Centering Inuit Women in Foreign Encounters: Facets of Life over Four Centuries in Labrador, Canada

Between the 16th and 19th centuries Inuit met and engaged with Basque, French, and English fishers and whalers, Quebec-based concessionaires, and British settlers along the Strait of Belle Isle. These populations shared a maritime tradition and a history of exploration, but their circumstances could not be more different. Crews of European men, intent on extracting resources from the North Atlantic, met with Inuit families with connections to both land and sea. The archaeological evidence indicates that Inuit were key players in the Atlantic trade that developed from these encounters and suggests the work of women’s hands occupied a central role in this trade. We use historical sources in tandem with the archaeological data with an eye to understanding not only how women’s work was a central part of exchange, but how women themselves played key roles, fostering both social and political transformations in Labrador Inuit society more broadly.