The first inhabitants of the region now called Newfoundland and Labrador were Indians who probably reached the area around 5000 B.C. Archeologists believe that Norsemen visited the area about 6,000 years later. Remains of a Viking settlement dating to about 1000 A.D. were discovered in 1963 on the northernmost shore of Newfoundland island near the village of L'Anse aux Meadows. The site may be that of Leif Ericson's Vinland, as told in the Norse sagas.
For many years, Newfoundland and Labrador were simply called Newfoundland. The name Newfoundland comes from the English explorer John Cabot, who in 1497 landed on either the island or the adjacent mainland. His report on the abundance of fish quickly brought French, Portuguese, Spanish Basque, and English ships to the Grand Banks cod fisheries. Fishing settlements grew up on the bays and harbors of Newfoundland's southeastern (Avalon) peninsula. The fishermen found the island inhabited by Beothuks (Indian for “Red Men"), nomadic Indians who painted themselves with red ocher.
