The Labrador Inuit can be traced back to the Thule Eskimos. The Thule came to the Canadian Arctic from Alaska. They reached Labrador at about 1400 A.D. Labrador Inuit share language and culture with Inuit in other arctic regions. The Labrador Inuit language is called Inuktitut. The word Inuit means people. Some called them Eskimos. This was a term of contempt. It meant eaters of raw flesh.
The Inuit were nomad hunters. They hunted with harpoons, spears, bows and arrows. Snares and traps were also used. There was plenty of food in Labrador at times, but this was governed by the seasons. Food was stored to allow people to survive long winters. Caribou, seal and whale meat was stored under rocks. Food was always shared among neighbours.
Seals were killed on the ice in the spring. The hunter would crawl on the ice and act like a seal. Once he was close enough, he would kill the seal with a spear.
In the summer, the Inuit would gather in large groups to fish and hunt seals. Kayaks were used to hunt seals in the summer. Bone-headed spears were fastened to lines of skin and hide. Bladders were filled with air and attached. A harpooned seal would sink if these floats were not used. Inuit built stone dams on rivers and speared arctic char. During August, they would move inland to hunt caribou.