Doctoral Research on Coming Out Stories

A PhD student in the Memorial Folklore Department is looking for people to interview as part of her dissertation work. See below:

Hello!
My name is Sarah Moore and I am pursuing a doctoral degree in Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland. My thesis focuses on the stories that LGBT persons tell about their experiences in coming out and how coming out stories may change at various times in their life. I am looking to collect these stories in order to better understand narrative and the telling of coming out stories by Newfoundlanders. Are you interested in talking to me? Interviews will be audio recorded, but may be anonymous if you wish. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,
Sarah Moore

Email: sarahmoore1@hotmail.com

Phone: 743-5889

Mi'kmaw Oral History Project Underway

The Federation of Newfoundland Indians has teamed up with Memorial University this summer to index and digitize oral history interviews on traditional land use conducted by FNI a decade ago. Two Mi'kmaw students - Christopher Crocker and Tyler Duhart - have been hired and trained by Janice Esther Tulk of the Mi'kmaq College Institute (Cape Breton University) to catalogue these interviews in a comprehensive database, making this important body of traditional knowledge searchable for future FNI, community, educational, and research purposes. Once the database is complete, Christopher and Tyler will begin digitizing some 682 90-minute cassette tapes to preserve the data contained on them for the future.

The many ways in which this material might be used in the future is not yet fully known; however, it is anticipated they will be of great interest to the Mi'kmaw community given their information on medicines and traditional remedies, best hunting and berry-picking grounds, harvesting practices for various seafood, Mi'kmaw placenames, and the location of burial and other sacred grounds. The information contained in these interviews may also be of use in genealogical studies and the compilation of family histories. But most importantly, the voices of Elders now passed away and the voices of community leaders of the future have been captured for the years to come.

Anyone interested in learning more about this initiative is invited to contact Janice Esther Tulk at janice_tulk@cbu.ca.

ICH Update for June 2009

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update, ethnomusicologist Dr. Beverley Diamond wins the prestigious Trudeau Fellowship, Diana Quinton helps communities tell their local stories, the Town of Placentia salutes one of its living treasures (and my favourite eel trapper) Mr Freeman Upshall, an 18-year-old Labrador student wins a Women's Institute scholarship with an essay on local heritage, notes on a meal of fish from the Great Northern Peninsula, and those fences keep on wrigglin'!

The monthly intangible cultural heritage newsletter of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador can be downloaded from:

http://tinyurl.com/mkapp6

Looking for information on Luke Gaulton

Recorded at the Arts and Culture Centre, St. John's, Newfoundland, circa 1991. If anyone has any information on this man, or where he is from, please let me know.

Introduction to Exhibit Design Workshop

Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Workshop
Introduction to Exhibit Design
Thursday - Friday, 18 – 19 June, 2009
Location: Point Amour Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site, Labrador

This two day workshop is designed for museum staff and volunteers involved in the development and design of exhibitions. It is intended for those who have limited experience working on exhibit projects and would like to expand their knowledge and skills. Participants will receive an overview of the processes involved in creating a quality exhibition experience for the visitors.

Participants will explore:
- exhibit development from exhibit planning and concept development
- overview of exhibit design techniques
- exhibit resource and budget development
- the role of various media formats and interactive features in exhibition
design
- hiring and working with exhibit contractors and specialists.

Instructor: Marni Mahle, Interpretive Planner and Exhibit Designer
Enrolment Limits: Maximum of 15
Registration fees: $70 for MANL members, $95 for non-members
Registration Deadline: June 8, 2009

Catherine Rice
Professional Development Coordinator
Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador
Tel: (709) 722 9034
Fax: (709) 722 9035
Email: crice@nf.aibn.com
Website: http://www.manl.nf.ca

Looking for information on "paderah"?

I had an interesting question from Kathleen Tucker, who is the researcher on SABRI's oral history project in and around St. Anthony. She asked if I'd ever heard of anything called "paderah" pronounced PA’-de-ra (rhymes with ‘ha’). I said it was a bit of a mystery to me, and she has written to the local paper asking for help. Here is her letter:

"Years ago when the fishery was in full swing, fishermen set aside their nets at dinnertime to cook a simple meal. Often the meal was cooked in a bake pot, either on board the vessel or on the beach. A fire was lit and salt pork was diced into the pot. When it was sizzling, the fishermen might have added onions, fresh cod, and fresh bread. The older fishermen often cooked up this marvelous meal while the younger fellows looked for driftwood along the shore to use as spoons. Once the meal was cooked, they’d all sit around the bake pot and eat their meal.

Would anyone be able to tell me if they cooked this meal, how they cooked it, and what they called it? The name for the meal might differ from community to community, but I’m sure many of you have enjoyed this simple dinner while fishing. And, perhaps many of you still do."

The dish sounds similar to fish and brewis, but made with fresh cod and fresh bread. If you have a memory to share, you can email me, or leave a comment on this post.

For info on fish and brewis, you can check out:
http://www.billcasselman.com/cwod_archive/brewis.htm
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_brewis



UPDATE: May 13, 2009.

William Lee of Petty Harbour writes, "when my dad cooked in the boat when fishing it was simply called a fish feed, and consisted of fresh cod, salt beef and salt pork,potatoes, the cod's tongue and roe sack (britchant), and hard bread. Some times they would add a mackerel or small salmon. The cooking was done aboard the boat, and the time would vary but mostly it would be around nine or ten AM ,as they were on the go from 3:30AM.
PS. the fire was contained in what we called a galley, which is simply an old metal wash tub with a sod covering the bottom."

Looking for practical experience in public sector folklore work?

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is an important new development in the heritage world. Our living traditions, intangible ideas, customs and knowledge are important for cultural identity and community sustainability, and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador is on the cutting edge of ICH work.

We are looking for folklore and ethnomusicology graduate students who are interested in getting involved on a volunteer level and gaining practical public sector experience of the sort that future employers love. The Provincial ICH Advisory Committee has spaces on three sub-committees who will be working to promote, enhance and further the provincial strategy on ICH.

There are three ICH sub-committees in need of volunteers:

Inventory and Documentation – working on projects to collect, record and conserve fieldwork material.

Transmission and Celebration – working on projects to commemorate and promote ICH and local tradition-bearers.

Training – working to develop practical, hands-on folklore and fieldwork training workshops.

If you’d be interested in helping out with one of these groups, you can call Dale Jarvis at 739-1892 ext 2, or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca and say which group you’d like to get involved with.

ICH Update for May 2009

Put on your dancing shoes! This month's edition of Newfoundland and Labrador's ICH Update sees us take to the dance floor, with an edition all about the intangible cultural heritage of dance in its various traditions. Waltz on over and learn more about:

- The Dance Heritage Think Tank Report
- Scottish and English Country Dance in Newfoundland
- Changing traditions of Bellydance
- Reviving the Lancers in Portugal Cove-St. Phillips, and
- Memories of the Fisherman's Reel of Bryant's Cove

Once your feet get tired, you can rest, download and read the newsletter from:
http://tinyurl.com/ICHUpdateMay2009

The ICH Update is published once a month by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, as part of its work to promote, safeguard and foster an understanding of the rich cultural heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Sharing Community Oral History Workshop – West St. Modeste, Labrador

On Thursday, 7 May 2009, a group of eleven women from communities along the Labrador Straits gathered at the Oceanview Resort in West St. Modeste to take part in a day-long workshop on sharing community oral history. The group included business owners, tourism operators, heritage volunteers and workers, oral history researchers and community development officers, all of whom shared an interest in preserving the oral traditions of the Labrador Straits.

The event was organized by SmartLabrador, an organization founded in 1997 to ensure effective utilization of information technologies (IT) in business, human resources and community economic development in Labrador. The goals of SmartLabrador include:

- Increased awareness of the benefits and potential of information technology;
- Equal access to the information highway, for all communities;
- Skilled population to meet the demands of the knowledge economy;
- Increased development of IT business opportunities and partnerships.

Facilitated by Dale Jarvis, Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the day started with a discussion of local community memories and the material being collected as part of the Smart Labrador oral history project. Part of the goal of the overall project is to return the stories to the community, and to develop programs that see the collected stories shared and performed by community members.

Participants talked about personal memories and the link between place and oral history. The group worked on a short individual mapping project, drawing personal maps of the communities of their childhoods, then guiding other participants through their map, eliciting stories and memories of those locations.

The afternoon saw the participants work with some of the primary research material collected by the SmartLabrador workers. It also utilized material collected along the Straits as part of earlier oral history projects, particularly those related to adult literacy projects, such as the publication “Crooked Top of a Safety Pin” published by Partners in Learning. Using a basic six-frame storyboard process, the participants took the historical source material and shaped it into stories that followed a more narrative, rather than purely descriptive or anecdotal, format.

The day concluded with a group discussion on next steps, returning to the issues raised at the beginning of the day. The group decided that they would hold a further organizational meeting by the end of the May, with the goal of holding a public oral history sharing event, or storytelling circle in June, possibly based on the community “Mug Up” model developed by the Labrador Institute. The “Mug Up” sees a theme or topic of discussion set, and then community members gather over a lunch to share traditional knowledge, stories and memories about that topic.

Stay tuned for more news on the project as it progresses!