Archaeology – September-October 2019

FROM THE TRENCHES

THE SITE
Hopedale can be reached from the town of
Happy Valley-Goose Bay, some 200 miles
to the south. There visitors can book travel
via regional airline or coastal ferry. Kelvin
recommends beginning at the Hopedale
Mission Complex and Interpretation Cen-
ter, where tours of the mission buildings
are offered, and artifacts uncovered by the

Avertok Archaeology Project are on dis-

play. As the legislative capital of the Nunat-

siavut government, Hopedale is also home

to its assembly building. The building’s fa-

cade is constructed to look like an igloo,

and its interior features tiling finished with

local labradorite stone. After a day taking

in the sites, unwind on the patio of Hoped-

ale’s Amaguk Inn for striking ocean views

and possible whale sightings.

WHILE YOU’RE THERE

Anglers can enjoy ice fishing in the

winter and rod fishing in the summer,

and are encouraged to hire local guides,

who possess deep knowledge of

Hopedale’s diverse marine landscape.

In July, the town celebrates the height

of its relatively short summer growing

season with a rhubarb festival, and, come

winter, community members build igloos

on the sea ice. When you go, make sure

to save room in your luggage for expert

carvings and beadwork made by some of

Hopedale’s master craftspeople.

—MARLEY BROWN

Along the rocky shoreline of Hopedale, in Labrador’s autonomous Inuit region of Nunatsiavut, a community is working to document
and preserve more than 500 years of its past. Hopedale, which is home to a population of roughly 600, is celebrated for its postcard-
worthy complex of wooden buildings constructed by Moravian missionaries who arrived in the 1780s. It was once the site of a major
Inuit settlement called Agvituk—“place to find whales”—a large whaling center and nexus for Inuit-European coastal trade from the
sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. “Moravian missionaries considered Agvituk to be the Inuit equivalent of Paris or London,” says
archaeologist Laura Kelvin of Memorial University of Newfoundland, who is documenting artifacts uncovered at the site and conduct-
ing interviews with longtime Hopedale residents.
The Avertok Archaeology Project is led by Lisa Rankin, also of Memorial University, in partnership with the Nunatsiavut government.
Its researchers are searching for archaeological evidence of Agvituk. Digging in Hopedale’s historic core, they have uncovered a mix
of indigenous and European artifacts dating back to the sixteenth century. To spread word of their findings, some of the younger vol-
unteers have established a robust social media presence for the project. This, Kelvin explains, will serve as a digital community archive
of archaeological and traditional knowledge of Agvituk and the surrounding area. “The Nunatsiavummiut youth are the heart of this
project,” she says. “Their hard work and dedication to sharing and learning more about their culture is the driving force.”

ship that was sticking out of
the riverbed’s viscous mud.
Analysis showed that the ship
was built of locally harvested
yellow pine and white oak,
some of which was brittle and
carbonized, suggesting it had
been burned. The team also
found evidence that the ship
once had copper sheathing, a
telltale sign of a vessel meant
for deepwater ocean travel.
([WUDSRODWLQJIURPWKRVHSDUWV
of the wreck they could meaĥ
sure, the researchers estimate

that the vessel was 86 feet long

and 23 feet wide and had a

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eight schooners of more than

100 tons are known to have

been built in the Gulf region

during this time period, and

1 Ba 704 is the only one with the

dimensions to match Clotilda

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forbidden voyage to Africa.

Delgado acknowledges that

the case is circumstantial and

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vide more evidence, there might never

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the ship’s identity beyond a shadow

of doubt. Nonetheless, “if the level of

preservation is as I suspect, then the

physical evidence of the voyage will have

survived,” says Delgado. “I’m moved by

the resilience of the enslaved Africans.

Clotilda’s story speaks to me as a human

story, and also of how archaeology,

which increasingly deals with slavery as

a human institution, can provide new

insights into the lives of the enslaved.”

ħ-$55(77$/2%(//

OFF THE GRID

ARCHAEOLOGY • September/October 2019

HOPEDALE, CANADA

10

Hopedale

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

UNITED STATES

CANADA

GREENLAND

Hopedale Mission, Hopedale, Canada

Wooden ship timbers