In January, 2013, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced a 5-year hunting ban on the George River Caribou Herd, a decision made in the wake of rapid declines of the herd’s population. By 2022, with the ban still in place, the continued lack of access to caribou has manifested in cultural, emotional, and physical disruptions for Inuit communities who, for millennia, have had caribou embedded in their way of life. Through the voices of more than 50 Inuit from the Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut regions of Labrador, Canada, and their shared link with caribou, HERD illustrates these complex tensions, interplays, and celebrations that exist at the nexus of humans and animals, and illustrates the cascading social, emotional, and cultural disruptions that come from ecological change.

Caribou was once embedded into the daily lives of many, nourishing collective experiences, cultural resiliency, and deep understandings of place and past. “We celebrated it. We shared it. It was a part of who we were” described long time caribou hunter Derrick Pottle. But now, with caribou on the precipice of extirpation, this historic connection is being unraveled. Putting food on the table has become more challenging and more costly. Stories of the past take the place of experiences in the present. Personal and collective identities have been put into question. Intense emotions of excitement and happiness now substituted for fear and grief. As Dennis Burden shared, “you can never replace the caribou”. 

The film, which was developed over four years of intimate collaboration between filmmakers and communities, is a portrait of the deep interconnections that exist between Inuit and caribou, a glimpse of heartbreaking loss felt by entire communities, and an unforgettable testament of cultural endurance and resilience in the context of ecological uncertainty.