Editing Labrador Peninsula (section)

==History==
Prior to European colonization, the peninsula was inhabited chiefly by [[Cree]] people, notably the [[Innu]] Nation in the southeast area of the peninsula, who referred to their country as ''[[Nitassinan]]'' (ᓂᑕᔅᓯᓇᓐ), meaning "our land" in the [[Innu language]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Nitassinan: The Innu Struggle to Reclaim Their Homeland |publisher=[[Douglas & McIntyre]] |date=December 1991 |page=240 |last=Wadden |first=Marie |author-link=Marie Wadden |isbn=978-1-55365-731-6 |url=http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/nitassinan |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121161501/http://www.dmpibooks.com/book/nitassinan |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-21 |access-date=2012-11-19 }}</ref> Other peoples on the peninsula include the East Cree of [[Eeyou Istchee (territory)|Eeyou Istchee (ᐄᔨᔨᐤ/ᐄᔨᔫ/ᐄᓅ ᐊᔅᒌ)]], the [[Naskapi]] whose territories are called ''St'aschinuw'' (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, also meaning "our land")<ref>{{cite book|last=MacKenzie|first=Marguerite|title=Naskapi Lexicon|year=1994|publisher=Naskapi Development Corp|location=Kawawachikamach, Quebec}}</ref> as well as the [[Inuit]] of [[Nunavik]], [[Nunatsiavut]] and [[NunatuKavut]]. The area became known as ''[[Markland]]'' in [[Greenlandic Norse]] and its inhabitants were known as the ''[[Skræling]]''.

It is widely accepted that the peninsula is named after Portuguese explorer [[João Fernandes Lavrador]]. He was granted a patent by King [[Manuel I of Portugal]] in 1499 that gave him the right to explore that part of the Atlantic Ocean as set out in the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]]. Together with [[Pero de Barcelos]], he first sighted Labrador in 1498, and charted the coasts of southwestern [[Greenland]] and of adjacent the northeastern [[North America]] around 1498 and gave notice of them in Portugal and Europe. His landowner status allowed him to use the title ''lavrador'', Portuguese for "farmer" or "landholder", but "labrador" in Spanish and Galician means "agricultural worker" ({{IPA|pt|lɐvɾɐˈðoɾ}}). He actually gave the name of ''Terra do Lavrador'' to Greenland, which was the first land that he sighted, but eventually, the name was spread to all areas until it was set for Labrador.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/portuguese.html |title=The Portuguese Explorers |publisher=Memorial University of Newfoundland |access-date=24 October 2011}}</ref>