Registration for the Traditional Newfoundland Sock Knit-Along is OPEN!

As part of the Grey Sock Project, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and the City of St. John's are presenting Knit Some Socks Knit-along.

Come knit a traditional pair of Newfoundland socks found in Operation Homespun among fellow knitters! Knit-along with a group as you rib, turn heels and graft toes. If you are unsure of how to do something, there are two wonderful instructors to help or ask your neighbour. Once finished, you can donate your socks to those in need or take them home! Snacks and refreshments provided.

When: March 5th and March 12th

Where: A.C. Hunter Children's Library

Time: 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Participants will be required to bring:

• 2 sets of double pointed needles - 3.75 mm and 4 mm
• 2 skeins of Briggs and Little Heritage worsted weight 100% wool (or equivalent worsted weight wool)
• Optional: Small portion of yarn for stripes

Proposed Audience: Some experience to intermediate

Biography of presenters:
Christine LeGrow lives and works in Outer Cove, Newfoundland. She enjoys designing patterns as well as knitting traditional patterns. Many of her designs are inspired by Newfoundland early knits. LeGrow shares her designs with twenty-five knitters who contribute to her company Spindrift.

Shirley Scott, or Shirl the Purl, lives and works in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She spends much of her time knitting and preserving traditional patterns. Scott wrote Canada Knits: Craft and Comfort in a Northern Land and has since been known as Canada’s knitting historian.

Workshop Feb 24th - Using Craft to Tell a Story

An exciting and instructive session for museums, heritage sites and craft makers, this session will offer insight into how craft can tell a cultural story and how makers and visitor destination sites can make use of craft to enhance the visitor’s experience.

Join Keynote speakers Joanne Kaar from Caithness, Scotland and Pam Hall from St. John's at the Manuels River Interpretation Centre on Wednesday, February 24.

Presentations will be followed by panel comprised of local experts in storytelling and the craft industry. The panel will explore ways in which Newfoundland and Labrador craft makers, artists and designers are using craft to tell their stories.

This is a collaborative project between the Craft Council Of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Intangible Cultural Heritage office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. Your fee of $50 + HST includes lunch!

Click here for more information

Click here to register

Learn to Knit at the Quidi Vidi Village Plantation

Family and Friends Learn to Knit participants!

I went to the Quidi Vidi Village Plantation last week to check out the Family and Friends Learn to Knit program run by the City of St. John's. It ran for four weeks on Sundays in January. The program is offered to anyone who wants to learn to knit.

Participants learned how to cast on, knit, purl, decrease and increase stitches as well as how to knit their own dishcloth. For the last class, participants chose their own projects and started on them. Some of the participant chosen projects were wrist warmers, scarves, and a baby blanket.

The first project knitted by participants

One participant stated she joined the program because knitting was something nice to do in the winter months and was a good way for her to hang out with her friends. She said she really wanted to learn to make socks and this workshop was a great way to learn the basics.

I asked someone else what their favourite part of the workshop was. She said she enjoyed learning new stitches and actually creating something herself.

If you ever wanted to learn to knit this is the perfect opportunity. The instructors are excited to teach and if you're willing to learn you'll be knitting and purling in no time! Luckily, there is another four week program you can register for just like this.


Date: Sundays, Feb. 7 to 28, 2016 (4 weeks)
Time: 2 to 4 p.m.
Location: Quidi Vidi Village Plantation, 10 Maple View Road
Ages: 10+ years
Cost: $28 per person
Click here to register for this course.

Plus, who can deny this view?

View from the Quidi Vidi Village Plantation

Thank you to the lovely group of knitters who allowed me to chat with them and take photos.

Happy knitting everyone,

Stephanie

Learn another traditional skill! We are offering a free traditional darning workshop February 16th. 

Registration Open for Traditional Darning Workshop

Do you have holes in your socks that you'd like to fix but don't know where to start? Come to our free traditional darning workshop with instructor Christine LeGrow! It is on Tuesday, February 16th at the A.C. Hunter Children's Library at the Arts & Culture Centre, 125 Allandale Road.

Click below for materials list and registration! Hope to see you there!

Saving Our Stories Workshop in Corner Brook, August 5th

Saving Our Stories - An Introduction to Community Oral History with folklorist Dale Jarvis.
A free workshop organized by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, in cooperation with Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band. This workshop is open to anyone with an interest in local history, culture and folklore. It is intended to give a background on how to conduct research interviews, and will give people a chance to try their hand at creating interview questions and to explore the world of oral history! It is free to attend, but you need to register in advance.

Wednesday, August 5th, 2015

1pm-4pm
Brendan Sheppard Boardroom, Qalipu Office
3 Church Street, Corner Brook

Workshop is limited to first ten registrants. To register, contact Dale Jarvis at:
1-888-739-1892 x2
ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Saving Our Stories - An Introduction to Community Oral History in Port Union

Saving Our Stories - An Introduction to Community Oral History with folklorist Dale Jarvis.
A free workshop organized by the Sir William F Coaker Heritage Foundation, Champney's West Heritage Group, and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. This workshop is open to anyone with an interest in local history, culture and folklore. It is intended to give a background on how to conduct research interviews, and will give people a chance to try their hand at creating interview questions and to explore the world of oral history! It is free to attend, but you need to register in advance.

Saturday, June 13th, 2015, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Factory/Advocate Building, Port Union, NL

Contact:
Terra Barrett at 1-888-739-1892 x 5 or email terra@heritagefoundation.ca

What, and where, is our heritage? Help map Champney’s West heritage.

Thursday, June 11th, 2015 
7pm – 9 pm
Recreation Hall, Jack’s Hill
Champney’s West

This June, residents of Champney’s West will start to map out what their heritage means to them, with a little help from folklorist Dale Jarvis.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, our living heritage is rich and diverse. It includes ballad singing, snowshoe-making, accordion playing, knitting, Christmas mummering, berry picking, boat building, and much more. We tell stories, make clothes, shear sheep, and spin yarn. We have a complex knowledge of place, the seasons, and the movements and patterns of animals from moose to cod fish. If we lose these important parts of our living heritage (what we call Intangible Cultural Heritage or ICH), we will also lose important resources that can keep our communities going culturally, economically and socially. But where do we start?

Communities decide which traditions are important to document. Sometimes these traditions are threatened; sometimes particular elders or tradition-bearers will be highlighted. Other communities may record important traditions of everyday life. One first step is "asset mapping" - the process of collecting, recording, and analyzing local information in order to describe the cultural resources, networks, links and patterns of the community. Cultural asset mapping provides an inventory of key cultural resources that can be utilized for future development in the community.

Dale Jarvis, the ICH Development Officer with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, will be leading a community conversation about historic places, trails, old stories, place names, traditions, and local knowledge. Come for a cup of tea, and tell us what matters to you in Champney’s West. It will be a free and fun community workshop, sponsored by the Champney's West Heritage Group Inc.

For more info, contact: 

Shelly Blackmore, Heritage Coordinator
Champney's West Heritage Group
Ph (709)464-2173 Email - cwcdo@bellaliant.com
Website - www.champneysisland.net

Saving Our Stories - Oral History Workshop in Norris Point March 20th

The ICH office is hitting the road! I'll be running a community oral history workshop at the Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital, 2-6 Hospital Lane, Norris Point, on March 20th, 2015. The workshop is being organized in Norris Point by the Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital Heritage Corporation.

It is free to attend, but you need to register in advance.

Contact: Joan Cranston; Coordinator; 709-458-2875 (daytime); or 709-458-8032 (cell); or email jcranston@nf.sympatico.ca.

Facebook event listing here.

Fishing for Folklore Youth Scholarship

This September, the Heritage Foundation of NL is running a four-day intensive introductory workshop on intangible cultural heritage in the historic fishing community of Petty Harbour Maddox Cove, and has a few select spots available for Newfoundland and Labrador youth who want to learn more about saving local heritage.

“The provincial intangible cultural strategy recognizes that the inclusion of youth is important in all work relating to ICH,” says foundation folklorist Dale Jarvis. “One of the key areas we must address is the participation of youth in our thinking, planning, and celebration of our living traditions. This scholarship is a way of encouraging people at the start of their heritage careers to gain a bit more practical experience in these areas.”

The workshop will run from Tuesday, September 2nd to Friday, September 5th, 2014 at the Petty Harbour Maddox Cove Community Centre. Participants will learn about planning an intangible cultural heritage project, writing field notes, oral history interviewing, safeguarding traditional crafts and skills, creating memory maps of communities, documenting traditional boatbuilding techniques, public folklore programming, and report writing.

The scholarship is open to residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, who are between the ages of 19 and 35. Applicants can be students, recent graduates, or young professionals in any heritage field.

To apply, applicants must send a cover letter explaining their interest in the course, and copy of their resume to Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca. Application deadline is Friday, August 22nd.

Headstone Rubbing Workshop

Workshop participant outlining the symbols on the headstone.

On Friday July 18th Lisa and I geared up and drove to Cupids for the second annual Headstone Rubbing Workshop. It was a beautiful day for a drive to Cupids and it was both of our first experiences at the Cupids Legacy Centre. Although we didn’t have much of an opportunity to explore the centre it looked wonderful.

Participants rubbing one of the older headstones in the cemetery.

Located next to the Cupids Legacy Centre was the Cupids United Church and cemetery. After Lisa’s introduction to the practice of headstone rubbing, and ideas of which stones to choose we headed to the cemetery. Lisa did a demonstration of the process which involved taping a thick paper over a headstone and using charcoal to outline the shape of the headstone and wording on the headstone.

These sisters chose a husband and wife's headstones to do their rubbings.

It was my first experience with headstone rubbing and I found the technique very methodical. It was interesting to see people’s different approaches to the very hands on process. Some people were looking to uncover the words on headstones while others were interested in taking their time and enjoying the practice.   

Almost done!

It was a great workshop and participants left with a greater knowledge of the practice, some information on resources for information on genealogy, and their own headstone rubbing.  It was a beautiful way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Headstone Rubbing in Action!

If you have two minutes to spare, please watch this video showing the artful hands of our headstone rubbing participants! This event took place on July 18, 2014 as a collaboration between the HFNL and Cupids Legacy Centre.  It was a great day in Cupids--we had a good turn-out and lots of fun learning about cemetery documentation under blue skies. This short was recorded and put together by Lisa Wilson, who facilitated the workshop. Accompanying music is Gerard Chaytor of Conche, NL, on accordion.

Also, please stay tuned to see photos of the event, which will be posted in the near future.

Fishing For Folklore - An Intro to Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop

Petty Harbour Maddox Cove Community Centre
Tuesday, September 2nd - Friday, September 5th, 2014

Length of Workshop: 4 days, 9:00am-4:30pm each day

Cost: $250 (includes all breaks, lunches from Wed-Friday, course materials, workbook).

Proposed Audience: This intensive workshop is intended for museum employees, cultural workers, members of heritage committees, researchers, and anyone interested in folklore field research and planning.

Description: In cooperation with the 7th Annual Wooden Boat Conference, the Heritage Foundation of NL is running a four-day intensive introductory workshop on intangible cultural heritage in the historic fishing community of Petty Harbour Maddox Cove. Participants will learn about planning an ICH project, writing field notes, oral history interviewing, safeguarding traditional crafts and skills, creating memory maps of communities, documenting traditional boatbuilding techniques, public folklore programming, and report writing.

Participants will be required to bring pencils and pens, all other materials supplied. While not mandatory, participants are encouraged to bring a laptop and any kind of digital camera.

The workshop will be run by Dale Jarvis, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. He holds a BSc in Anthropology/Archaeology from Trent University, and a MA in Folklore from Memorial University. He has contributed as a board member and volunteer to many local arts and heritage organizations. Local experts and special guests will present on various themes throughout the week.

Participation is limited to the first 12 paid registrants. 
REGISTRATION DEADLINE 15 AUGUST 2014.
For more details, call Dale Jarvis at 1 (888) 739-1892 ext 2, or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca

To register, print and mail registration form with cheque or money order for $250 made payable to “Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador” to:

Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
PO Box 5171
St. John’s, NL, A1C 5V5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: ____________________________________________________

Organization: ___________________________________________________

Postal Address: ____________________________________________________

Phone: ______________ Cell:______________ Email:_____________________

Fog and Folklore in Twillingate, Newfoundland

This summer, folklorist Crystal Braye of the Wooden Boat Museum of NL and Lois Bragg of the Marine Institute are travelling around the island measuring and documenting wooden boats, and recording the work of traditional Newfoundland boatbuilders. As part of the outreach work of the museum, the ICH office is partnering with them to deliver a series of workshops on intangible cultural heritage and oral history along the way.

Yesterday was the first of our oral history workshops, held at the lighthouse in Twillingate. The workshop space was fantastic, with probably the best view of any workshop I've ever given, looking out at hundreds of icebergs and bergy bits. The workshop room was also conveniently placed above the fog horn, shown above, which punctuated our meeting as the fog rolled in and out throughout the afternoon.

We heard great stories, and local residents helped us identify a mystery woman in one of our oral history collections: broadcaster Hiram Silk had interviewed a Twillingate woman in the 1980s, but had identified her only as "Miss Anstey." We listened to the interview, and people were quick to name her as Mary Anstey, or "Aunt Polly" Anstey, to differentiate her from another Mary Anstey in the community.  You can listen to that interview with Mary "Polly" Anstey on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative. 

Lois and Crystal are shown below, taking the lines of a wooden boat outside the lighthouse at Twillingate. They are going to be working in the Twillingate area till July, and then moving on to Trinity. If you know of boat builders or wooden boats in those areas, they would love to track them down. Drop me a line at ich@heritagefoundation.ca and I'll put you in touch.  The next workshops in our series are in Trinity on July 15th and 16th. More info on those workshops here.

Wooden Boat Heritage Workshops in Trinity this July

This July, the Trinity Historical Society & Wooden Boat Museum of NL are partnering with us at the Intangible Cultural Heritage office to offer 2 workshops in Trinity.

Session One: Lifting Lines Workshop

Tuesday, July 15

9am-4:30pm

Parish Hall, Trinity   

Naval architect Bruce Whitelaw will teach participants the process for recording the hull shape and construction details of traditional wooden boats.


Session Two: Interview Techniques Workshop Wednesday, July 16

1pm-4:30pm

Parish Hall

Join folklorist Dale Jarvis from the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador to learn digital recording and interview techniques for collecting local oral histories.

During the following week, interested participants will have the opportunity to join WBMNL’s Documentation Team in collecting boat lines, construction details, and oral histories in Trinity and the surrounding area.

To register contact Jim Miller at (709) 464-3599 or Crystal Braye at (709) 699-9570.

Dance to Your Heart’s Content - Dance Workshop March 22nd

A Workshop with the Mizzen Heritage Dancers

Memorial University’s Folklore Department is thrilled to present a public dance workshop with The Mizzen Heritage Dancers from Heart’s Content on March 22 from 1-3:30pm at the MMaP gallery in the St. John’s Arts & Culture Centre. This workshop is open to dancers of all ages and all skill levels. A panel discussion with the dancers will take place immediately following the workshop.

The Mizzen Heritage Dancers are a group of 12-14 residents of Heart’s Content who have enjoyed performing their regional square dancing tradition for the past 15 years. This group has offered dance workshops at schools and community centres across the Avalon in hopes of recruiting dancers who may like to share in their tradition. The Mizzen Heritage Dancers are proud to announce such a workshop will be held on March 22 for the people of St. John’s. Put on your dancing shoes and join them at the Arts & Culture Centre’s MMaP Gallery for an exciting foray into the tradition of Newfoundland square dancing.

Admission is $10 or $8 for students & seniors. Refreshments will be served courtesy of Starbucks and Sobeys. Free parking will be available.

Dr. Jillian Gould, provincial folklorist Dale Jarvis, and folklore/ethnomusicology graduate students of Memorial University have organized this workshop as part of a practical exercise in public programming and cultural presentation.

Space is limited! To register, please contact nicole@heritagefoundation.ca

or call 1-888-739-1892.

***
For all publicity inquiries:
Michelle Robertson – Memorial University, M.A.
michelle_robertson23@mac.com
709-764-5000

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.

Tradition in Motion: A day with the Mizzen Heritage Square Dancers

Our intangible cultural heritage office sometimes uses what we term a “project-based training” model. You can read all about that in this occasional paper.  Yesterday, we took that model on the road, with a group of Memorial University students, to Heart's Content.

Dr. Jillian Gould is an Assistant Professor within Memorial University’s Department of Folklore, whose research interests include public folklore, ethnography, and fieldwork. Since 2011, her class has been partnering with HFNL to deliver a type of project-based training as a component of the graduate public sector folklore course. Typically, graduate students organize some kind of public folklore event or workshop, a model which engages the public while teaching the students practical and varied skills in facilitation, group work, community outreach, and project planning. 

This semester, students are working on organizing a workshop on traditional Newfoundland set dancing, in cooperation with the Mizzen Heritage Square Dancers. Thos dancers will be coming into St. John's to run a workshop later in March, but I suggested that the students go out to Heart's Content, meet the dancers in advance, learn the dances, and be better able to facilitate the workshop when it happens.

So yesterday, two carloads of us drove out to Trinity Bay, and met up with the dancers of Heart's Content at the Society of United Fishermen Hall. The dancers demonstrated two dances, the old fashioned square dance, and the Lancers, and students were able to run through the square dance twice. Then everyone took part in the Virginia Reel, and finished up with a lunch prepared by the community. Students, where possible, did on-the-spot folklore interviews with many of the participants.

Some of the students had never been to Heart's Content, and the set dances were new to most of them. It was a great experience, and everyone was moved by the kindness and generosity of the folks from Heart's Content. At the end, the dancers made sure everyone left with a Heart's Content pin. It was tremendous fun, and a great way for students to see folklore in action, rather than just reading about it. 

Stay tuned for more information on the in-town workshop itself. 

Photos by Cyndi Egan.  

Traditional Newfoundland Rug Hooking Workshop

Traditional Newfoundland Rug Hooking Workshop

with Vickie Walsh
Celebrate The Newfoundland Pony
Join us for a day of Rug Hooking

Make a mat of a NL Pony to hang on your wall using the original designs by Liz Chafe of Cappahayden

Learn the craft of hooking mats the traditional way!!! Learn about the Newfoundland Pony during lunch with an informal talk and slideshow by Liz Chafe A series of workshops will be held on the Southern Shore during the months of MARCH, APRIL AND MAY !!!!!

Call: 709 691 4459
sewfarout@hotmail.com

Price for full day workshop 10am to 5pm is $120.00.
Rug Hooking materials included plus an original NL Pony Art Rock OR print.
Location on the Southern Shore to be announced when dates are confirmed.
Call to SIGN UP NOW !!!!

SEW FAR OUT Sewing And Alterations

VICKIE WALSH 709 691- 4459
sewfarout@hotmail.com
Traditional Rug Hooking, Quilting & Craft Workshops

Nan’s Cookbook in the Digital Age

Digitizing and preserving family heirloom cookbooks and recipe cards.
Date: February 21, 2014, 1-4:30 p.m.
Location: ANLA office, Suite 201, 15 Hallett Crescent, St. John’s

Presenters: 

• Dale Jarvis, Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer, Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Nicole Penney, Intangible Cultural Heritage Programs Assistant
• Mary Ellen Wright, ANLA Professional Development and Outreach Officer

Do you have your nan’s recipe cards? Did your mother keep a scrapbook of her favourites? Do family members reminisce about that old copy of the Cream of the West Cookbook with the comments and changes written all over its pages?

This workshop will teach participants how to create and preserve digital copies of these important family and community heirlooms. We’ll also talk about how best to preserve the original documents! Participants will be encouraged to bring examples from their own homes or collections.

Registration fee: $30
Registration deadline: February 17, 2014 Some financial assistance for transportation costs is available for ANLA

members: please contact the ANLA office for more information.

Mary Ellen Wright
Professional Development and Outreach Officer Association of Newfoundland
and Labrador Archives
(709)726-2867
www.anla.nf.ca

New one day workshop: How to create a GPS- triggered smartphone app

How to create a GPS- triggered smartphone app for walkers without having to be a technical genius. A 1-day WORKSHOP for heritage workers, community groups, oral historians, museum & tourism professionals, writers, artists, sound designers.

• Bring sounds, voices, memories, to the place where they happen • Take oral histories off the shelf and place them in a landscape. • Create location-based history, fiction, short stories, dramas. • Create a soundwalk in any location. • Place-based interpretation

Organizers Chris Brookes and Annie McEwan launched Inside/Outside Battery in October as a free smartphone app "walkers companion" to the Battery area of St. John's. You may have seen it on Here & Now, The Telegram or The Scope. Using GPS, it triggers sounds and stories as the walker passes different locations in the community. You can get an impression of how it works by watching a short video on our website: www.insideoutsidebattery.ca

One Day, One App: We can show you how to make this kind of app without being a computer wizard. You don't have to know html coding. You don't have to be techno-expert. We're not. We created Inside/Outside Battery using user-friendly web-based tools. We're offering a one-day weekend workshop that will guide you through the hands-on experience of making your own location-based app, using the methods we employed. You'll leave the workshop with a basic app that you've created yourself - something that you can continue to build and offer to your community. The heritage, tourism, and artistic uses of such an app are limited only by your imagination.

Workshop leaders: Independent radio producers Chris Brookes and Annie McEwen. Brookes' radio documentary features have won over forty international awards including the Peabody Award and the Prix Italia, and have been broadcast around the world. McEwen holds an MA in Folklore from Memorial University and has been working in the field of folklore and oral history for four years. Her work has aired on CBC Radio, PRX Remix, and Cowbird.com.

Date: Sunday, January 26th Time: 9am – 5pm Fee: $100 preregistration required (there are 8 spots available)

Location: 29 Outer Battery Road, St. John’s To register call Annie at 709-770-3201, or email annierosamcewen@gmail.com

Registration deadline January 22