During the course of our research, several interesting adult learning centers and initiatives were identified whose clientele are mainly Aboriginal people. North of Goose Bay, the Labrador Inuit Association has developed initiatives to train trainers and interpreters in Inuttitut, but currently does not deliver direct services to adult learners. South of Goose Bay, in Port Hope Simpson, Normand Bay, Mary’s Harbour and Charlottetown, there are growing adult literacy initiatives and community learning centers which provide tutoring and instruction on demand in a wide variety of areas, in small groups, one-on-one or using computer assisted techniques. These initiatives may work collaboratively with several groups, for example the Labrador Métis Association and/or the Labrador Institute of Northern Studies, and in the past, benefited from training subsidies provided under the Federal TAGS program of support to fishing communities.

Despite a high level of Aboriginal participation as both managers and clients of these initiatives and centers, we have not included formal profiles of these activities here for the simple reason that they do not identify themselves as specifically ‘Aboriginal’, and for good reason: it has been a clear practical and philosophical choice for these activities, in the context of regional economic hardship, geographic isolation and a desire to nurture the strength and self-reliance of communities as a whole, not to create a sense of division along linguistic or racial lines. For more information about adult literacy and up-grading initiatives in Labrador, contact Janet Skinner at the Labrador Institute of Northern Studies, or Betty Samson of the Port Hope Simpson Community Learning Center at (709) 960-0236.