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CENTRE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND STUDIES TOTAL OF 10 PA(;LS ONLY MAY BE XEROXED (W1thoot Allthor'• Pe:nnluM>n) Land, Resources, and Discourses of Development in Central Labrador by Rhonda Carol Burke A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology Memorial University ofNewfoundland October 2003 St. John's Newfoundland Library and Bibliotheque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de !'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 0-494-09916-X Our file Notre reference ISBN: 0-494-09916-X NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a Ia Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I' Internet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve Ia propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits meraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni Ia these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a Ia loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur Ia protection de Ia vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans Ia pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Abstract During the last decade, a number of large-scale resource development projects have been proposed for Labrador. Most prominent among these are the mining complex slated for Voisey' s Bay and the expansion ofhydroelectricity generation on the Lower Churchill River. Debates about the merits of these proposals have been particularly heated in Happy Valley Goose Bay, the bureaucratic hub of Labrador. This thesis explores the core elements of the pro-development discourses that were put forth by the town's political and business elites. These individuals tended to characterize Labradorians as having a set of shared goals and interests that could only be realized through modernization. Many spoke disparagingly about the Innu Nation, which they accused of selfishly standing in the way of the aspirations of other Labradorians through their public opposition to certain aspects of these new developments. This research contradicts this claim. While many interviewees did support some degree of industrial expansion, most voiced serious concerns about the potential social, cultural, and environmental impacts of further development. These concerns were evident among people from a wide range of backgrounds, and do not appear to be easily ascribed to any particular group. 11 Acknowledgments Funding for this project was provided by research grants from the Smallwood Foundation and the Northern Scientific Training Programme. My special thanks go to my supervisor John Kennedy, who provided intellectual and moral support when I needed it most. I am also grateful to two exceptional teachers, who helped to prepare me for fieldwork. Sharon Roseman organized a fieldwork methods course that provided me with a chance to hone my interviewing, participant observation, field note taking, and photographic/spatial analysis skills. She was also instrumental in teaching me how best to deal with a variety of ethical and representation issues. Sharon's guidance with these projects was invaluable, and taking her course remains a highlight of my time at Memorial. Louis Chiaramonte encouraged his students to look inward in order to come to a better understanding of ourselves as researchers. He challenged us to think of our fieldwork projects in new and creative ways. The insights that I learned from Louis have been a guiding force during all stages of this project. This project is dedicated to Reade Davis, my companion and guiding light. Thank you for the intellectual support and for reminding me not to take it all so seriously. lll Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................... n Acknowledgments . 111 Table of Contents . IV List of Figures ......................................................... vii List of Abbreviations . viii List of Appendices . IX Chapter One Introduction: Land and Development in the Labrador Context .......... 1 1.1 The Setting: Central Labrador ..................................... 3 1.1.1 Statistical Profile of Central Labrador ....................... 6 1.1.2 The Physical Landscape ................................. 9 1.1.3 Early European Resource Use ............................. 12 1.2 Theoretical Perspective: Resource Development and Political Identity .... 15 1.3 Previous Research on Land Debates in Central Labrador ............... 19 1.4 Methodology ................................................. 22 1.5 Chapter Preview ............................................... 27 Chapter Two The Political Terrain of Central Labrador ........................... 29 2.1 The Emergence ofFormal Governance Institutions in Labrador .......... 29 2.1.1 Governance Institutions in the Early Period (1763-1941) ....... 30 2.1.2 Governance Institutions in the Post-War Era (1942-1965) ................................................... 34 2.1.3 The Influence of Resource Development on Regional Politics ... 38 2.1.4 Labrador First Politics ................................... 41 2.2 The Emergence of Aboriginal Organizations in Labrador ............... 48 2.2.1 Innu Political Organization ............................... 51 2.2.2 Inuit Political Organization ............................... 53 2.2.3 Metis Political Organization .............................. 54 IV Chapter Three Contemporary Developments in Labrador ........................... 55 3.1 The Voisey's Bay Mineral Deposit ................................ 55 3.1.1 A History of Human Occupation at Voisey's Bay ............. 56 3.1.2 Putting Voisey's Bay "On the Map" ....................... 60 3 .1. 3 The Ecological "Footprint" of Voisey' s Bay ................. 63 3.1.4 The Clash Over Ownership ............................... 68 3.2 Hydroelectric Expansion on the Lower Churchill ..................... 74 3.2.1 Making Churchill "Viable" ............................... 75 Chapter Four Dialogues of Industrial Expansion .................................. 82 4.1 Regional Elites and Pro-development Discourses ..................... 83 4.2 Talking Development: Part I- The 'Development Metaphor' ............ 85 4.2.1 The Employment Spectre: Job Creation as Development Imperative ................................................... 89 4.2.2 'We Know Better Now': the Belief That Technology Can Overcome Risks ............................................... 92 4.2.3 'The Frontier Ethos': Pride in Progress ..................... 93 4.2.4. Striving for Economic Diversity .......................... 97 4.3 Talking Development: Part II- The Regional Dimension .............. 100 4.4 Constructing Barriers to Development ............................ 104 Chapter Five "Progress Is Not Always Beautiful": Concerns About the Impact of Development .............................................................. 108 5.1 Concerns About the Loss of Employment to Outsiders ................ 111 5.2 Concerns About Losing Control and Autonomy ..................... 115 5.3 Concerns About Environmental Degradation ....................... 120 5.4 Concerns About the Destruction of Historical and Cultural Resources .... 124 5.5 Concerns About Rapid Social Change ............................. 125 5.6 Concerns About Rising Levels of Tension and Violence .............. 129 Chapter Six Conclusion .................................................... 132 Bibliography and References ........................................... 137 v Appendices .......................................................... 166 Appendix I Employment Profile of Happy Valley-Goose Bay ................. 167 Appendix II The Prehistory of Labrador and the Central Region . 169 Appendix III Population Change: Upper Lake Melville, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1986-1996 ...... 171 Appendix IV Unemployment rate, Mean Incomes, 1991, Upper Lake Melville, Labrador and Newfoundland and Labrador . 172 Appendix V House Hold Income: Upper Lake Melville, Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1990 ............................................ 173 Appendix VI Time Line oflndustrial Development in Labrador ................ 174 Vl List of Figures Figure 1.1- Map ofLabrador Figure 1.2- Hamilton Inlet and Area Figure 3.1- Location ofVoisey's Bay Claim Block Vll List of Abbreviations AlP- Agreement-in- Principle CLEDB- Central