Author, hunter, elder, and political advisor born in 1910 in Salmon Bright (Nunatsiavut) – died in 2000 in Nain (Nunatsiavut).
Paulus Maggo, also known as Renatus, was born in 1910 in Salmon Bright, in present-day Nunatsiavut. He and his older sister Ernestina were raised by their parents, Tobias Maggo and Regina Stone, in Kangatjak, north of Big Brook (Newfoundland). In 1932, he married Nom Martin, also known as Naeme, with whom he had three children: Zacharias, Amos, and Regina. He had several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Paulus Maggo was an experienced hunter, trapper, and fisherman, having learned traditional techniques by observing his father and other hunters.
In the 1970s, Paulus Maggo became involved in politics as an advisor and negotiator with regards to various issues affecting Labradorian Inuit. He participated in the 1976 House of Commons hearings on the James Bay and Northern Quebec Native Claims Settlement Act. He acted as a negotiator for Labradorian Inuit on issues such as environment, political autonomy, and territorial rights. He is also said to be one of the founders of the Labrador Inuit Association (LIA), predecessor to the Nunatsiavut Government created in 2005.
In 1991, Paulus Maggo, who was living in the town of Nain (Nunatsiavut), was one of the oldest and most respected Elders in his region. Accordingly, he was selected to to testify as part of the Labrador Inuit Life Histories project at the request of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which had been established by the Canadian Parliament. The purpose of the project, which was led by anthropologist Carol Brice-Bennett, was to document the lives of Nunatsiavut Inuit throughout time. Most interviews were conducted in Inuttitut by Martin Jararuse, one of three Inuit participating in the project. Paulus Maggo’s testimony was transcribed and translated by Samuel Metcalfe, an Inuk from the area, and edited by Carol Brice-Bennett. The final version of the text was then retranslated into Inuttitut and approved by Paulus Maggo.
In 1996, Carol Brice-Bennett presented her report, Remembering the Years of my Life, to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. In 1999, with the permission of Paulus Maggo and the Commission, she published a fuller version of the Elder’s story under the title Remembering the Years of my Life: Journeys of a Labrador Inuit Hunter. The book was produced in collaboration with the Institute of Social and Economic Research at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Dedicated to his grandson Rolland Maggo, Paulus Maggo’s story is divided into five parts, focusing not only on his personal life, but also on the lives of other Inuit of his region and generation. It highlights the changes to Inuit lifestyles during the 20th century. The book includes several photographs of the Nain region, its inhabitants, and of Paulus Maggo himself.
Paulus Maggo died in the winter of 2000 in Nain (Nunatsiavut), at the age of ninety.