Land We Knew By Heart

I heard a story on a ship

Off the coast of Labrador

It's not my story but it needs to be passed on

So forgive me, if you will

My mistakes in any details

As I try to speak for others in this song

My name is Nochasak

I come from Labrador

The settlement called Hebron

Hebron Bay was my shore

All my days I'd hunt and fish

Working with my hands

And I loved to play the trumpet

In the missionaries' band

In the spring of '59

The announcement made in church

The plan they called "Resettlement"

Would ease the public purse

They moved us from our homes

By signing a few pages

And soon we left our ancestors

In the Torngat Mountain ranges

From the land we knew by heart

To a land that's unforgiving

Back home we had a life

Down here we're barely living

The easy arrogance of others

Forced us to depart

To a land that's unforgiving

From a land we knew by heart

No homes in which to put us

No one's waiting arms in welcome

The food was scarce and what was worse

Families were badly broken

Lost, alone and lonely

We wintered in our tents

Our children lost their language We never had a chance

From the land we knew by heart

To a land that's unforgiving

Back home we had a life

Down here we're barely living

The easy arrogance of others

Forced us to depart

To a land that's unforgiving

From a land we knew by heart

Walk the beach at Rama

See bear tracks on the sand

They will wash away soon enough

As we were washed from the land

But our spirits prevail

Because our pride is strong

We will forgive

But we won't forget

As time goes on and on

And we go on and on

From the land we knew by heart

To a land that's unforgiving

Back home we had a life

Down here we're barely living

The easy arrogance of others

Forced us to depart

To a land that's unforgiving

From a land we knew by heart