Labrador Inuit

The Thule groups that migrated into Labrador around the late thirteenth century settled in a part of the north that was away from the well-traveled migration routes of their cousins. However, the newcomers to Labrador did not settle into a marginal environment. Their new home offered a diversity of marine and terrestrial resources, some of them novel, that by the end of the eighteenth century supported large Inuit communities. While moving into Labrador may have isolated Labrador Inuit from their northern relatives, their interactions with the Western world were early and intense. As a result of history and geography, as well as Inuit adaptability, eighteenth-century Labrador Inuit were participants in a world economy and their culture evolved accordingly, socially, economically, and politically. They adapted to changing environmental and social circumstances, employing technologies and strategies with which their ancestors came to Labrador, while selectively adopting useful European materials and networks.