Thursday, March 24, 2016

Living Heritage Podcast Ep036 The Mummers Festival with Ryan Davis



Ryan Davis has been running the Mummers Festival since 2009. He holds an MA in Folklore and a BA in Communication Studies. It was his interest in festivals, celebrations, and costuming that led him to mummering traditions. The Mummers Festival promotes the continuation and evolution of traditional arts and performance by encouraging active participation in mummering activities. The Mummers Festival helps to keep mummering alive and contemporary and adds to the population’s pride of place.

In this edition of the Living Heritage Podcast, Ryan talks about what mummers are and what they do, the beginnings of the Mummers Festival and how it has grown over seven years, the successes and challenges of running a festival, and what he hopes the festival will offer in the future.



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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

The Memory Store: We found it in the back room and dusted it off...

The video for this week's the Memory Store was filmed in Trinity, NL inside Aunt Sarah’s Chocolate Shop. In this video Aunt Sarah explains the story behind the Welcome to Trinity sign displayed in her chocolate shop in Trinity, NL.

Watch the video below or click here to watch the video on YouTube.
Click here for more information about Trinity's Heritage Area.
If you missed our initial post explaining the concept of the Memory Store clip here to go back to our first blog post with the introduction video or check out our YouTube channel at ICH NL.

Stay tuned for more short stories about historic places in the province, in the form of short oral history interviews conducted with the people who care about those places and if you have a personal memory about a historic place in Newfoundland and Labrador, and want to add your voice to the Memory Store project, let us know at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

-Terra

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Living Heritage Podcast Ep035 Towards an Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge


Pam Hall is an interdisciplinary artist, scholar, film-maker, and writer. Her visual art has been exhibited locally, nationally and internationally and is represented in many corporate, private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada. She has won national awards for her work as a designer in film (for Rare Birds) and as a children’s book illustrator( for Down by Jim Long’s Stage) and was recently inducted into the Fortis Hall of Honour at the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Awards.

In this interview, we talk about her work creating and curating the Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge, which explores art as a form of making and moving knowledge and reveals many ways of knowing that are local, living, and still fruitfully in use. Recorded on 21 January 2016.





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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Friday, March 11, 2016

The cafe report:



What a success!

Yesterday, a group of heritage enthusiasts gathered together over coffee and pastries to talk shop about some of the vulnerable traditions, skills and knowledge(s) in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The questions we were trying to answer included:

(a) What does "living heritage" mean in 2016?
(b) What traditions/skills are at risk?
(c) Best techniques to safeguard intangible cultural heritage?

Questions begot questions so we decided to come up with a FAQ Report based on our conversations from yesterday morning. Be sure to check-back in next week to see what it's all about!







Knit Some Socks Knit-Along



On Saturday March 5th, despite the weather, we had around 45 lovely knitters join Christine LeGrow and Shirley Scott for an afternoon of knitting. Participants knitted traditional Newfoundland socks found in Operation Homespun which is produced by the Anna Templeton Centre and is available for purchase!

While participants were ribbing k2, p2, Christine read poems and excerpts from A Pair of Grey Socks: facts and fancies by Tryphena Soper Duley; Verses by Margaret Duley. The book was written in 1916 and was a perfect way to connect the knit-along with the 100th anniversary of the First World War. "A woman is knitting most all the day, a sock that shapes from a ball of grey, her fingers fly, and the needles click, fast grows the sock so soft an thick..." In the poem, white stripes on the grey sock "marks the socks for the slender youth who does his part for the cause of truth. The red is a sign for the hardy man, at the height of his strength in life's short span... blue in the sock is the medium size, the colour dear to sailors' wives. So in the grey socks red, white and blue form our colours so bright and true..."

Shirley Scott told us about the research she did for Canada Knits: Comfort in a Northern Land. The favourite story of the afternoon was Queen Elizabeth I encouraging the knitting industry. Shirley said after Queen Elizabeth I received her first pair of silk knitted socks she stated, "... indeed I like silk stockings so well, because they are so pleasant, fine and delicate, that henceforth I will wear no more cloth stockings."


After the ribbing of the sock, it was time for the leg of the sock which is composed by a simple stockinette stitch. Shirley and Christine showed examples of mistakes that can be made when knitting a sock. For example, the ribbing being too tight to fit your foot in or the foot of the sock being too big causing it to fold in your shoe!
Laughs were had and knowledge was shared! I had an e-mail from a participant saying she felt lost at the beginning but a wonderful lady next to her was extremely helpful and she has been working on her sock since. We also had someone text a photo to Christine who was knitting the pattern in Quebec at the same we were here in St. John's. We hoped the knit-along would do exactly this.

This Saturday is the last session! Christine and Shirley will be showing participants how to turn the heel and graft the toe. If you missed last week and are interested in coming this Saturday, send me an e-mail so I can send you the pattern for you to catch up -- stephanie@heritagefoundation.ca.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Living Heritage Podcast Ep034B Youth Heritage Forum with Alanna Wicks



Alanna Wicks holds a BA in Folklore and Cultural Anthropology, and a MA in Public Folklore, both from Memorial University. She has been working and volunteering in the field of culture and heritage since 2006 in both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. She currently sits as Director on the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives Executive Board and volunteers regularly with archives within the community.

In March 2015, she organized and moderated the province’s first Youth Heritage Forum. Alanna dropped by the Heritage Foundation of NL office to talk about the planning of the heritage forum, and offered suggestions for heritage organizations wanting to engage youth.



Wednesday, March 9, 2016

The Memory Store: The root cellar capital of the world...

The video for this week's the Memory Store was filmed in Elliston, NL inside one of the many root cellars found in the community. In this clip Don Johnson with Tourism Elliston describes the tourism and introduction of two festivals which developed in the town of Elliston as a result of the abundance of root cellars in the town.

Watch the video below or click here to watch the video on YouTube.
Click here for more information about the root cellar's history and architecture.
If you missed our initial post explaining the concept of the Memory Store clip here to go back to our first blog post with the introduction video or check out our YouTube channel at ICH NL.

Stay tuned for more short stories about historic places in the province, in the form of short oral history interviews conducted with the people who care about those places and if you have a personal memory about a historic place in Newfoundland and Labrador, and want to add your voice to the Memory Store project, let us know at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

-Terra

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Two more Newfoundland recipes for #mustardpickles (and one from Niagara Falls!)



Our ongoing quest for mustard pickle recipes continues. First up is from Jason Sellars, who writes, "This recipe comes from my mom and is made annually by the case from ingredients grown from her vegetable garden in Winter Tickle, Newfoundland. Try finding that on a map, I dare ya! Way better than any store bought."
RUBY SELLERS' GREEN TOMATO MUSTARD PICKLES

5 lbs green tomatoes
2 small cucumbers
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
2 1/2 lbs onions
1 head cauliflower
1 small cabbage

Paste:
1/2 cup flour
1 cup vinegar
2 tbls tumeric
2 tbls dry mustard

Cut vegetables in small pieces and soak in water and 1/2 cup salt overnight.
Drain and add:
2 cups vinegar
4 cups white sugar
Boil for 45 minutes.
Add paste gradually to thicken.
Place in sterile bottles.

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Next we have a recipe from Sheila Cooke, who writes, "This is my late husband's recipe with comments (in parentheses)."
WAYN'ES MUSTARD PICKLE RECIPE using a food processor

(Note: I double dry mustard, and put all veggies except cauliflower through French fry blade on processor. You choose.)

Step #1
Use a stainless steel or granite enamel bowl

3 quarts cucumbers (baby dill size) sliced like bread & butter pickles
1 large head cauliflower--broken into tiny flowerettes
3 - 4 large yellow onions
1 large Jalapeno pepper, cut fine (wear rubber gloves as these have oil that skin sucks up)

Salt all above with 1/2 cup pickling salt and let stand over night (or all day)

Step #2

After standing time passes, drain well and rinse well using sieve.
Add:
1 bunch celery cut to preference (I slice across the stalks)
4 large sweet red peppers, chopped (I use pimentos if they are available)
8 cups white sugar
40 oz. (5 cups) white vinegar
2 1/2 cups water Use half the water to blend 4 tblsp dry mustard
1 scant tblsp turmeric
1 1/2 tblsp mustard seed
1 1/2 cup flour into paste to thicken the juice
Boil 20 minutes, stirring constantly.

Seal in sterilized pint jars. Let sit in jars at least 1 month before using--if you can wait this long. Enjoy!

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News of the 2016 Pickle Crisis has spread far and wide. Wendy Lechner writes, "I just read of the mustard pickle crisis in Canada. Here’s my grandmother’s recipe. She lived in the Niagara Falls, Ontario area. Unfortunately she never wrote down her recipe for butter tarts." Here is her recipe:

GRANDMA BROMHALL’S (NANNY) MUSTARD PICKLES

6 quarts

1 quart large cucumbers, cubed
1 quart small cucumbers, whole
1 quart silver-skinned onions
1 quart green tomatoes, chopped course
2 red sweet peppers, chopped fine
1 large cauliflower, broken into small pieces

Brine solution

1 quart water
½ cup canning salt

Dressing

6 tablespoons Coleman mustard
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 cup flour
2 cups sugar
2 quarts vinegar

Place clean, prepared veggies in crock.
Cover with brine solution. Let stand 24 hours.
Bring to boil in same solution. - (make sure the whole batch is up to boiling temp, but don’t boil for very long - it makes the cukes too soft.)
Drain.
Make dressing: mix dressing ingredients thoroughly and cook until thick.
Stir in pickles and heat thoroughly, BUT do not let cukes get soft.
Place in jars. Process

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Obviously, I need to do some butter tart research next... - Dale

Folklore Photo: #YHF2016 3 Days Left to Register!!

Photo credit: Jeremy Harnum
Look at these young, inspiring youth from last year's forum! You may have seen this photo floating around as we promote the 2nd Annual Youth Heritage Forum! We had a great turn out last year and we know we'll have the same again this year. Time is running out! There is three days left to register.

If you are a youth passionate about heritage, or are a heritage organization or community group, you do not want to miss this year's Youth Heritage Forum!

Visit www.youthheritagenl.wordpress.com for more information or register right now!