Norse-Indigenous Contact

Norse Historical Context

The establishment of the Norse settlements in southwestern Greenland in the late 10th century CE marked the first permanent European settlement in North America. These early Europeans arrived during a hiatus of Indigenous North American occupation of this part of Greenland (see Geographic Distribution of the Dorset Culture). The Greenlandic Dorset, a regional variation similar to the Early Dorset in Arctic Canada, had disappeared entirely by 1 CE. While some Norse historical records note that they encountered abandoned ruins when they arrived in southern Greenland, there was no existing Indigenous population. However, Indigenous populations were living in adjacent regions of both High Arctic Greenland and the rest of northeastern North America. The Norse would make frequent trips north and west of their Greenland colonies and would even establish at least one archaeologically attested settlement in northern Newfoundland (see L’Anse aux Meadows). During these exploratory expeditions into the Arctic and eastern North America, the Norse would encounter a variety of Indigenous North American groups.

Indigenous Historical Context

Dorset (Tuniit) groups intensively occupied High Arctic Greenland between 700 to 1300 CE, but there’s little evidence they ever travelled south of Cape Melville towards the Norse colonies during this period. The Dorset (Tuniit) also lived throughout the eastern North American Arctic at this time, extending from Ellesmere Island in the north to as far south as the Nain region of Nunatsiavut. Additionally, the earliest Inuit would arrive in High Arctic Greenland between 1200 and 1300 CE, with some groups travelling southwards along the coast of Greenland in the following centuries. Throughout this same time, farther south in central and southern Labrador and Newfoundland lived the ancestors of the Innu and Beothuk peoples, referred to collectively as the Recent Period peoples by archaeologists. There is also evidence that some of these Recent Period groups lived as far north as Ramah Bay in Labrador during the earliest period of the Greenlandic Norse colonies. The evidence for the encounters between these Indigenous groups and the Norse comes from historical records, archaeology and, in some cases, Indigenous oral histories.

Historical Evidence

Norse Historical Records

The Norse written accounts of their contacts with Indigenous North American peoples were primarily written by people who did not witness the encounters and were recording the events potentially centuries after the fact. The earliest chronological event comes from the 13th century Flóamanna Saga, detailing the semi-fantastical experiences of a shipwrecked crew in eastern Greenland around 1000 CE. However, no known Dorset site dates to that period in eastern or southern Greenland, suggesting it may be entirely fantastical or is amalgamating an encounter in another location with the shipwrecked crew in the Flóamanna Saga.

The handful of other Norse accounts detailing their interactions with Indigenous Arctic peoples were all recorded in the 13th century or later and seem to report events that are broadly contemporary with their recording. In these accounts, the Indigenous peoples are referred to as “Skraeling,” with most of the encounters involving some sort of dispute or violent altercation with the Norse. One of the non-violent 13th-century encounters briefly describes the “Skraeling” who live far to the north of the Norse. Archaeological evidence suggests this could be either the Dorset (Tuniit) or Inuit. Unfortunately, the Norse sagas do not distinguish between different Indigenous groups, making it impossible to know whether it is the Dorset (Tuniit) or Inuit mentioned in these accounts.

The Norse historical records relating to their voyages in what’s now Newfoundland and southern Labrador were also recorded centuries later in Iceland. They do describe encountering Indigenous groups, but their interactions appear relatively superficial and not always friendly. The Indigenous groups in these accounts are also referred to collectively as Skraeling, with little attempt to differentiate them.

Greenlandic Inuit Oral Traditions

In the 19th century, Henrich Rink collected a series of Greenlandic Inuit oral histories and legends, some of which describe the Inuits’ ancestors' encounters with the Norse centuries ago. While more detailed, these accounts are a mixture of violent and friendly encounters, with some of the oral histories describing the Norse and Inuit living together. Much like the Norse written records, it is difficult to know if these represent actual events or if other factors have influenced them.

Archaeological Evidence

The archaeological evidence tells a somewhat different story. In the Arctic, archaeological evidence for nearly all Norse interaction with either the Dorset or Inuit comes in the form of Norse objects found in non-Norse sites. The quantity of Norse objects varies, with some sites having none and others, such as the Skraeling Islands sites in the High Arctic, having a large amount of Norse materials. These Norse materials may have found their way into these Dorset and Inuit sites through complex trade networks or by the scavenging of Norse shipwrecks or temporary camp locations, similar to what is seen in later periods of Inuit-European contact. What is certain is that the Norse interactions with these Indigenous groups were likely spread across centuries, with both Dorset (Tuniit) and Inuit sites having evidence of contact. There is growing evidence that walrus ivory was a key trade resource for the Greenlandic Norse colonies and their trade links back to Europe. This indicates that at least some Norse materials in Dorset (Tuniit) and Inuit sites relate to that trade centred around the ivory exchange. Both Arctic Indigenous groups may have been key trade partners in this early globalized economy.

The archaeological evidence for interactions between the Norse and Indigenous groups in subarctic regions is far sparser. Despite the evidence at L’Anse aux Meadows suggesting the Norse travelled to areas around Newfoundland or what is now Atlantic Canada, there are no confirmed Norse objects in contemporary Indigenous sites in these same areas. In this light, the lack of archaeological evidence for these more southern interactions would seem to support the sorts of brief or potentially cautious encounters seen in the written record.

Indigenous objects in Norse sites are uncommon, but there are some significant examples. A lithic projectile point consistent with the styles of the Recent Period peoples of southern Labrador was found in a Norse site in Greenland. The Norse may have scavenged this object while in southern Labrador or Newfoundland, which may not necessarily represent direct contact. Additionally, a complete soapstone lamp made in a characteristically Dorset style was located in the upper levels of one of the Norse buildings at the site at L’Anse aux Meadows. The style of the lamp is not seen in Newfoundland Dorset sites but is commonly found in northern Labrador in Late Dorset contexts (ca. 500 to 1300 CE). Given that the object is complete, it’s most likely that it was brought to the site by the Norse after scavenging a more northerly Dorset site or as an object of trade during one of their encounters with Dorset people in Labrador or the Hudson Strait region.

Conclusion

Overall, the impression of the existing evidence suggests that Norse interactions with Indigenous North American groups were variable depending on the context of those contacts. While the written record suggests relatively brief and cautious contacts, the archaeological evidence from Arctic sites, in particular, suggests longer-term interactions built around trade. How Norse interactions with the Dorset and Inuit may have differed is unclear. Still, the scope and scale of the evidence suggest that their interactions likely occurred over a long, multi-century period. The emerging evidence suggesting the critical importance of North American ivory for the medieval European craft market provides a tantalizing, if unproven, context for how and why the Norse may have more intensively interacted with Arctic Indigenous groups than with those farther south and why there might be so few Indigenous objects in Norse sites.