Celebrating the Traditional Skills of the Humber Valley

photo courtesy Lauralee Ledrew, Cormack

Heritage NL has been working with the Department of Folklore and the Harris centre at Memorial University on a traditional skills inventory for the Humber Valley.  The following communities are included in the study: Steady Brook, Little Rapids, Humber Village, Humber Valley Resort, Pasadena, Pynn’s Brook, Little Harbour, St. Judes, Deer Lake, Reidville, Cormack, and Howley. 

The study is now finished, and is presented in two parts. First is the Humber Valley Skills Inventory (2024) which showcases individual makers, crafters, and artists in the region. The second is a report entitled Needs and Gaps Related to Traditional Knowledge Transfer in the Humber Valley, NL (2024), which explores challenges related to traditional skills.

And as a followup to a recent Thriving Regions workshop in Deer Lake, we have set up a new facebook group, Humber Valley Traditional Skills, for those people wishing to discuss or share opportunities for knowledge transfer:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/humbervalleytraditionalskills

Thanks to Harris Centre for their support and to the work of our researchers: Denise McKeown, research assistant & writer; Felicia Omodunke Somolu, graphic designer; Emlyn Tuck, needs and gaps researcher; Rose Baruh and Era Mahmuda, archival research. Thanks also to Heritage NL staff Andrea O’Brien and Terra Barrett, for fieldwork assistance and editing.

There are also collections of material related to both the Humber Valley generally and Deer Lake specifically on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative:

https://dai.mun.ca/digital/ich_wn/