Some peaceful trade did occur. Each summer from 1500–1771, bands of Inuit would travel by boat from the north Labrador coast to the Strait of Belle Isle. They would trade with the white fishermen. Sometimes they would raid their fishing stations.
The Inuit sought iron tools and wooden boats. They would offer whale baleen, furs and seal fat in return. White traders often gave rum and trinkets to the Inuit for fur and fish. European goods were carried north to Inuit who had no contact with the whites. The Inuit of what is now Hopedale would relay the goods from the south to the north.
Some Inuit traveled with circuses in Europe and the United States. Some of these returned to their communities and brought disease.
The Moravians were a European Christian sect. In 1769, the Moravians obtained a grant of 40,500 hectares of land from the British Government. This was to be used as a northern Labrador reservation for Christian Inuit.
A missionary arrived in Labrador bearing gifts. The Inuit were asked to mark a document to approve handing over land to the missionaries. This was likely strange to the Inuit. Owning land was a European concept.