LIFE IN VOISEY'S BAY

LIFE IN VOISEY'S BAY - 1997

In many ways this is not just a story about Voisey's Bay. It is a story which is centered on Voisey's Bay while also demonstrating how connected it is to a much larger part of Labrador. The ebb and flow of life in the Bay extended far and wide, whether it was for medical or educational reasons, church, trade, hunting, trapping, fishing, or just cruisin' (visiting around). The people, too, had more than one home. The Innu called 'home' the land between Fort Chimo, Quebec and Voisey's Bay. The Inuit and Settlers had scattered homes and traditional places for hunting, trapping, fishing and church. At any one time the Voisey family had at least three homes and at the height of their trade, activities appeared to have as many as five or six.

Amos Voisey.... came to Labrador as a very young man and tried his hand at various locations before settling at Voisey's Bay. Jim Voisey says of his grandfather: "He worked his way over as a cabin boy. He landed to Cartwright and he had a job [probably with Hunt & Co.]. Them days they used to outfit fellers to go trappin' fur for them. That's what he was doin' when he first come and he moved his way along. The next place he turned up was Paul's Island with John Ford, another Englishman. John would fit him out with traps and grub." Most of the accounts put Amos Voisey in Labrador in the 1830's. By the 1840's he appears to be working with John Ford and established a home previous to 1850 at Kangeklualuk Bay..... Accounts place him there until about 1864. From Kangeklualuk Voisey moved to Kamarsuk and by 1868 or earlier he also had a house at the homestead location in Voisey's Bay and was spending the majority of his time there. In 1871 he established a Mission Store for Zoar at Kamarsuk, which he ran until his death in 1887. His son George then moved the store operation to Voisey's Bay.

All of the early recording of the human history of Voisey's Bay comes, out of necessity, from the writings of observers who bring their own views, values and understanding to each situation, therefore, the early Voisey family, their contemporaries and all who proceeded them are seen through coloured glass. Fortunately, there is a wide variety of sources from which the history can be reconstructed, providing a fairly balanced view.

How many times have we heard, "There can't be that much to say about Voisey's Bay, there wasn't anything there." Surprisingly, a rich and varied story covering nearly 8000 years emerged."

THEM DAYS VOL. 22.2
1997