Living Heritage Podcast Ep019 Aboriginal Engagement with Catharyn Andersen

Catharyn Andersen is an Inuk from Nunatsiavut in northern Labrador. She is the Special Advisor to the President on Aboriginal Affairs at Memorial University. Before joining Memorial, she worked with the Small Craft Harbours program with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. She was the Director of the Torngâsok Cultural Centre, the cultural arm of the Nunatsiavut Government, from 2003 to 2008, and also worked as the Inuttitut Language Program Coordinator with the cultural centre. She is an alumna of Memorial University. In this episode, we talk about Catharyn’s position as Special Advisor, her work with the Torngâsok Cultural Centre, aboriginal language and cultures, and the construction of an aboriginal house at Memorial University’s St. John’s campus.

ICH @UVic Day 5 - Indigenous Language and Culture

Today was our second-last day on the intangible cultural heritage course at UVic. We started off with a visit to the First Peoples House. Pamela Clermont and her co-workers showed us around the building, created as a social, cultural and academic centre for Indigenous students on campus. It is a gorgeous space, which you can read more about here, packed full of local, amazing, indigenous art.

Outside is an ongoing totem pole carving project. The artist, Hjalmer Wenstob, has posted the artist's statement on site:

"I see the totem as a means of bringing together and strengthening connections between cultures, both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous. It creates a space to come together where we are all equal, to create a future where we can walk side by side on the same path. To bring together academic and traditional Indigenous teaching for a common goal of unity, understanding and respect. - Hjalmer Wenstob"

After our visit to the First Peoples House, we had a conversation with Janna Wilson, Program Coordinator with the Cultural Management Programs at UVic, who has been working on their Indigenous languages retention programs. Then we went off to the Royal BC Museum for a behind-the scenes look at the Our Living Languages exhibit, with Michael Barnes, Head of Exhibitions, and Dr Martha Black. Curator of Ethnology.

Thanks to all who gave of their time today, and for freely sharing all their expertise and experience!

Logo revealed for first-ever Indigenous Arts Symposium to be held in Newfoundland and Labrador

ArtsNL, in conjunction with steering committee members comprised of representatives from Nunatsiavut, NunatuKavut, Miawpukek, Qalipu First Nation, and the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation, launched a website (http://www.tolightthefire.wordpress.com) and unveiled a logo for the province’s first-ever Indigenous Arts Symposium today.

The symposium, which is being called To Light The Fire, will take place in Happy Valley-Goose Bay from November 19-22, 2015. The logo features reference to the titular ‘fire’ and visuals of a drum, which are often heated over a flame prior to being played. The imagery was chosen by the steering committee as fire and drums were universally present in each of the involved indigenous cultures, and Camille Usher created the logo. The event is part of a series of initiatives that ArtsNL is undertaking to celebrate its 35th anniversary.

“The strong interest to have a provincial symposium focused on indigenous artists and art practices was heard loud and clear at the Atlantic indigenous arts symposium planned by the Atlantic Public Arts Funders called Petapan, which was held in August 2014 in Millbrook, NS,” said Reg Winsor, ArtsNL executive director. “We’re following a similar model for our provincial event that will include demonstrations, workshops, showcases, a film festival show case, exhibition, and pop-up shops.”

The symposium will also include a number of forum discussions where registered participants will have the opportunity to freely discuss challenges they’ve faced as artists, the business of being an artist, while sharing creative solutions and strategies that have worked for them. A full itinerary of events is available on the symposium’s website, and biographies for those leading workshops, demonstrations, and speakers will be added in the near future.

The website features online registration for the symposium, which is open as of today. Interested individuals from all indigenous backgrounds are welcome to register and attend, though spaces will be limited so people are encouraged to register at their earliest convenience. There is no fee to attend the symposium, and limited accommodations assistance is available. Registration closes October 9, 2015. Individuals with limited internet access are encouraged to contact Donna Roberts, ArtsNL’s Cultural Outreach Officer in Labrador to register by phone at 896-9565 or 1-888-896-9565.

As details continue to become available, they will be shared through future releases, on the ArtsNL social media profiles, or at http://www.tolightthefire.wordpress.com or http://www.artsnl.ca.

Youth Heritage Forum 2015 Guest Speaker - Caitlyn Baikie

Guest Speaker: Caitlyn Baikie

Caitlyn is from the province's most northern community of Nain, and has been living in the capital studying Geography and Aboriginal Studies at Memorial University for the past four years. With experience in both the Arctic and Antarctic, she has been participating in climate research for nearly a decade and has been attempting to communicate the effects it has on Inuit culture. An avid volunteer, lover of chocolate, political junkie, and a curious mind for the world we live in Caitlyn thoroughly enjoys exploring her own history as an Inuk and sharing it with those who are willing to share a bit about their own history.

Why are you passionate about heritage?

When I think about what has shaped me as a person so far in my young life, I think about my heritage first and foremost. As a descendant of Northern Labrador with roots in Northern Newfoundland as well, I am very lucky to come from regions in Canada that have rich history. At the age of eighteen I moved away from home for the first time, and though I was always aware of how unique Inuit culture is, I realized that the strong connection I have to my heritage shaped the way I view the world and my role in it. The way I understand the environment, sharing of knowledge, to everyday life, I realized came from my heritage. I have turned these realizations into my study, and passion which I enjoy sharing with those who are interested to learn more about the role of their own history in their own lives.

Want to hear more from Caitlyn? Join us for Youth Heritage Forum 2015!

Registration forms can be downloaded here! 
Keep up to date, join our Youth Heritage Forum Facebook Event!

Research question: Esquimaux murdered at Keatulik Island

I had an interesting research question this week. A colleague came across this entry, on the Newfoundland's Grand Banks webpage "1926 News and Events of the Year from The St. John's Daily News"

The page lists a short death notice from May 11, 1926.  The item reads, simply, "An Esquimaux Tuite murdered at Keatulik Island."

The Daily News for 1926 is not yet scanned on Memorial University's Digital Archives Collection, and I've not verified that the spelling on the website is a correct transcription.  

Does anyone have suggestions about the location of Keatulik Island? Somewhere in Labrador, perhaps? Or do you have some thoughts on the word "Tuite"? Is it a person's name, or does it refer to a group of people? 

If you have thoughts or theories, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

- Dale Jarvis

Youth Contest for Aboriginal Arts and Stories

Aboriginal Arts & Stories is a national educational initiative that invites First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth (ages 11-29) to submit creative writing or two-dimensional artwork about their culture and heritage. Participants have a chance to win up to $2,000; a trip to the annual awards ceremony, and have their work published or exhibited. Finalists are selected by a jury comprised of celebrated Aboriginal writers and artists, including Shirley Moorhouse, Kent Monkman, Maxine Noel, Lee Maracle, and Drew Hayden Taylor, among many others.

The contest is an opportunity for youth to share stories of their families, communities, ancestors, as well as personal stories, with an audience across the country. Now in its 11th year, more than 2,000 youth have participated in the contest to date. This year’s deadline is March 31, 2015. Visit www.our-story.ca for full guidelines, prizing information, previous winning submissions, and to submit an entry.

Aboriginal Arts & Stories is a program of Historica Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Canadian history and heritage.

Videos on Mi'kmaw basket making

Photo: A round spruce root basket with diamond wrapped ears made by Anthony White of Bay St. George. Constructed c1960.


I got a call today, from a woman in St. George's looking for information on where she could find a copy of a video called "Making Spruce Root Baskets." The video was made in 1981 by the Memorial University of Newfoundland "Traces" project. This video focuses on Mik'maw spruce root basket making, in particular basket maker Anthony White. The video shows White collecting spruce roots, peeling and splitting the roots, collecting wild raisin and finally weaving the basket.

That video is on Memorial University's Digital Archive Initiative, here.

Another video we came across while doing research on Mik'maw basket making is this one, featuring Cape Breton elder Rita Smith, which we posted with permission of her family. It shows the process of ash basket making, which was a type of basket made in the Maritime provinces, and then traded by Mik'maw basket sellers, who travelled from community to community by train in Newfoundland.

Youth Hoop Dance Workshop - March 15th

The St. John’s Native Friendship Centre and the Intangible Cultural Heritage office of Heritage Foundation of NL are co-sponsoring a Hoop Dance Workshop, with Beany John.

Crystal (Beany) John is Taino and Cree from Kehewin Alberta. At 22 years of age she is a champion Grass dancer and Hoop Dancer. She is one of two women in Canada given permission to be part of the Grass Dance Society and was initiated in 1998. Beany has been teaching Hoop Dance to youth in Alberta and Ontario since 2004. She has taught at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, Anishnabe Health Youth program, Trent University, Toronto Native Canadian Centre youth program and the Kehewin First Nation.

Her mix of Hoop Dance and Hip Hop has been called “dynamic” and “exciting”. Her contemporary style, mixing traditional forms with circus skills and hip hop, is one of a kind and she has a following of young Native people throughout Canada and the United States.

Location: 3rd Floor Dance Rehearsal Space, St. John's Arts and Culture Centre

Date: Saturday, March 15th, 2014

Time: 10am to 1pm

Cost: $25

What to Bring: Participants are invited to wear comfortable clothing, nothing too loose so that it doesn't get caught up in the hoops. The room has a professional dance floor, so no outside footwear is permitted. Workshop is for participants age 8+

Registration is extremely limited, so participants MUST pay in advance either by cheque made payable to “Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador” or by email money transfer.

Registration mandatory. To register, contact Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call 739-1892 ext 2.

Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Program grant deadline April 15

The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Program program supports initiatives that involve the safeguarding of traditions and culture.

There has long been awareness among Aboriginal groups of the increasingly urgent need to preserve their culture by passing along knowledge to the next generation. In some cases, this program may build on efforts already initiated by Aboriginal organizations. These initiatives include: language programs that build pride and establish identity; traditional music programs for children; and events that encourage the interaction of elders and children through storytelling, craft, and going out on the land.

This program aims to build capacity among Aboriginal groups in Newfoundland and Labrador in the areas of knowledge and skills development related to the safeguarding of ICH.

What types of projects can be funded?
· Documenting and recording cultural knowledge through research, collecting oral histories, and inventorying aspects of cultural heritage

· Passing on cultural knowledge through teaching, demonstrations, publications, and websites

· Educating and raising awareness of cultural traditions

· Recognizing tradition-bearers through awards and special events

· Celebrating with festivals and events, or incorporating cultural activities into existing events

· Identifying and supporting cultural enterprises that use aspects of traditional culture (for example, craft production; cultural tourism)

· Professional development for Aboriginal cultural workers, educators and knowledge holders

What is the program deadline?
The deadline for the receipt of applications is April 15, 2013. Projects must be completed by March 31, 2014.

For more information and application forms, contact:

Lucy Alway, Heritage Program Officer
Tel: 709-729-1409
Email: lucyalway@gov.nl.ca

Dale Jarvis, Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer
Tel: 1-888-739-1892
Email: ich@heritagefoundation.ca

(photo: canoe under construction, Conne River)

Cape Breton Mi'kmaw elder Margaret Pelletier on the Spirit of Basket Weaving

"I think with me, there is a spirit within me that makes the basket. I always told my mother that. It's like I can make the basket, I'm just the physical form. You probably feel like that if you are a basket weaver. You are just the physical form that is there, but you have to have that spirit within you that moves your hands and makes the basket, and you're not actually making it yourself. And I think if we had more people that felt like that, I think we'd have so many basket weavers. But I really would like to increase as many basket weavers as we could, because it is really such a fine art, and it is so nice to do."

 - Clip from an interview with Margaret (Margie) Pelletier, a Mi'kmaw elder and basket maker from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. Recorded at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada, on 17 March 2012 by Dale Jarvis.

Two Corner Brook events celebrate the history of basketmaking

In Newfoundland and Labrador traditionally-made baskets came in many shapes, sizes and styles and can be crafted from a variety of materials. On the west coast, traditions included Acadian and Mi’kmaw style root baskets, and the popular mill lunch baskets.

“Baskets once served a very utilitarian role in the province, used for carrying items such as fish, potatoes, eggs and berries,” says Dale Jarvis, a folklorist with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL). “Mill lunch baskets were once so popular nearly every pulp and paper mill worker in Newfoundland used one to bring hot meals to work.”

To celebrate that history, the Heritage Foundation is organising a series of events around the tradition of basket making in Newfoundland.

On Saturday, March 17th, at Grenfell College in Corner Brook, HFNL will be hosting a special talk and presentation on Mi'kmaw and Acadian spruce root and ash baskets, with local and visiting experts, including Mi’kmaw elders Margaret Pelletier and Della Maguire, traditional ash basket makers from Nova Scotia. The talk will take place from 7-9pm in the Arts and Science building, Room 379, Grenfell College.

On Sunday, March 18th from 1-3pm at the Glynmill Inn, Corner Brook and Sunday, HFNL will be hosting an event called “Tea ‘n’ Baskets”. This event is an opportunity for those who still have mill lunch baskets to come out and show your basket and share your memories. Bring your basket, we’ll provide the refreshments! HFNL staff will be on hand to photograph mill baskets, to become part of an educational website.

HFNL’s Intangible Cultural Heritage program was created to celebrate, record, and promote our living heritage and help to build bridges between diverse cultural groups within and outside Newfoundland and Labrador.

Tea, baskets, and the community conservation of intangible cultural heritage

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, we invite people to our "Tea and Baskets" events in Corner Brook and Grand Falls-Windsor; ICH intern Nicole Penney shares some of her research on mill lunch baskets; and we nominate inukshuk building as an item of provincial historical significance. Download the newsletter in pdf form.

I have been corresponding a bit lately with Misako Ohnuki, Deputy Director of the International Research Centre for ICH in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) based in Osaka, Japan. Curious about the work we are doing in Newfoundland and Labrador, she asked me about some of the difficulties and hurdles that we have have faced so far in documenting intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in communities in this province. Read my short report on "Challenges in the community conservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Newfoundland and Labrador."

And finally, Memorial University has published an article about our current Public Folklore Intern Nicole Penney's work placement with Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and her work cataloguing baskets and baskets makers in Newfoundland.

Happy reading!

Documenting traditional knowledge relating to Labrador inuksuit and stone markers

"They used to be waiting for caribou and when the caribou started comin' they'd go from one inukshuk to the other to get closer to the caribou" 
- Gus Semigak, Hopedale, Labrador, March 23, 2011


Inuksuit (the plural of inukshuk) have become an emblem of the north and an inukshuk appears on the official flag of Nunatsiavut (above). An inukshuk construction scene is pictured on the cover of the 2004 Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement, and is clearly an important symbol of Labrador Inuit identity.

During the 2010 Nunatsiavut Heritage Forum in Nain, elders in attendance voiced their concerns about how inuksuit were not being constructed in traditional ways, and how they lacked the meaning that the elders of Nunatsiavut are accustomed to. Elders also pointed out potential dangers associated with randomly built inuksuit, which had no meaning, but which might appear to mean something they didn't.

As a response, the Nunatsiavut Government, with funding though the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Program and the Tasiujatsoak Trust Fund, has prepared a research report on inuksuit in Labrador. You can download the full report, in pdf format, here.

Flag photo from Paul Illsley's web site.

Root Cellars, Repatriation of Remains, and Heritage Windows - ICH Update

In this edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador: notes on the 3rd Annual Folklife Festival, Seeds to Supper; Crystal Braye digs in to the Root Cellar Project; we learn why the Food Security Network thinks that Root Cellars Rock; Torngâsok Cultural Centre archaeologist Jamie Brake documents a 1927 incident involving anthropologist William Duncan Strong and the second Rawson-MacMillan Subarctic Expedition, and the 2011 repatriation of the remains of 22 Inuit from the Field Museum in Chicago; and Melissa Squarey reports on tradition bearer James "Jim" Youden, a heritage carpenter and window maker who is the recipient of the Newfoundland Historic Trust’s 2011 Southcott Award for Heritage Craftsperson.

Download the pdf

Metis artisan Albert Biles

Metis artisan Albert Biles will be the artist-in-residence at the Labrador Gallery in Wild Things for the summer and fall of 2009.

Albert is renowned for his work in whale bone and antler, and almost every major gallery and collection in Newfoundland and Labrador includes some of his work. Albert will be hosting a small exhibition featuring some of his latest and most innovative pieces at a reception at Wild Things on June 25 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Following the reception, Albert will be taking up the position of Artist-in-Residence at the Labrador Gallery in Wild Things. On select days during the summer and fall, folks will be able to meet Albert as he works on ivory, baleen, whale bone, soapstone, antler, and other natural media of Newfoundland and Labrador.

For a cultural adventure celebrating ancient art and form in the 21st century visit Albert at The Labrador Gallery in Wild Things, 124 Water Street (709) 722-3123. Better yet, meet Albert at our reception (June 25 from 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) and have a glass of wine and sample some pitsik from Northern Labrador.

ICH Update for April 2009 - Aboriginal Cultural Heritage

This month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update focusses on the province's aboriginal cultural heritage, and provides an overview of some of the recent projects started under Newfoundland and Labrador's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Program of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. Some project include canoe making, oral history training, documentation of sealing traditions, and an Innu youth banner project. Also in this issue, notes from the Federation of Newfoundland Indians on Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge, and an invitation to the 2009 Miawpukek Traditional Powwow.

Download the newsletter here.