor and, eventually, the establishment of representative and responsible government in the 19th century.

The history of Labrador, while intertwined with Newfoundland, follows its own distinct path. Long the home of the Innu and Inuit, Labrador's coast also attracted European enterprise, initially a Basque whaling industry in the 16th century and later a cod and seal fishery. The vast interior remained largely the domain of Indigenous peoples and fur traders. The question of Labrador's political affiliation was a subject of dispute for many years, with both Quebec and Newfoundland laying claim to the territory. It was not until 1927 that the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London finalized the boundary, confirming Labrador as part of Newfoundland.

Newfoundland's political journey in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was marked by a strong sense of independence. In 1869, the colony decisively rejected the idea of joining the newly formed Dominion of Canada, choosing instead to chart its own course within the British Empire. In 1907, Newfoundland achieved Dominion status, a recognition of its self-governing autonomy. This period was one of relative prosperity and national pride, symbolized by the construction of a railway across the island and a growing sense of a distinct Newfoundland identity.

However, the 20th century would bring immense challenges. The First World War exacted a terrible toll, both in human lives and in economic hardship. The Great Depression of the 1930s delivered a final, devastating blow to the Dominion's fragile economy, which was still heavily reliant on the fluctuating fortunes of the fishery. By 1934, facing bankruptcy, Newfoundland relinquished its responsible government and was placed under the authority of a Commission of Government appointed by Britain. This suspension of democracy was a profound and controversial moment in the nation's history.

The Second World War brought a dramatic change in fortunes. Newfoundland's strategic location in the North Atlantic made it a vital outpost for the Allied war effort. The influx of Canadian and American military personnel and the construction of massive air and naval bases brought unprecedented prosperity and reconnected Newfoundland to the North American mainland in a significant way. In the post-war era, the question of Newfoundland's future once again came to the forefront. A series of heated and divisive referendums in 1948 presented the people with three choices: a continuation of the Commission of Government, a return to independent Dominion status, or confederation with Canada. In a narrow vote, the people chose to join Canada, and on March 31, 1949, Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province.

The decades following Confederation were a period of profound social and economic transformation. The first provincial government, led by Joseph R. Smallwood, embarked on an ambitious program of modernization, industrialization, and centralization. This included a controversial resettlement program that saw the relocation of thousands of people from small, isolated outport communities to larger growth centers. While intended to improve access to services and create new economic opportunities, resettlement also resulted in the loss of traditional ways of life and a deep sense of dislocation for many.

The fishery, the historical backbone of the economy, also underwent significant changes. The salt cod industry gave way to a frozen fish industry, and the inshore fishery was increasingly supplemented by a large-scale offshore trawler fleet. This industrialization placed immense pressure on fish stocks, particularly northern cod. In 1992, the federal government of Canada imposed a moratorium on cod fishing, a decision that had a catastrophic impact on the provincial economy and the social fabric of hundreds of coastal communities. It was the end of a 500-year-old way of life and a defining moment in the modern history of the province.

In the wake of the cod moratorium, Newfoundland and Labrador has been forced to reinvent itself. The discovery and development of offshore oil and gas reserves have brought a new era of economic prosperity, but also new challenges. The province has also seen a cultural renaissance, a renewed interest in its unique traditions, music, and dialect. The Indigenous peoples of the province have become increasingly assertive in their claims to land and self-government, leading to the creation of the Nunatsiavut government in northern Labrador.

The story of Newfoundland and Labrador is one of a people and a place at the edge of a continent, shaped by the forces of nature, the tides of history, and the enduring quest for a sustainable future. It is a history of resilience in the face of adversity, of a culture that is both deeply rooted in the past and constantly evolving to meet the challenges of the present. From the ancient Indigenous cultures to the Vikings, the migratory fishermen, the colonial settlers, and the citizens of a modern Canadian province, the narrative of this land is as rich, complex, and dramatic as the ocean that has always defined it.

Before any ship breached the horizon, before any European cast a net or drew a map, the place we now call Newfoundland and Labrador was a land already ancient, sculpted by immense forces over unimaginable spans of time and home to peoples who had thrived there for millennia. Its story begins not with human endeavor, but with the slow, powerful ballet of geology. The very rocks of this place tell a tale of colliding continents and the grinding retreat of colossal ice sheets. Labrador is the easternmost extension of the Canadian Shield, a vast expanse of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rock, some of the oldest on Earth. The island of Newfoundland, a roughly triangular landmass of its own, is a geological mosaic, largely an extension of the Appalachian mountain system. Its striking peninsulas and deep bays, which today shelter quiet outports, are the legacy of mountain ranges that buckled and folded when ancient continents collided.

The topography of the province is a direct result of this deep history. Labrador’s interior is a sprawling plateau, averaging about 450 meters above sea level, dissected by powerful rivers like the Churchill. Its northern coast is dramatically different, a serrated landscape dominated by the Torngat Mountains, which contain the highest peaks in eastern continental Canada, including Mount Caubvick at 1,652 meters. This is a subarctic and arctic tundra environment, a starkly beautiful region of jagged peaks and deep fjords that has been home to the Inuit and their ancestors for centuries. The island of Newfoundland presents a varied face. Its west coast is marked by the Long Range Mountains, an abrupt rise from the coastal plain that gives way to a plateau sloping gently toward the east. The interior is an undulating landscape of hills, barrens, and countless lakes and ponds, while the coastline is a famously irregular fringe of headlands, coves, and islands.

This raw landscape was given its final, decisive shaping during the last ice age. A massive sheet of ice, kilometers thick, covered the entirety of the land, scraping it clean of life and carving its features with relentless force. When the glaciers finally retreated some 18,000 years ago, they left behind a scoured land, a tabula rasa upon which life would have to re-establish itself. The meltwaters filled the gouged-out basins, creating the thousands of lakes and ponds that dot the interior. The immense weight of the ice had pressed the land down, and as it melted, the sea flooded the newly-depressed coastlines, creating the deep, fjord-like bays that characterize so much of the province. This glacial legacy is everywhere, from the thin, acidic soils to the stony barrens and the very shape of the land upon which people would eventually make their homes.

Into this new, post-glacial world came the first people, migrating across a landscape slowly being reclaimed by plants and animals. The human history of Newfoundland and Labrador is a complex tapestry of different cultures arriving, adapting, and sometimes disappearing over thousands of years. The earliest arrivals, known to archaeologists as the Maritime Archaic Indians, first appeared in Labrador as early as 9,000 years ago. These were highly successful hunter-gatherers, adept at exploiting the resources of both the land and, crucially, the sea. Their name reflects this maritime focus; they hunted seals, walrus, and seabirds, and fished for salmon and cod. Evidence of their presence has been found along the entire coast of Labrador and across the island of Newfoundland.

The Maritime Archaic people were skilled artisans, crafting beautiful and functional tools from stone. They are particularly known for their ground and polished slate implements, including long, bayonet-like spear points and woodworking tools like gouges and adzes. They also established long-distance trade networks, evidenced by the discovery of tools made from Ramah chert, a distinctive translucent stone found only in northern Labrador, at archaeological sites as far south as Maine. They had a rich spiritual life, exemplified by elaborate burial practices. At Port au Choix, on Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula, archaeologists have excavated three large cemeteries dating back between 3,300 and 4,400 years. The graves contained numerous offerings, including tools, weapons, and ornaments, and were sprinkled with powdered red ochre, a pigment that held deep ceremonial significance. One of the most remarkable Maritime Archaic sites is at L'Anse Amour in southern Labrador, where a young person was buried in a large mound over 7,500 years ago, making it one of the oldest known burial mounds in the world. After a residency of several thousand years, the Maritime Archaic people seem to disappear from the archaeological record on the island of Newfoundland around 3,200 years ago, a departure that remains a puzzle for archaeologists. In Labrador, however, their cultural traditions appear to have persisted and evolved.

Following the disappearance of the Maritime Archaic from the island, a new people arrived from the north. These were the Paleo-Eskimos, Arctic peoples who migrated south into Labrador and across the Strait of Belle Isle. Archaeologists divide them into two main cultural groups: the Groswater culture, which existed from about 2,800 to 2,150 years ago, and the Dorset culture, which followed and persisted until about 800 years ago. The Groswater people, named after Groswater Bay in Labrador where their artifacts were first identified, were skilled hunters of seals, especially harp seals, and other marine life. They were expert stone workers, chipping delicate and precise tools from chert, a type of quartz.

The Dorset culture that followed was even more widespread and long-lasting, occupying coastal sites throughout Newfoundland and Labrador for well over a thousand years. They were a remarkable people who adapted brilliantly to the harsh subarctic environment. Their technology was based on bone, ivory, and stone, and included harpoons for hunting seals and walrus, small soapstone lamps for light and heat, and tiny, exquisitely carved animal and human figures that speak to a rich artistic and spiritual life. They lived in semi-subterranean houses, dug partially into the ground and roofed with skins and turf for insulation against the biting winds. Large Dorset sites, like the one at Port au Choix, suggest that they lived in substantial communities with a long-term commitment to a particular area. Like the Maritime Archaic before them, the Dorset culture eventually vanished. The reason for their disappearance is not definitively known, though it may be linked to a combination of climate change and the arrival of new peoples.

The final waves of Indigenous migration in the pre-contact era brought the ancestors of the peoples who live in the province today. Around 2,000 years ago, ancestors of the Innu moved into the interior of Labrador. The Innu are an Algonkian-speaking people whose traditional life revolved around the hunting of the great caribou herds of the Labrador-Quebec peninsula, a pattern of seasonal migration that defined their society for centuries.

About 700 to 800 years ago, the ancestors of today's Labrador Inuit, a people of the Thule culture, migrated to Labrador from the Canadian Arctic. These masterful sea-mammal hunters traveled in large, open skin boats called umiaks and single-person kayaks. Their culture was centered on the hunting of whales, seals, and walrus, and they were able to thrive along the rugged northern coast. They are the direct ancestors of the Inuit who live in the northern Labrador communities of Nain, Hopedale, Makkovik, Postville, and Rigolet today.

On the island of Newfoundland, the people who inhabited the land in the centuries leading up to European contact were the Beothuk. They are considered the descendants of an earlier culture known as the Little Passage Complex. The Beothuk were Algonkian-speaking hunter-gatherers who, like all peoples before them, adapted their lives to the seasonal rhythms of the island. They spent much of the year along the coast, fishing for salmon and hunting seals and other marine life. In the fall, they moved inland to intercept the migrating caribou herds, which were their most important resource. They constructed clever "deer fences," or drive lines, sometimes stretching for miles, to funnel the caribou towards waiting hunters. Caribou provided not only meat, but also skins for clothing and lodge covers, and bones and antlers for tools.

The Beothuk lived in cone-shaped dwellings called mamateeks, which were covered with birchbark or skins. They were skilled artisans, building light and elegant birchbark canoes that were superior for river and coastal travel. A distinctive feature of Beothuk culture was their use of red ochre, a powdered iron oxide mixed with grease, which they applied to their bodies, clothes, and tools. This practice, which had deep cultural significance, led early European visitors to refer to them as "Red Indians," a term that would later be misapplied to all North American Indigenous peoples. The Beothuk population was likely never large, perhaps numbering no more than a thousand individuals at the time of European arrival. Tragically, as we shall see, a combination of factors following European contact would lead to their complete extinction by 1829.

The question of when the Mi'kmaq people first came to the island of Newfoundland is a matter of some debate among historians, though Mi'kmaq oral tradition holds that they have been on the island since before the arrival of Europeans. The Mi'kmaq are an Algonkian-speaking people whose homeland traditionally included what is now Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and parts of New Brunswick and the Gaspé Peninsula. There is historical and archaeological evidence suggesting their presence in Newfoundland by the 16th and 17th centuries, hunting, fishing, and trapping along the south and west coasts. They were expert canoeists and navigators, and they incorporated the island into a wider "domain of islands" that connected them to their relatives in Cape Breton and the mainland.

Thus, when John Cabot made his landfall in 1497, he did not arrive at an empty land. Newfoundland and Labrador was a place with a deep and complex human history stretching back at least 9,000 years. It was a land inhabited by diverse and resilient peoples—the Innu in the vast interior of Labrador, the Inuit along its northern coast, and the Beothuk and Mi'kmaq on the island of Newfoundland. Each had their own language, their own culture, and a profound connection to a land that had sustained their ancestors for countless generations. They were the First Peoples, and their story is the essential first chapter in the long and often turbulent history of Newfoundland and Labrador.