upright=1.35|right|thumb|The mission at Hebron, Labrador, around 1860. Original drawing by Moravian Bishop Levin Theodor Reichel (1812-1878).

Hebron (Nunatsiavummiutitut: Kangerdluksoak, Kangikluksoak or Kangertluksoak) was a Moravian mission and the northernmost settlement in Labrador. The traditional Nunatsiavummiutitut name for the area means "the Great Bay".

Climate

Hebron has a polar tundra climate (Köppen: ET).

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Wildlife

The area features numerous fauna such as harp seals, ringed seals, bearded seals, walruses, beluga whales, polar bears, red foxes, otters, caribou, black bears, Arctic hare, Arctic char, cod, geese, eiders, mergansers, loons and harlequin ducks.

History

thumb|upright=1.15|Hebron Moravian church [[cupola]]

Prior to European contact, Inuit from different regions used Hebron as a meeting place. That building still dominates Hebron's landscape.

thumb|View of the Hebron Mission National Historic Site of Canada, July 2009

Inuit living in Hebron primarily relied on traditional subsistence activities. They lived in sod houses constructed with whalebone or wooden frame and seal-gut window. Approximately 86 of Hebron's 100 residents died. The flu epidemic of 1918 was believed to have wiped out a third of the 1,200-member Inuit population of Labrador.

In July 1943, US Army received permission from the Newfoundland government to secretly construct a weather station to improve Allies' weather forecasting in North Atlantic and Arctic oceans during WWII. The American soldiers stationed at Hebron also kept watch on the Moravian missionaries who were suspected of being sympathetic towards Germany. While the secret US weather station operated until February 1946, the existence of this station was made public in 2017 through the publication of a book. By April 1959, there were 58 families at Hebron. The decision was announced at an Easter Monday service in 1959. It is frequently visited by cruise ships.

The buildings of the original mission still stand. The main mission building has been undergoing renovation by Inuit volunteers and hired carpenters, who are relocatees or their descendants, organized by Nunatsiavut government and are in reasonably good condition considering the passage of time.

In August 1999, the first reunion of the relocatees was held in Hebron.

In 2005, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams apologized to Inuit affected by the relocations of Hebron and Nutak. In August 2009, the provincial government unveiled a monument at the site of Hebron with an inscribed apology for the site closure.

thumb|Monument unveiled in 2009 by the Newfoundland-and-Labrador government to apologize for the forced relocation of Inuit in 1959. July 2016.

In May 2024, the Arctic Inspiration Prize awarded $298,000 to the Hebron and Nutak Reunions to provide an opportunity for the remaining able-bodied evictees to return to their homeland together at Hebron and Nutak/Okkak Bay in the summer of 2024.

References

  • Hebron Mission, National Historic Site of Canada
  • History of Labrador
  • The Inuit at Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Relocated Labrador Inuit to get apology monument, CBC News, 2009-07-24
  • Monument unveiled to commemorate apology to Labrador Inuit, The Telegram, 2012-08-15
  • Travelling back in time to Moravian Mission in Hebron, NTV, 2014-11-03
  • Inventory of Moravian Mission Records at Dartmouth College Library
  • William Whiteley Inventory of the Moravian Mission in Labrador at Dartmouth College Library