Rigolet: The place that stays with you

CBC

2 days ago

There's just something about Rigolet. It's hard to explain if you haven't been. But it's easy to feel once you're there. It's in the stories told, the songs sung, and the way the community welcomes you in.
Written by Amy Joy Jun. 1, 2025
Growing up in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Jamie Jackman and Matthew Barrett remember what it felt like when visiting artists came into their classroom.
If you're from a rural place, you know that those experiences can stay with you. It can inspire you to dream about the places you'll go and the opportunities that are out there. But it can also give you a deeper appreciation of where you're from.
Jackman and Barrett are best friends, and two of four members of Silver Wolf Band, whose folk rock songs are shaped by their home in Labrador; the land, the stories and the way of life.
'I know the world through writing music. Because it challenges me to look into my history, into geography, into social issues. It's the vessel that I've used to broaden my understanding of the world,' said Jackman.
But their songwriting isn't only about exploring what it means to be a part of Labrador, it's about helping young people do the same. Part of their time on the road is spent in schools in coastal Labrador communities, working with students to co-create songs from scratch. They walk in with no lyrics, no melody, no plan — just a simple question: What's important to you?
And in those answers, a song starts to take shape.
'Art is a way of expressing yourself, but it's also a way of making yourself known, making your presence felt in the world. Especially in Indigenous communities, art is such a spiritual thing, and we're spiritual people. It's a great way to connect yourself to the land,' said Jackman.
Rigolet Magic
Silver Wolf Band first visited Rigolet in 2019 to play at the Salmon Festival, an annual summer community celebration. Something about the place stayed with the group. It was more than a good show.
Five years later, Jackman and Barrett returned to Rigolet to lead a songwriting workshop with students in kindergarten to Grade 3 at Northern Lights Academy. What started out as a single verse and chorus became something much bigger. The kids kept writing after the band left, adding new lines, performing it for the community and turning it into a local anthem, something that truly belonged to Rigolet.
They called it Rigolet Magic.
Rigolet Magic is a song co-written by Matthew Barrett, Jamie Jackman and students in kindergarten to Grade 3 from Northern Lights Academy.
The experience left an impression on Jackman and Barrett. When an opportunity came up to work with a new group of students, they were all in.
The magic wasn't just in the music — the magic was in Rigolet itself and the community members that welcomed them with open arms and hearts.
The Sounds of Rigolet
Part of understanding Rigolet is listening to it.
That could be the sound of a snow mobile passing by, the crunch of the snow under your feet, the barks of a sled dog team in the distance, the wind coming off of the water. It could also sound like the buzz of a basketball or volleyball game in the school gym, or the cheers and chatter from a game of 120s at the community centre.
But sometimes it's what you can't hear that stays with you.
'Everything was peaceful. Everything was quiet,' said elder Jack Shiwak, who has lived in Rigolet his whole life.
Shiwak learned to trap with his father and brother, and although he has fond memories of time spent in the woods with them, he also cherishes the time he spends in the woods alone. He always makes time for a solo trip, just him and the land with no distractions or noise.
I used to tell people — they'd ask what I was doing — and I'd say 'I'm listening to the snow.' I've never got that feeling anywhere else. There's something special about this place.
Jack Shiwak
The stillness in Rigolet is something even the younger generations in the community recognize and appreciate.
'It's good because you can't hear the cars going,' said 11-year-old Tristan Williams. 'It's peaceful. It's a nice recharge for your mind, so you don't get mad at everyone.'
Out in the sandpit, as the locals call it, Williams, his 10-year-old brother Brayden, and their 12-year-old friend Elinor Shiwak are having a boil up. They've got all the essentials; marshmallows, hot dogs, snow boiled for tea. And the most important things: good conversation and a few laughs.
Today they're giving each other advice on lighting fires, and more importantly how one should stay safe if ever in the presence of a lynx.
'They won't hunt anything bigger than them, but if you're a kid, they might try,' said Williams.
In between their chatter, laughter and the stoking of the fire, it's clear to see what this really means to them. This isn't part of a school project, or a special occasion. It's just what their life looks like here and it's something they don't ever want to lose.
'Being on the land is important,' Williams said. 'So our culture don't get forgotten.'
Hop on a spring snowmobile ride for an immersive journey through life on the northern coast of Labrador. Time at the cabin, throat singers, kids messing around and building a fire is part of the experience. Our tour guide in and out of the community of Rigolet, in Nunatsiavut, is CBC Labrador's John Gaudi. His documentary is called A Rigolet Ridealong.
Not everyone in Rigolet was born here.
Chelsea Flowers is originally from Cartwright, a small town on the south coast of Labrador. She came to Rigolet 10 years ago to teach at Northern Lights Academy, unaware that she'd fall head over heels for the place.
'I think I fell in love with Rigolet the very first day I got here. It felt like home instantly,' she said.
She also fell in love with a person. Her now husband, Franklin Flowers.
'I met him playing volleyball,' Flowers laughed. 'Then he asked me to go for a ride after the game.'
The couple left Rigolet briefly to explore life elsewhere, but just eight months later they realized they needed to get back.
'The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Or, I like to say, 'we don't even need grass up here. It's just all freedom,'' she said
It's been ten years since they returned, and these days the sounds Flowers hears most is the non-stop chatter of two-year-old Kayden, full of questions and energy, along with the soft cooing of her baby, Jesse, the newest voice in town.
There's comfort in knowing that her kids will grow up in this place, knowing that they're safe, and knowing that the whole community supports each other.
And the lessons that she'll teach them are simple.
'That their community matters. That helping others matters. That respecting their elders and culture matters. That being around the land isn't just important, it makes you feel better. And that everything they need is right here,' she said.
New voices, a new song
Some places just have a way of pulling you back.
So,when the opportunity came to return, it was an easy decision.
'Usually, in our workshops we have about 50 minutes to write a full song,' Barrett said, 'We always promise we'll have something by the end, and so far, we always have.'
But this time, Barrett and Jackman stayed longer. And spent days, not minutes, in the classroom with the older students in Grades 7 to 12.
And like any situation where you're getting to know people — let alone a couple of musicians who are kind of a big deal in these parts, things started out a little quiet. Everyone was a little shy.
But then, the stories start to come out. About chopping wood, and sledding and skidooing. About laughing and being together. The little things that feel a little ordinary, until you start putting them into words.
'I hope they remember that they made something meaningful — something that came from them. And I hope they feel proud of it, because we sure are,' said Barrett.
For Grade 11 student Misty Flowers-Sheppard, she hopes others who live on the coast will connect with their song.
'I feel like people will be inspired and people that live on the coast will like listening to it and especially people that moved away and don't live here anymore.'
'This song came together from a group of people being in a room together,' Jackman said. 'And now they have this memory. They're probably never going to forget it. And honestly, it's a beautiful memory for us, too.'
Credits
Writer and producer: Amy Joy
Videography and photography: Mike Simms and Curtis Hicks
Production editor: Mike Simms
Copy editor: Mike Moore
Audio documentary: John Gaudi
Header image design: Brooke Schreiber
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