Hebron, Labrador

Hebron is the name of a former Moravian mission that was the northernmost settlement in Labrador. Founded in 1831, the mission disbanded in 1959. The Inuit Abraham Ulrikab family, exhibited in zoos in Europe in 1880, were from Hebron.

The site has an unusual sub-type of arctic (tundra) climate, characterized by a high average annual precipitation 798 mm (31.4 in) with half the precipitation occurring during the five coldest months (51% of the total falling from October through March). January, for example, averages -21°C (-6°F) and has 81 mm (3.2 in) of water-equivalent precipitation on average, perhaps the most humid air at that temperature experienced anywhere on earth.

Moravians began establishing missions in Labrador in 1771. The first was located at Nain. The Moravians sought to evangelize the Inuit people in Labrador.

In 1831, the Moravian church established a mission at Hebron, a site located about 200 km (120 mi) north of Nain.

Life was hard at the settlement. Epidemics of whooping cough, influenza and smallpox ran through the community periodically. The flu epidemic of 1918 was believed to have wiped out a third of the 1,200-member Inuit population of Labrador.

In 1955, a member of the International Grenfell Association, an organization dedicated to the health and welfare of residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, wrote to the Canadian government expressing concern about cramped living conditions at Hebron that had led to tuberculosis and a shortage of firewood.

After consultation with Moravian leaders, the decision was made to close the mission. The Inuit would be resettled into larger communities. "I see no other way than to suggest the Mission withdraw from Hebron this summer," said the Rev. Siegfried Hettasch. By April 1959, there were 58 families at Hebron. The decision was announced at an Easter Monday service in 1959. There was no consultation with community members.

...
Wikipedia