1931, One Hundred Years of Mission Work in the Wilds of Labrador by Arminus Young

1931, One Hundred Years of Mission Work in the Wilds of Labrador by Arminus Young

One Hundred Years of Mission Work in the Wilds of Labrador (1931) by Arminius Young.

Basic details

• Title: One Hundred Years of Mission Work in the Wilds of Labrador. journals.lib.unb.ca+2labradorcura.com+2

• Author: Arminius Young (born 1884) Goodreads+1

• Publication year: 1931, publisher: Arthur H. Stockwell Ltd., London. labradorcura.com+1

• Subject: A history of missionary (particularly Methodist) work in the Labrador region spanning approximately a century. journals.lib.unb.ca+1

What the book is about

• The book traces the development of mission work along the coast and hinterlands of Newfoundland and Labrador—what the author calls “the wilds of Labrador”. It narrates missionary efforts, the challenges of isolation and climate, and the interaction with indigenous peoples and settlers. journals.lib.unb.ca+1

• Young himself had firsthand experience: he served as a Methodist missionary in Labrador during 1903–1905. journals.lib.unb.ca+1

• He uses his experience to underpin the narrative of the larger history of mission work, covering early foundations, the growth of the Methodist mission, and the unique context of Labrador’s geography and people. journals.lib.unb.ca+1

Why it’s significant

• The book offers a fairly comprehensive contemporaneous account (i.e., written in 1931) of the mission movement in Labrador—a region often under-represented in mainstream Canadian mission histories.

• For researchers of Newfoundland and Labrador history, especially religious history, it provides a valuable source of primary- and secondary-level material about early 20th‐century missions.

• It also captures aspects of cultural contact between the missionaries, Indigenous peoples (Inuit, Innu/Montagnais) and settler communities in remote areas—a rich field for studying the intersections of religion, culture and colonial/settler dynamics.

Potential limitations / things to keep in mind

• Because the book was written in 1931, the perspective is of its time. That means: missionary worldview is likely dominant; Indigenous voices may be under-represented or mediated through the missionary lens.

• The title “wilds of Labrador” reflects colonial/settler language of the time — it suggests that what is now recognized as Indigenous territory was then often framed as “wilderness” to be evangelized. Modern readers should approach it with an awareness of that context.

• As with many historical mission histories, there may be less critical reflection on impacts of missionization on Indigenous cultures, languages, and autonomy than would appear in later scholarship.

How you might use the book

• As a reference point for the chronology and major figures of mission work in Labrador.

• To extract descriptions of geographical/operational challenges in remote mission work (transport, climate, isolation) as young missionary Young experienced.

• As a primary source for mission-history contexts in Newfoundland & Labrador from late 19th to early 20th centuries.

• To compare missionary narratives with later Indigenous or post-colonial accounts of the same region.