Tag Archives: Labrador

Kimutset Labradorimi

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On the left, Tatânga Mânî [Chief Walking Buffalo] [George McLean] is in his traditional First Nation regalia on a horse. In the centre, Iggi and a girl engage in a “kunik,” a traditional greeting in Inuit culture. On the right, Maxime Marion, a Métis guide, holds a rifle. In the background, there is a map of Upper and Lower Canada, and text from the Red River Settlement collection.

This blog is part of our Nations to Nations: Indigenous Voices at Library and Archives Canada series. To read this blog post in Inuttut, visit the e-book.

Nations to Nations: Indigenous Voices at Library and Archives Canada is free of charge and can be downloaded from Apple Books (iBooks format) or from LAC’s website (EPUB format). An online version can be viewed on a desktop, tablet or mobile web browser without requiring a plug-in.

by Jennelle Doyle

Dog sledding has remained at the core of Inuit communities since time immemorial; the use of dog sleds and dog teams is one of many reasons why Inuit are historically such good navigators of the nuna (land). Inuit learned to read the land over time, using their Kimutset (dog teams) to travel long distances, hunt, collect firewood and carry out many other tasks essential to everyday life in Labrador. Kimutset were our ambulances, our freight carriers, our food transporters and our vehicles. Without them during winter, all we had was our feet.

A Kimutsik (dog team) consists of anywhere from 2 to 12 or more Kimmet (husky dogs), depending on what is being towed. The Kimmet are tethered to a Kamutik (sled) by means of an anuk (harness), which is most often made from anuksak (usually sealskin made into harness). Today, anuksak is less commonly used, and rope or cord is favoured.

Black-and-white photograph of a group of dogs sitting on a mound of snow piled against a frame building. Horizontal slats of wood cover a window. A lone dog stands near the lower right corner.

Kimmet, Nain, Nunatsiavut (Labrador), [1920–1922]. (e011369232-023_s1)

Over sea ice, the fan-type anuk is utilized, so that the Kamutik moves more smoothly over the uneven surface. A tandem anuk, where the Kimmet pull single file, is used on occasion, usually in areas with more trees. As you can imagine, not having a Kimutsik in the past was very limiting and, in some cases, dangerous if you could not get out on the nuna/nunak for supplies or to hunt.

Although many mushers have adopted English commands for their Kimutsik, Inuttut commands are still used today. Inuttut commands are being reintroduced in some communities as Inuit highlight the importance of speaking their ancestral language in day-to-day life. Some notable commands are â! (stop!), au/auk (right), ha’ra (left), hau (come), huit! (go! or mush!) and kimmik (heel). Note the important distinction between the capitalized K and the lowercase k in the Roman orthography of Inuttut (Labrador dialect): Kimmik means dog, and kimmik means “a heel.” The two words sound different as well; the first word has an initial “h”-like sound.

Kimmet generally stay outside all year. When my great-grandmother was a child, a sled dog could commonly be seen sleeping on top of an illuk/illusuak (sod house) in aujak (summer). Today, you can find sled dogs in pens or near the sea ice. They are fed KimmiKutitsiak/KimmiKautitsak (dog food), which consists of mainly country food scraps like caribou and arctic char. Utsuk (seal fat) provides Kimmet with energy while keeping them warm in the cold months of ukiuk (winter) and giving them a nice coat.

Then and now

In the early days, settlers who came to Labrador relied heavily on Inuit sled dog guides and locals for survival. The Grenfell Mission, a medical mission in Labrador, established in the late 1800s by Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, would never have reached the majority of Labrador communities and some northern Newfoundland communities had it not been for Inuit guides and their Kimutset. This reliance is outlined in many mission diaries, though Grenfell eventually learned enough about sled dogs to have his own team.

Inuit continue to adjust to an ever-changing environment. The introduction of the snowmobile has certainly led to a decline in the number of dog teams, but you will still find Kimutsik (dog-sled team) across Inuit Nunaat/Nunangat. Dog sledding is now highly recreational, and a favourite tourist attraction in the North. This is a good thing; it supports Inuit mushers and, thus, Inuit families, cultural preservation and practice. There are also annual heritage races in some communities as well as at the Labrador Winter Games, held every three years in Happy Valley–Goose Bay for all communities in Labrador.

Black-and-white photograph of a boy walking towards the viewer in the lower right corner. There are two men on either side of a packed sled in the middle ground. Further in the distance is a group of dogs on harnesses pulling the sled. In the far distance is a large hill with patches of snow.

Inok/Inuuk (two) men with a Kimutsik heading out on the bay, Inuk boy in foreground, Nain, Nunatsiavut (Labrador), [1920–1922]. (e011369232-027_s2)

Vocabulary

  • Anuk – harness
  • Anuksak – harness made from sealskin
  • Kamutik – sled
  • Kimmet – husky dogs (sled dogs)
  • Kimmik – husky dog (sled dog)
  • kimmik – heel (command for dogs)
  • KimmiKutitsiak/KimmiKautitsak – dog food
  • Kimutset – dog teams
  • Kimutsik – dog team
  • Utsuk – seal fat

Labrador Inuttut Dictionary

Jennelle Doyle was an archivist with the Listen, Hear Our Voices initiative at Library and Archives Canada. Jennelle grew up in Churchill Falls, Labrador, her family being from both the south coast of Labrador and the island of Newfoundland. 

Frederick W. Waugh’s time in Nunatsiavut

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On the left of the graphic, Tatânga Mânî [Chief Walking Buffalo] [George McLean] in traditional regalia on horse. In the middle, Iggi and girl engaging in a “kunik”, a traditional greeting in Inuit culture. On the right, Maxime Marion, a Métis guide stands holding a rifle. In the background, there is a map of Upper and Lower Canada, and text from the Red River Settlement collection.

This article contains historical language and content that some may consider offensive, such as language used to refer to racial, ethnic and cultural groups. Please see our historical language advisory for more information.

By Jennelle Doyle

When searching an archive, all too often we find things in places where we would not ordinarily expect. The life journeys of explorers, researchers, anthropologists and other individuals who have donated material to an archive are integral to identifying the scope of a given collection. Frederick W. Waugh was an ethnologist who worked for a time with the Anthropology Division of the Geological Survey of Canada. His visit to the Inuit community of Nain in Nunatsiavut, the region of Inuit Nunangat situated in northern Labrador, in 1921–22 is reflected in a photo album his son R.F. Waugh donated to Library and Archives Canada (LAC).

Frederick Waugh had set out for Labrador in 1921, noting in his journal his intent to photograph and study Montagnais people (now Innu Nation [Naskapi–Montagnais]). However, Waugh ended up at Nain and primarily photographed and documented Inuit who lived in that area. His photographs, in an album at LAC, provide a glimpse into the everyday life of Nainimiut: dogsledding, gathering driftwood, skinning seals, ice fishing and more.

A black and white photograph of three men standing around a group of sled dogs, who are eating. There is a white building in the background.

Three Inuit men feeding sled dogs (e011369232-025)

The album captures an interesting time in the community. In Nunatsiavut, Moravian ties are strong and many Nunatsiavummiut (Inuit of Nunatsiavut) still follow Moravian practices. German-speaking Moravian missionaries from Europe began settling in Labrador in the late 1700s. They established eight missions along the coast, one of which was Nain in 1771. In 1921, the Moravian church in Nain burned down. Waugh’s photographs captured the early efforts to rebuild the church using debris from the original structure (pictured here). The Memorial University Archives has images of the Moravian church before the fire, as well as other photographs of Nain in this period.

A black and white photograph of the ruins of a building with snow-covered items scattered around.

Ruins of Nain’s Moravian Mission, which burned in the fall of 1921, Nunatsiavut. Photo Credit: Waugh (e011369232-018)

The Canadian Museum of History houses copies of similar photographs, as well as Waugh’s journals. His journals from this period were titled “Labrador Eskimo Notes.” These journals provide a detailed account of various medicines, games, hunting practices, food knowledge and customs. As noted in his journals from Labrador, one of his most frequent sources was Amos Voisey.

A black and white photograph of four boys in parkas looking towards the camera. There are two buildings in the background.

Four boys in parkas and black-bottom kamek (sealskin boots) (e011369232-009)

Archives can sometimes be tangled webs that are difficult to navigate. I hope that by highlighting this album, it will help connect some of the dots for others who are interested in content relating to Nain, or Fredrik W. Waugh himself. Some of the names of those pictured in the photos may be inaccurate. We encourage you to reach out if you have any additional information that could help us create a more accurate record.

All in all, these beautiful photographs speak for themselves.

If you are interested in Nain, Nunatsiavut and the Nunatsiavummiut, visit Heather Campbell’s blog about Judith Pauline White.

This blog is part of a series related to the Indigenous Documentary Heritage Initiatives. Learn how Library and Archives Canada (LAC) increases access to First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation collections and supports communities in the preservation of Indigenous language recordings.

Jennelle Doyle is an archivist with the Listen, Hear Our Voices initiative at Library and Archives Canada. Jennelle grew up in Churchill Falls, Labrador, her family being from both the south coast of Labrador and the island of Newfoundland. She has been located in Ottawa since 2019 and is currently a master’s student at the University of Ottawa while continuing her work on the initiative.

Kirkina Mucko at a wedding in Rigolet, Labrador

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On the left of the graphic, Tatânga Mânî [Chief Walking Buffalo] [George McLean] in traditional regalia on horse. In the middle, Iggi and girl engaging in a “kunik”, a traditional greeting in Inuit culture. On the right, Maxime Marion, a Métis guide stands holding a rifle. In the background, there is a map of Upper and Lower Canada, and text from the Red River Settlement collection.

By Heather Campbell

Content warning: This blog contains graphic content (death/medical/amputation) that may be offensive or triggering to some readers.

A black-and-white photograph of a group of men, women and children standing or sitting side by side in a field with flowers. There is water and land behind them, and a dog in the left foreground.

Wedding of Wilfred and Beatrice Shiwak; original title: A wedding party, at Rigolet. Wilfred and Beatrice stand in the centre, while Kirkina Mucko kneels between Wilfred’s mother and Wilfred (e011439717)

When I first began working at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) in 2018, I naturally did a quick search to see what we had from my hometown in Labrador in the collection. I simply typed “Rigolet” and got a few hits, including one record that had yet to be digitized: “A wedding in Rigolet, 1923.” Because it was not digitized, I put it on the back burner and forgot about it until last summer, when I was searching through the International Grenfell Association (IGA) collection from the same time period. I thought I would give it a shot and ordered the box to take a look. When the photos came, I flipped through quickly, looking for that photo; I just had a hunch it was going to be something interesting. After all, the population of my community is only 320, so I was bound to know the family and their relatives.

I finally found it at the back of the batch.

They looked familiar.

Wait, I know that face.

Once, many years ago, I drew a portrait of him for my grandmother’s Christmas present, so I knew that face well. It was indeed him, my great-grandfather “Papa Wilfred,” and standing to his left was my grandmother’s mother, Beatrice! For all those years, the photo was tucked away in the archives, and I could finally show it to my family members back home!

I posted the image to Facebook, tagging Project Naming in the hope that we might be able to identify more people in the photo. Within minutes, we were in luck. The woman standing to his right is his mother, Sarah Susanna, and kneeling between them is well-known Inuk nurse Kirkina Mucko (born Elizabeth Jeffries). Reports vary, but local lore says that Elizabeth’s mother was in labour and her father went to find a midwife. When he got back to their home, his wife and their newborn baby had died, and little Elizabeth, age two, had severe frostbite on her legs and gangrene had set in. There were no doctors in the vicinity. He made the difficult decision to amputate Elizabeth’s legs himself using an axe. To stop the bleeding, he put her legs in a flour barrel! An article from years later states that when the local doctor Wilfred Grenfell (who later became Sir Wilfred Grenfell) learned of her story, he wept. Consequently, Grenfell took Elizabeth to the orphanage in St. Anthony, Newfoundland, and was able to raise money to provide her with artificial limbs. She travelled with him to the United States and Mexico to help raise funds for the IGA. The IGA provided health care to everyone in Labrador at that time, as well as conducting other charitable endeavours.

A black-and-white photograph of a large group of men, women and children standing on a pier with water behind them and a boat and land in the distance.

People from 20 miles around gathered for the annual service of the Anglican clergyman Parson Gordon, who is wearing his robes and standing toward the right of the group (e011439717)

Later, a doctor in Boston, for reasons unknown, changed her name to Kirkina. As stated by other Inuit regarding this era, Inuit children in southern hospitals were sometimes treated like pets. As such, they were taken home and raised by hospital staff, never to be heard from again by their families in the Arctic. I presume that this attitude is what led the doctor to change Elizabeth’s name. Her name changed once more when she was married and became Kirkina Mucko.

During the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic, Kirkina lost her husband and between three and six of her children (some accounts may have included her stepchildren, which would explain the discrepancy). Spurred by this immense loss, Kirkina decided to become a nurse. She received her training and went on to specialize in midwifery. Her career spanned 36 years! Many mentions of Kirkina Mucko and her amazing story can be found in newspaper articles as well as in writings from the IGA, many of which are in the holdings at LAC. In 2008, the local women’s shelter in Rigolet was named Kirkina House as a tribute to her strength and perseverance.

This blog is part of a series related to the Indigenous Documentary Heritage Initiatives. Learn how Library and Archives Canada (LAC) increases access to First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation collections and supports communities in the preservation of Indigenous language recordings.

Heather Campbell is an Inuk artist originally from Nunatsiavut, Newfoundland and Labrador. She was a researcher on the We Are Here: Sharing Stories team at Library and Archives Canada.

New additions to Newfoundland and Labrador album now on Flickr

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A black-and-white photograph of four men in kayaks with a rocky outcropping in the background.

Four men kayaking, Turnavik, Labrador (MIKAN 3377220)

Land was sighted in June 1497 after just over a month of travel, and John Cabot is credited with the second discovery of North America, and Newfoundland which celebrates the event as Discovery Day.

Visit the Flickr album now!