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The Inuit distributed such items northward along the coast through an inter-group trade network.Īfter Basque whaling activities ended around the 1620s, French fishermen occupied old coastal stations and built new ones in the Strait of Belle Isle during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the winter, Inuit visited abandoned whaling stations to search for metal tools and other goods left behind by Europeans. Basque whale hunters from Spain operated outposts in Southern Labrador, where they processed whale oil for export during ice-free seasons, from summer until late fall. The Labrador Inuit made contact with European missionaries, explorers, fishermen and whalers in Southern Labrador by the late 16th century. Large winter houses made of sod, stone, timber and whalebones were usually shared by several families. During winter, they hunted seals near the ice edge. In late autumn, they hunted the bowhead whale from their open skin-covered umiaks. While coastal waters remained unfrozen (from mid-June to mid-December), the men hunted walrus, beluga and seal from their kayaks. Traditionally, the early Inuit derived most of their livelihood from the sea. Although they settled further south than most other Inuit groups, the Labrador Inuit share a common language and cultural heritage with Inuit in the circumpolar regions of Canada, Alaska, Greenland and the northeastern coast of Siberia. Some even travelled as far south as the Gulf of St. Following the migration of whales and harp seals, early Labrador Inuit travelled southward along the Labrador coastline to the Strait of Belle Isle. The Labradormiut are direct descendants of the prehistoric Thule, who expanded east towards the Canadian Arctic from Alaska around 1000 CE. In 2005, the Labrador Inuit celebrated the enactment of the first Nunatsiavut Government, a self-governing Inuit regional government, the product of three decades of land claims negotiations with the federal government. Labrador Inuit (Labradormiut) are descendants of the pre-historic Thule people and have historically occupied most of the Atlantic coast of Northern Labrador.