Unit 2 Chapter 2: History as a Story of People.

Key Words (page 24)

■ Emigrate ​– people emigrate when they leave one country to settle in another.

■ Immigrant ​– a person who moves into another country for the purpose of settling.

■ Internal Migration​ – the movement of people from place to place within a country.

■ Natural Increase​ – a population grows as a result of natural increase when there are more
births than deaths and higher rates of immigration than emigration.

■ Lifestyle ​– refers to the way a person or a group lives.

■ Push Factor​ – a reason that causes a person to leave an area, example: job loss, to obtain
better health care.

■ Pull Factor​ – a reason that causes a person to come into an area to live, example: moving
to Alberta to get a job.

2.1.1 Aboriginal Groups

■ All have ancestors in this province who date back before the 19​th​ century.(1801)
■ Beothuk and Mi’Kmaq were on the island of Newfoundland, while the Innu, the Inuit and
the Metis originally settled in Labrador.

Innu
■ The Innu were formally known as the Naskapi – Montagnais Indians – Algonquian
Speaking people who inhabit the eastern part of the Quebec – Labrador Peninsula called
Nitassinan.
■ They lived in small bands and hunted and gathered along the peninsula. They lived mainly
in skin tents; caribou provided the bulk of their food and clothing.
■ Today more than 16 000 Innu are located in 11 communities in Quebec while in Labrador 2
communities have a combined population of 1700 people.

Inuit
■ Inuit means “the people”. Inuit live along the northern coast of Labrador and are direct
descendants of a society of hunters and gatherers. These people adapted well to the
climatic conditions of Labrador.
■ They hunted whales, seals, fish, and caribou and used wood for fuel, tools and boat frames.
During the late 19​th​ and early 20​th​ centuries they began to depend upon trade with
Europeans.
Labrador Metis
■ The Labrador Metis are mainly settlers of mixed European and Aboriginal ancestry.
■ Many now live in Happy Valley Goose Bay where better education, employment, and
medical services are available.

Mi’Kmaq
■ Lived in Newfoundland before European immigration.
■ Lifestyle of hunting, fishing, and gathering, practiced traditional customs as they continue
to do today.
■ 19​th​ century – lived in Codroy Valley, St. George’s Bay, and Bonne Bay on the west coast;
Burgeo and Conne River on the south coast; and Glenwood in central Newfoundland.
■ Had considerable social and commercial contact with European settlers through their work
as guides in the fur trade – Island’s Interior.

2.1.2​ Page 26

2.1.3 Reasons for Beothuk Extinction

■ 1. The arrival of European settlers dramatically reduced the amount of available land and
resources. The Beothuks retreated to the island’s interior, where food was scarce and
survival was difficult.
■ 2. At the same time the exposure to European diseases, particularly tuberculosis, took a toll
on the Beothuk population. Sick, starving and isolated from both Europeans and other
Aboriginal peoples, the Beothuks declined in numbers throughout the 18​th​ and 19​th
centuries until they eventually disappeared.
■ 3. The fighting between the Europeans and natives was fierce. The natives weapons were
no match for the European ones.
■ 4. The government in Britain was to far away to enforce law and order. Therefore, the
settlers continued to eliminate the Beothuks.

2.1.4 Beothuks
■ Food​: The resources of the land and sea were essential to the Beothuks. Seals and salmon
were regularly hunted, as were a variety of sea birds. The coastal waters also provided
clams, mussels, lobsters and a wide range of inshore fish. Most of these species, as well as
the land animals, were not available at all times of the year. This meant that the Beothuks
had to time their movements in order to take advantage of these animals. Visits to quarries
to acquire stone from which to make tools also had to be fitted into the seasonal round.
■ Housing​: They had 2 housing styles: summer mamateek and winter mamateek. The
summer mamateek was easily constructed. Several poles, set in a circle and fastened
together at the top, made up the frame. Large birch bark sheets, sewn together, were placed
around the circumference of the frame from the bottom upwards, overlapping like shingles.
The winter mamateek was similar except the poles were placed further into the ground and
it was insulated with moss.
Mamateek Page 27
■ Language​: It is believed that there are 325 words found in the Beothuk language. It is also
 believed that the language comes from the Algonquin language but to this date no one is
exactly sure.
■ Social and economic life: ​They traveled in groups of usually 35-50 people, (7-10
families). They were bands that traveled between the coast and the interior and the leader
was usually chosen by the entire group. They avoided contact with the Europeans.

2.1.4 Mi’kmaq
■ Food​: The Mi’kmaq went to the coast in the spring and summer and to inland areas during
the fall and winter. They caught a variety of fish, herring, salmon, etc. as well: they
harvested shellfish, sea mammals, seabirds, and their eggs during the summer. The
Mi’kmaq retreated inland in the fall to hunt moose, beaver, bear, otter, caribou and other
mammals.
■ Housing​: They built tents out of wooden poles, which they covered with birch bark sewn
together with spruce roots. Summer tents were typically conical in shape, while winter
tents were wider and longer. Fir boughs, animals furs and woven reed mats served as
flooring coverings, while a central fireplace provided warmth and light.
■ Language​: The Mi’kmaq spoke a language which was a member of the Algonkian family.
It was closely related to that spoken by other aboriginal groups in the area, and distantly
related to other Algonkian speakers such as the Beothuk and the Innu.
■ Social and economic life​: They had considerable contact with the European settlers that
were friendly. They acted as guides for the settlers as they moved about the interior of the
island.

2.1.4 Innu
■ Food​: Their diet was very rich in meat. They went to the coast in the summer and in the
interior in the winter. They hunted caribou and gathered fish. They used caribou for all
aspects of their daily lives.
■ Housing​: For most of the year the Innu lived in groups of several families, each one
occupying its own tent with a bark or caribou skin cover (later replaced by canvass). In
mid winter the whole group sometimes moved into one large communal dwelling.
■ Language​: The Innu are an eastern branch of the Algonquin people and their language is
Innu – aimun.
■ Social and economic life​: The Innu lived a very nomadic lifestyle and as such had very
little involvement with the Europeans during the early years. It wasn’t until the early
1960’s that they were forced to live in communities such as Davis Inlet, and many of their
social problems arose from this forced settlement.

2.1.4 Inuit
■ Food​: People hunted game in all seasons of the year for food and material to craft articles
needed for everyday life. They traveled in 1 person kayaks and larger umiaks (they could
hold up to 20 people) framed with wood and covered by seal skins, they wore clothing
made from the pelts of seals and caribou in the summer and used wooden dog sleds or
komatiks, in the winter. They hunted whales, seals, and walrus and hunters usually caught
seabirds in the winter and early spring and fished char, trout, cod, salmon and other species
when in season.
■ Housing​: They lived in skin tents called tupiq, during mild seasons; and settled during
winter either in earthen huts called qamartalik banked by sods with a roof supported by
whale ribs and shoulder blades, or in snow houses called igloos ingeniously shaped from
blocks of hard snow.
■ Language​: The Inuit language is Inuktitut and is similar to that spoken by other Inuit
groups of Northern Canada.
■ Social and economic life​: Was centered on the family. A place-group, band, consisted of
families who were closely related and used a common hunting area, usually surrounding a
major bay or fiord. Members of a band identified themselves by adding ‘miut’, meaning
the people of, to a prominent place in the area.

2.1.4 Labrador Metis

■ Food​: Between spring and fall, Metis families hunted migratory waterfowl and seals, and
fished for salmon and cod from stations located on the coast. Families wintered in forested
bays and coves, from where they trapped, hunted, and gathered forest products.
■ Housing​: They lived in log styled houses that came from their European heritage. They
also had small cabins that were used during the trapping season.
■ Language​: Like European ancestors, Labrador Metis spoke English – although various
Inuktitut words were also incorporated.
■ Social and economic life​: Labrador Metis have followed a way of life deriving both from
Aboriginal and European customs. They also traded furs with the Europeans. For 6-8
months of the year the men were on trap lines and the women were left home to take care
of the children and other family needs.

2.2.2 Migratory Fishery

■ From the early 16​th​ century, fishing ships sailed to Newfoundland from France, Spain, and
Portugal each spring, returning in the fall with their catch of salted codfish.
■ Note: There was no settlement in Newfoundland during this period.

2.2.3 Origins of Settlements

■ The early settlers to Newfoundland came from Western Europe: England, Wales, Ireland,
Scotland, France, Spain and Portugal.

2.2.4 Areas of Destination

Review: Push and Pull Factors
■ This is already in your notes.
■ Push Factor – a reason that causes a person to leave an area, example: job loss, to obtain
better health care.
■ Pull Factor – a reason that causes a person to come into an area to live, example: moving to
Alberta to get a job.

2.2.5 Push Factors

■ Push factors that caused the immigrants to come to Newfoundland include:
■ 1. No jobs (unemployment)
■ 2. High levels of poverty epically in Ireland (potato famine)
■ 3. Religious discrimination

2.2.6 Pull Factors

■ Pull factors that caused the immigrants to come to Newfoundland:
■ 1. Promise of jobs in the fishery, farming, forestry, and as servants for merchants.
■ 2. Promise of a new life.
■ 3. Religious freedom.

2.2.7 Settlement Patterns

■ The people who settled in Newfoundland usually went to places that had a high number of
immigrants from their area. This allowed for easier adjustment to life in the new world.
As well, they also went to places that fitted well with their occupations. Example: The
Scottish were farmers and they mostly settled on the west coast of Newfoundland because
this area had the best farmland.

2.2.8
■ The natural environment played a big role in the settlement patterns. On the east and south
coasts most people settled here to take advantage of the close proximity to the Grand
Banks. As well, many harbours and bays provided shelter and beaches for landing and
curing their fish. On the west coast, the fertile soil and abundance of the timber attracted
people who worked in these industries.

2.2.11 Internal Migration

■ Saw people move from areas of high population density to areas of low to fish or to take
advantage of new fisheries such as herring and lobster.

2.2.12
■ The coastal settlement pattern began to change during in the late 19​th​ century mainly due to
the internal migration that was occurring in Newfoundland at the time. The opening of
land based industries in communities such as Grand Falls, Bishops Falls, Terra Nova, gave
people an alternate place to settle rather than in the coastal areas.