Nunatsiavut - autonomous area in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Nunatsiavut is a vast but sparsely-populated rural area in northern Labrador which comprises five widely-scattered native villages (Nain, Hopedale, Postville, Makkovik and Rigolet) and three abandoned ghost towns (Hebron, Okak and Nutak) spread across over 72,000 square kilometres of land.

Understand

This is Inuit land, vast, expansive, remote, sparsely-populated and bitterly cold in winter. In Inuttitut, Nunatsiavut means "Our Beautiful Land". It has a population of about 2,200 people (2006), and includes territory larger than the Republic of Ireland.

Nunatsiavut is an autonomous area belonging to the Inuit indigenous people (formerly called "Eskimo", a term they consider to be pejorative) in Labrador. In 2005, the new Government of Nunatsiavut was established, and was given responsibility for health, education and cultural affairs. It is also responsible for holding elections for the Nunatsiavut Assembly. A primary objective of autonomy is for the preservation of the Inuit culture and language, as well as the environment through environmental stewardship.

Get in

There are no roads. The Trans-Labrador Highway leads as far as Goose Bay, where the voyage further north is made by sea or air.

• Nunatsiavut Marine, Lewisporte. Seasonal coastal ferry from Goose Bay to the various individual coastal villages, terminating in Nain.
• Air Labrador, +1 709 896-6730. Various bush planes fly north from Goose Bay.

Get around

In winter, the best way to get around is by snowmobile. In summer, there is a limited road network within each village; intercity transport is by coastal boat.

See

• Net Loft Museum, Rigolet. A restored 1876 Hudson's Bay Company building which once housed that company's local salmon fishery. A cultural interpretation centre, the Lord Strathcona House is a replica of "the grandest house in all of Labrador" where Donald Smith (who became Lord Strathcona) lived while working with HBC.
• Torngâsok Cultural Centre, 25 Ikajuktauvik Road, Nain, +1 709 922-2942. Museum and community centre.

A few national historic sites commemorate the early Moravian Mission Presence in the region:

• Hebron Mission Station is a ghost town that was founded in 1831 and then abandoned in 1959.
• Hopedale Mission Complex is a group of seven historic buildings built as a Moravian mission to the Inuit which began in 1782.
• Okak Mission Station

Do

One may visit Torngat Mountains National Park by boat or charter plane from Nain. Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve is accessible by boat from Rigolet (pop. 269), the most southerly Inuit community in the world.

• Torngat Mountains National Park, 59.4358°, -63.8631°, +1 709 922-1290 (English), +1 709 458-2417 (French). 9,700 km² of mountains and wilderness extend from Saglek Fjord in the south to the northern tip of Labrador, eastward to the Labrador Sea and west to Nunavik in Québec. Icebergs, migratory caribou herds, polar bears and the highest mountain peaks east of the Rockies.
• Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve (Innu:"Akami-uapishku", Labrador Inuit: "KakKasuak"), +1 709 458-2417. A 10,700 km² national park reserve established 2015 to protect boreal forest, caribou, Atlantic salmon and trout, wolves, black bear, marten and fox, mountains, tundra, fjords and expansive native landscapes. A 50 km stretch of sandy beaches at the edge of the park, known since Viking times as the Wunderstrand, is suitable for hiking. Access is by boat from Rigolet or Cartwright; charter flights are available from Goose Bay.

Buy

Various native crafts (such as stone and caribou antler carvings, handmade slippers, seal skins, woven baskets and bowls) are available in the villages.

Eat

Traditionally hunting was the main source of food in this area; ptarmigan and grouse, hare, caribou, moose, ducks, goose, and seal are all harvested locally. Fishers catch salmon, arctic char, trout, smelt, cod, and snow crab. Wild birds eggs are gathered locally, along with berries such as bakeapples/cloudberry, blueberry, and partridgeberry (redberry or lingonberry).

The few grocery stores bring in a limited selection of non-local foods (starches, fruits, vegetables and meats). As costs are higher, these items normally complement (but do not replace) local foodstuffs.

Drink

Each native community is able to establish an "alcohol committee" with the power to impose restrictions within its respective village.

There is one bar (a hotel lounge) in Nain.

Beer can be purchased in Nain or Hopedale. Hard liquor can’t be purchased locally, but can be ordered from Goose Bay.

Natuashish voted by referendum to ban alcohol from the village entirely in 2008. The village, constructed as a $200 million planned community in 2002, was a replacement for a 1967-era shantytown at Davis Inlet with a painful history of alcoholism and addiction and all the social problems that go along with it. Please respect this history by refraining from smuggling drugs or alcohol into Natuashish.

Sleep

Hopedale

• Amaguk Inn, Hopedale, +1 709 933-3750, amagukinn@gmail.com. Hotel with lounge and dining room, airport transportation, fax/photocopy service, Internet, room service.

Makkovik

• Adlavik Inn, +1 709 923-2389, tyesgrandma@hotmail.com. Five-room inn with small restaurant serving traditional cuisines and local harvest.

Nain

• Atsanik Lodge, Sand Banks Road, Nain, +1 709 922-2910, atsaniklabrador@msn.com. Full-service hotel with lounge, dining room/restaurant, banquet/meeting facilities, room service, airport transportation, Internet.

Postville

• North Coast Hospitality, Postville, +1 709 479-9766, amagukinn@gmail.com. Hotel accommodation, office space, TV and internet.
• Jayda's Place B&B, Postville, +1 709 479-9741. Breakfast, lunch, supper, TV and Internet in rooms.

Rigolet

• Blake's Efficiency Units, Rigolet, +1 709 947-3307. Four efficiency units with one or two double beds, kitchenette/living room, Internet.
• Sinittavik Bed & Breakfast, Rigolet, +1 709 947-3459, sandibest@hotmail.com. Four rooms with TV, telephone, wi-fi. Airport transportation, vehicle rental, licensed guide for boat and snowmobile tours.

Torngat Mountains

• Torngat Mountains Base Camp and Research Station, basecamp@ngc-ng.ca. Seasonal tent camp outside Torngat Mountains National Park (typically open from July to September), operated by Nunatsiavut Group of Companies (Labrador Inuit Development Corporation). Boat tours, hiking guides and one helicopter.

Connect

The two token GSM cellular telephone sites in the region are in Natuashish (near Davis Inlet), an Innu village that borders Nunatsiavut, operated by Lynx Mobility (a small, specialist carrier serving remote native communities), and a Bell cell phone tower in Nain.

There is no signal elsewhere in Nunatsiavut.

Go next

• Back south to Goose Bay. Nunavik (Québec's Ungava Peninsula) and Greenland are also relatively close, but not easy to access.
• Mealy Mountains National Park may be accessible by boat from Rigolet – usually with the help of an outfitter – but there is no infrastructure.