Residential Schools
Between 1920 and 1964, hundreds of NunatuKavut Inuit children – and others from across Labrador – were taken from their communities to attend residential schools in the Cartwright area. Each fall, they left their close-knit families and homelands to spend up to 10 months in institutional boarding schools at Muddy Bay or Lockwood.
While some students recall moments of friendship or learning, many describe the experience as one of deep isolation and loss. Children were cut off from their families, language, and culture. Some endured neglect, and others suffered physical or sexual abuse. These schools were not neutral places of education – they were designed to separate Inuit children from the influence of their communities and impose colonial values, often at the expense of identity and belonging.
Many children returned home changed, struggling with shame, disconnection, and a loss of cultural grounding. The trauma caused by these schools did not end at graduation, and the legacy of these boarding schools continues to impact multiple generations of families in NunatuKavut, who are still healing from the impacts of displacement, abuse, and cultural erasure.
Labrador Public School at Muddy Bay (1920-1928)
Before 1920, most children living between Groswater Bay and Batteau had little or no access to formal education. Itinerant teachers would travel between households, offering lessons for a few weeks at a time. Only larger communities like Cartwright had permanent day schools.
When Anglican priest Rev. Henry Gordon arrived in Cartwright in 1915, he began advocating for greater access to education. Following the devastating impact of the 1918 Spanish Flu – which claimed many lives and left more than 40 children in the region without one or both parents – Gordon’s plans for a boarding school took on new urgency.
With support from local families and fundraising efforts by the Anglican Church and others, the Labrador Public School at Muddy Bay opened in 1920, about 10 km from Cartwright. Many of its first students were children who had lost parents in the pandemic.
In 1922, the International Grenfell Association (IGA) – a charitable organization founded by British doctor Wilfred Grenfell – took over operation of the school. The IGA was supported by donors and volunteers across Britain, the U.S., and Canada and aimed to deliver medical and educational services to remote communities in Labrador and northern Newfoundland.
In 1928, the school was destroyed by a fire set by two boys living there. The IGA rebuilt the facility closer to Cartwright, reopening it in 1930 as the Lockwood School – named in honour of an American benefactor who helped fund the project.
Lockwood Boarding School (1930-1964)
The original Lockwood dormitory was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1934, tragically claiming the life of 17-year-old student Lizzie Learning. The International Grenfell Association (IGA) rebuilt the facility, and the Lockwood Boarding School continued to operate until 1964.
Each year, around 60 children from small communities in Sandwich Bay, Groswater Bay, Table Bay, the Seal Islands, and the Spotted Island/Batteau region attended the school. Life at Lockwood followed a strict daily routine of chores, classes, recreation, and meals. For many students, the institutional environment was a stark contrast to the close-knit, family-oriented way of life they knew at home.
