Makkovik has a population nearing 400. The people are mainly settlers (having an ancestry that is a mixture of European settler and Inuit). In 1959, during the provincial resettlement program, about thirty Inuit families were uprooted and brought to Makkovik from the northern community of Hebron. Many have since chosen to move back north or elsewhere. For more info about the resettlement, check out a doc project done by Holly Andersen on the National Film Board of Canada’s website, entitled Hebron Relocation.
History
The community was founded in 1859 by a Norwegian named Torsten Kverna Andersen and his wife, Mary Ann Thomas. Torsten had come to Labrador as an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Mary Ann was from Makkovik Bay. Her father came from England and her mother was a Labradorian. The settlement was first called Flounder’s Bight, but in time it became better known as Makkovik. Vik is an Inuktitut word meaning ‘place’. Makko most likely is a corruption of ‘maggok’, an Inuktitut word meaning ‘two’. A reference to ‘two Buchten Machovik’, meaning ‘two bays Machovik’, is found in a 1775 writing by the Moravian and German missionary Johann Ludwig Beck.
Fish: An Important Resource
The fish plant, owned by Torngat Fish Producers Cooperative, did not have a banner year in 2023. Due to a shortage of workers (44 was the overall total), only 35,600 pounds of snow crab was landed out of a quota of 240,300 pounds. The two designates landed approximately 100,000 pounds of crab at Cartwright. Torngat is working to modify the crab plant so it can operate with fewer employees in the 2024 season. The turbot quota was caught, with a total of 438,383 pounds landed. Five vessels were utilized with a total of 40 fishers.
Living Off The Land
Most families hold a food license and and tend trout and salmon nets, in season, in their spare time. Hunting is carried out for ducks, geese, partridge, seal. Once the most important meat source, caribou, is no longer available due to a hunting ban in place since 2012, resulting from the decline in numbers of the George River herd. Berry picking for bakeapples, blueberries, blackberries and partridge berries is a favorite pastime in the fall. These are all spare time activities. Vale Inco (Voisey’s Bay) is where a lot of Makkovik’s work force has found employment. Many others work in service industries in the community.
Education
Makkovik’s school, John Christian Erhardt Memorial (newest building opened in 1993) has about 75 students from Kindergarten through Grade Twelve. It comes under the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District. Some high school courses are done via distance education. English is spoken by the majority of people in Makkovik. Inuktitut, our second language, is taught as a subject in school from Kindergarten to Grade Nine.
Health Care
The Health Labrador Corporation has a nursing clinic staffed by one and sometimes two nurses. Dental services are provided by a visiting dentist, based in Ontario, who travels to the community approximately every six weeks. A doctor’s visit is sporadic. Video conference or a telephone interview with a doctor is more the norm since COVID years. The Nunatsiavut Government’s Department of Health and Social Development employs a public health nurse in Makkovik. In the event of an emergency, patients are flown to a hospital in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador City, St. Anthony, or St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Transportation
Makkovik has an airstrip. Air Borealis (out of Goose Bay, http://www.airborealis.ca ) operates a twin otter service all year round with flights seven days a week, (weather permitting). Coastal Labrador Marine Services has one passenger-freight boat, the Kamutik W (www.lmsi.woodwardgroup.ca). It is a roll-on, roll-off ferry which serves the coast from July until November, or later if sea conditions permit. Most families own a speedboat as well as one or more snowmobiles. The snowmobile is an important means of transportation during the long winter when snow covers the ground from December until the end of May. Our roads are not plowed in the winter. Although no road leads out of town, there is a Labrador Winter Trails system that is groomed from time to time.
Accommodations
Hotel Makkovik has five double occupancy rooms and a restaurant. Find it on Facebook. Or contact by email: hotelmakkovik@hotmail.com or phone 709-923-2389.
Gemma’s Rental (https://abnb.me/H5b1SFgLHGb)
Amalia and Rory McNeill’s Rental 709-923-2402 or 709-897-4512 (atuglavina@hotmail.com)
Stores
Retail outlets include Franks General Store and A&K Variety.
Crafts
The Makkovik Craft Centre sells locally produced crafts which include parkas, mitts, boots, slippers, sweaters, hats, embroidered cloths, carvings (bone, antler, wood, soapstone), and more. You may find its page on Facebook or contact makkovikcraftcentre@gmail.com
Church
There is one church in the community, the Moravian Church, established in 1896.
Other Services
RCMP, Canada Post, Town Office, Arena, Youth Centre and Recreation Office, Fire Hall.
White Elephant Museum 