ABSTRACT
Rapid militarization in 1941 and later mining and hydro developments brought about profound change throughout Labrador society, most notably in land use. Local response came during the 1970s, when three native organizations emerged to contest overlapping claims to ownership and control of the land and its resources. Each organization has employed markedly different moral and political strategies to press their respective claim to both land and an enduring local, land-based identity. The choices made, and the processes set in motion by the claims, have divided the protagonists as much as challenged the political status quo. Here I take the case of the Metis, whose disenfranchized position in the process offers the clearest picture of the dynamics involved, to examine the interplay between the politics of identity and claims to land.
