Revisiting the Labrador Boundary Decision to Include Indigenous Interpretations of the Region

Abstract

This article examines the lack of Indigenous considerations in settling the Labrador boundary dispute between Quebec and Newfoundland. The Dominion of Newfoundland granted timber permits to the Grand River Pulp and Lumber Company in Labrador in 1902, an act Quebec contested, given its claim to the territory. The final decision by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in 1927 largely relied on Newfoundland’s definition of the word coast, granting Newfoundland significant territory at Quebec’s expense. Ignored throughout the process were the Indigenous peoples of Northern Quebec and the Labrador region. This is significant and, as our analysis of the Inuit, Innut, and Algonquian peoples reveals, their concept of the Labrador territory differed greatly from that of both governments. Influenced by their semi-nomadic lifestyle and trade patterns, their understanding of the Labrador territory was larger than that conceived of by Newfoundland or Quebec. This is substantial and provides us with a fuller understanding of the Labrador boundary dispute, and how the inclusion of Indigenous understandings in the dispute may have impacted decision making. On a broader scale, the paper contributes to regional scholarship on the historical relationships between the governments of Quebec and Newfoundland and the Indigenous peoples of the Labrador region. The fact the JCPC ignored known Indigenous knowledge and worldviews is a reflection of Canada’s colonial history.