Black Harbour

It has been largely assumed that Black people are only recently settlers in Newfoundland and Labrador. Certainly. In fact, the sordid history of Black slavery within the British colony—and the role of Newfoundland merchant families in promoting the trade in human beings—has been denied, obscured and forgotten.

With contributions from historians, folklorists and other experts, Xaiver Campbell and Heather Barrett discover a Black population was present in early Newfoundland and Labrador, and that some of this history is shockingly rooted in the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.

Part personal commentary, part documentary, Black Harbour is an illuminating, important, and sometimes uncomfortable exploration of Newfoundland and Labrador’s colonial history—and what it means to those who live here today.