The Arctic Games, carnivals and sporting events are a testament to the vibrant community life in the North.
In 1960, a first carnival was set up, and several others followed.
1972 saw the first endurance competitions for drivers and their mechanics with the 24 h of ski-doo.
1972, the Pee-Wees visit Prime Minister Robert Bourassa.
In 1976, Schefferville hosted the 4ᵗʰ Arctic Winter Games. These competitions were addressed to the northern communities of the 60ᵗʰ parallel and up, then following a change of rule, people of the 55ᵗʰ were included. A thousand athletes, guides and officials took part in 13 challenges, including Inuit Sports.
1980 St-Jean-Baptiste’s bonfire celebration
Between 1950 and 1960, a major sports complex rose under the sky of Schefferville. Particularity: the gymnasium was transformed into a curling room in winter. There was also a library, a canteen, a mezzanine with a bar for evenings with an orchestra, an administrative area and various sports clubs.
This large socio-recreational complex did not escape the major demolition of the infrastructures between 1989 and 1991. Only the arena was preserved thanks to a human chain. Today, this same sector belongs to the Innu community of Matimekush-Lac-John. There are: the administrative building of the Band Council, a convenience store and a chapel.
In 1975, an extension was specially fitted out to accommodate the 4th Arctic Winter Games in 1976. Particularity: this was built from the former infrastructures of the Marconi Company (Located opposite the airport in the 1950’s). Thus, the Sports Complex was now connected to the Arena via an interior corridor.
Journal La Presse, February 8, 2014 “Schefferville, the arena reopens 30 years later” reported the words of Innu Chief Réal McKenzie…
[…the arena was saved thanks to the mothers and children who surrounded the building before the bulldozer crushed it…].
La Presse, May 1991 “Eight years later, the wound is still open in Schefferville,” said a young Innu, Jean-François Meloatam. Painting a dark picture with “A crowd of buildings in a state of degradation, countless houses destroyed… … our environment looks like a huge open-air dump…».
