Learn to make a Newfoundland ugly stick - A How-To Guide!

Early in 2010 the ICH office held a workshop on Festivals & Folklife in Cupids. One of our participants was Yvonne Fontaine, the Development Co-ordinator for the Southern Avalon Development Association. Yvonne left the workshop full of ideas, went back to Trepassey, and put some of them to good use!

2010 was Trepassey's Come Home Year, and in celebration of one aspect of local intangible cultural heritage, the organizers planned an Ugly Stick Workshop during the week of the Come Home Year Celebrations. The workshop was held 2:00 PM Thursday July 29th. They provided the beer caps and the juice cans, participants provided the mop (and the decorations of their choice).

Unless you have a time machine, you can't go back to Trepassey for the workshop. Have no fear! Here are our tips for making the ugly stick of your dreams.

7 Steps to a Beautiful Ugly Stick

1. Gather your materials.  A mop, broom handle, or cut off hockey stick works well for the base. Then you’ll need screws or bolts, beer caps or roofing felt tins, soup cans, bells, noisemakers, and anything else you can think of to decorate your ugly stick. A boot is great to add to the bottom. Try looking at second hand shops, and you can often fins good materials at dollar stores.

2. Pre drill holes in your stick where you want to place your beer caps. Space them out, and leave yourself some room so you can grip the stick while you play it.

3. Punch or drill holes in your beer caps. Make the holes a bit larger than your screws, so they rattle.

4. Assemble your beer caps on your screws or bolts, then screw them into the pre-drilled holes on your stick.  Five or six per screw is good. You can use a combination of caps and felt tins if you wish; hard-core builders boil their beer caps to remove the rubber lining.  The beer caps are the most important thing, that’s what makes your music for you.

5. Attach the bottom of your stick to an old boot. Drill a hole in a piece of wood, put the mop handle into that, and then screw the whole thing into the base of the boot, to give it stability.

6. Add a tin can somewhere to the stick. Try putting a soup can on, lower down, so that way, if there is a point in the music where you bang it, it is like hitting a drum, to get that extra sound to go along with the sound of the beer caps.

7. Decorate your ugly stick! Give it a personality, a face, some hair, a hat. Make it ugly!  Once it is done, you are ready to go mummering.

And here is a how-to makers video, from one of our long-time Mummers Festival participants!
https://youtu.be/C8Mgzr-kwnw




Want more help?

The Do-It-Yourself junkies at The Scope can help you make your own:

http://thescope.ca/diy/diy-ugly-stick

There is also a handy free downloadable pdf with instructions right here. You can print it off, and get to work building your own ugly stick.

Ugly Stick on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_stick

Mike Maddigan of The Sharecroppers shows how it is played:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBxZJWnca14

Send us a picture of your finished ugly stick, and we'll share it in a future post! Email dale@heritagenl.ca

Job Posting: Doors Open St. John’s Coordinator

Job Posting: Doors Open St. John’s Coordinator

Doors Open (http://www.doorsopendays.com) is a unique opportunity for the citizens and visitors of Newfoundland and Labrador to celebrate our architecture and heritage through the exploration of some of our hidden historical, architectural and cultural gems. The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is hiring a coordinator, who will work with participating sites to ensure they are able to offer visitors well-interpreted access to sites normally unseen, or accessible by fee only. Doors Open this year will run the last weekend of September.

Job will run from July 19^th - October 1^st, 2010

Based on a wage of $14/hour, dependant on funding.

Skills:  Applicant must have exceptional organizational skills, event planning, excellent organizational skills, strong communication skills, liaising between institutions/organizations, promotions, computer skills including word processing, email, knowledge of Newfoundland and Labrador history, interest in or knowledge about heritage and culture.

Eligibility Requirements:

Pending funding, the position is open to youth aged 19-30.

Deadline:  Monday, July 12th

To apply: Please review eligibility criteria carefully before applying. Send resume and cover letter, with 3 references, by mail or email to:

Mr. Dale Jarvis

Heritage Foundation of NL

PO Box 5171, St. John’s, NL A1C 5V5

doorsopenstjohns@gmail.com

Symposium of Music, Dance and Place

Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media and Place (MMaP)
July 2, 2010

Session I: 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
PETTAN, Svanibor
(University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Dance House – A European Model of Folk Music and Dance Revival in Urban Settings; A Case
Study from Slovenia

HARRIS WALSH, Kristin
(Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada)
Identity, Community and Irishness in the Diaspora – Step Dancing in Ireland and
Newfoundland and Labrador

KIDULA, Jean
(University of Georgia, USA)
Nostalgia, Memory and Currency in the Music and Dance of Kenya Rugby Sevens Events

[15-minute break]

Session II: 9:45-11:45
ARAÚJO, Samuel
(Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Expressive Praxis and Political Action: Perspectives from a Participatory Action-Research
Experience in Rio de Janeiro

HEMETEK, Ursula
(University of Music and Performing Arts, Austria)
Imagined and Concrete Places in the Music of Migrant Communities: “Home” in Different
Manifestations

BLAIR, Graham
(Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada)
It Rings True: Verisimilitude in Post-Revivalist Recreations of Oldtime Music and Dance in a
Canadian Coastal City

TRAN QUANG Hai
(National Center for Scientific Research, France)
Throat Singing: Western World vs. Siberian World

Lunch: 11:45-12:30

Session III: 12:30-2:30
TAN Sooi Beng
(Science University of Malaysia, Malaysia)
Articulating Multi-Locality: Eclectism in the Musical Cultures of the Peranakan of Penang

WILD, Stephen
(Australian National University, Australia)
Dislocation and Revitalisation in Central Australia: Music and Dance in the Identity of Place

VAN ZANTEN, Wim
(Leiden University, The Netherlands)
Space and Time in the Performing Arts of the Baduy Minority Group in West Java

KAEPPLER, Adrienne
(Smithsonian Institution, USA)
Indigenous Knowledge of Placenames as Perpetuated in the Story of the Volcano Goddess
Pele

[15-minute break]

Session IV: 2:45-4:15
SHEEN Dae-Cheol
(The Academy of Korean Studies, Korea)
Royal Shrine and Confucian Shrine in Seoul, Korea: To Be Called What Place?

CASTELO-BRANCO, Salwa El-Shawan
(New University of Lisbon – FCSH, Portugal)
Regionalism and Expressive Culture in Portugal

TULK, Janice Esther
(Cape Breton University, Canada)
Sound, Place, and Identity: The Corner Brook Mill Whistle as Soundmark

[15-minute break]

Session V: 4:30-5:30
Newfoundland Traditional Singers: Pat Byrne, Eleanor Dawson, Jean Hewson


For more information, contact:

Dr. Kristin Harris Walsh
Project Coordinator
Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media and Place
School of Music
Memorial University of Newfoundland
(709) 737-2051

Help track down a mystery recitation from Bell Island or Conche

We have a mystery for you to help solve!

I got an email from Mr Ray Byrne, a native of Conche on the Northern Peninsula, now living in Edmonton. He is trying to find the words to a recitation his father used to do.

"My father's name was Jim Byrne and he worked on Bell Island in the early part of the 20th century," says Ray. "I mention this because I wonder if that's where he found it and if so there may be a possibility that someone out there is familiar with it."

Jim Byrne's title for the recitation was "The Trawler". Some of the lyrics his son remembers are:

(OPENING VERSE)

Now the capelin have struck the beach
And the time has come for spawning
See the trawler there with his oilskins on
He's been there since the dawning

Aw, he says, it's fishin' I'll give up
And I'll go berry pickin'
I'll sell them and get the cash
And it's the merchants I'll be trickin'

There is also a mention of Baccalieu in one line, according to Ray. If you have any thoughts, or know the piece, comment here, or email your friendly neighbourhood folklorist at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Job Posting: Preservation Advisor

The Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives (ANLA) is seeking an individual for a contract to provide preservation-specific advice to member institutions for a maximum of 199 hours over the year 2010-2011.

The individual selected to carry out this project will perform duties as
follows:

• Inquiries: responding to member inquiries by phone and arranging follow up consultations (69 hours)
• Site Visits: it is anticipated that there will be visits to central Newfoundland, as well as locations in the St. John's area. Time spent in each location will be subject to member needs (105 hours)
• Administration: Preparing reports, gathering statistics and meeting with Professional Development and Outreach Officer and ANLA Executive (5hours)
• 'Blog Updates: Providing useful information and references, based on incoming inquiries, through use of ANLA's archival 'blog (10 hours).
• PDO (Professional Development Officer) Assistance: Providing training to the PDO for responding to future inquiries from member institutions about preservation needs (10 hours).

The successful applicant will have graduated from a recognized conservation training program and will have a background in preventative conservation and in the treatment and handling of a variety of paper and digital media. Experience in working with community groups would be an asset. A driver's license would also be an asset.

The position will run for 199 hours, these hours to be allocated by the ANLA executive in consultation with the preservation advisor.

The successful candidate will be expected to work independently from home and report on a regular basis to the ANLA executive.

The competition closes on July 2, 2010.

Please submit applications to the ANLA office (address below) or via email at anla@nf.aibn.com .

Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives
P.O. Box 23155
St. John's, NL
A1B 4J9

Storytelling, Digital Media, and Intangible Cultural Heritage - June Update

In this month's edition of Newfoundland and Labrador's ICH Update, SmartLabrador and its project partners launch a CD of stories and songs entitled Between the Wind and the Wave; the community of Rigolet is in the process of creating the My Word: Storytelling and Digital Media Lab, the first Northern centre in the world dedicated to using digital media and storytelling to share information about Inuit culture, history, and lifestyle through personal narrative; we release a sample tape log form for people indexing and transcribing oral history interviews; updates on the Digital Archives Initiative; and Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada announce a scholarship for young storytelling enthusiasts in Newfoundland and Labrador.


Download the newsletter in pdf format at: http://tinyurl.com/26x5rp3

Sample Tape Log Form for Folklore and Oral History Interviews

Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a historical society. The group is planning on digitizing and organizing some old taped interviews. When they said they didn't really know what was on the tapes, I suggested a good place to start might be with a Tape Log for each tape. Basically, a tape log is an index of topics that the interview covers. It is easier than doing a full transcription, and makes it easier for later researchers to go directly to that section of tape and listen to the part of the interview they are interested in.

"With this tape log, you will later be able to go back and select portions of the tape to listen to and transcribe (word-for-word translation of the tape-recorded interview). Complete tape transcriptions are important, but they are also very time-consuming. A good compromise is to do a combination of logging and transcribing: log the general contents of the tape and transcribe, word for word, the parts that you think you might want to quote directly."

- taken from "The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide" available online at:
http://www.folklife.si.edu/education_exhibits/resources/guide/introduction.aspx

While you can certainly do this with tapes themselves, digitizing the material makes things easier in today's digital age. It is also helpful from a conservation perspective.

"I'd digitize first and work with the digitized copies," says Mary Ellen Wright, Professional Development and Outreach Officer with ANLA. "That would be better from a preservation perspective -- save wear and tear on the original tapes."

We've developed our own version of a tape log form, based on the example given by the Smithsonian. The forms can be downloaded, along with other sample forms such as consent forms, at:
http://www.mun.ca/ich/resources/

Or you can download the pdf version directly at:
http://www.mun.ca/ich/resources/TapeLogFolkloreInterviews.pdf

Or the word document version directly at:
http://www.mun.ca/ich/resources/TapeLogFolkloreInterviews.rtf

The US-based Veterans History Project has a similar form on its website at:
http://www.loc.gov/vets/forms.html

Student Job Posting: Archival Interviewer

Admiralty House Museum and Archives, Mount Pearl

9 week summer position, minimum wage. Must be student returning to school in the fall.

Duties: Collect, transcribe and add interviews to archival collection, catalogue Mount Pearl archives, collect and host community event interviews on CICQ Tourism Radio 92.3fm, perform summer student duties such as guided tours, opening and closing site, and site maintenance.

Please apply by sending resume to info@admiraltymuseum.ca

"Buy a broom in May, and you will sweep your family away."

Mr Heber Heffern of Salvage "running" a birch broom.

I got a phonecall yesterday from a friend who happened to be at a shop on Stavanger Drive. She was pondering buying a broom, but knew that there was one month when she wasn’t supposed to. A friend with her was trying to talk her out of buying it.  I told her that it was, indeed, May month that was said to be bad luck for buying a broom. Off she went, broomless, with plans to go back June 1st. All in a day’s work for your friendly neighbourhood folklorist.

A brochure printed by the government of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1955, titled "Historic Newfoundland and Labrador" included buying a broom in May in a list of things thought to bring bad luck. The belief is an old one, and not specific to Newfoundland; folk beliefs about brooms are found in many places. The 1873 Folk-Lore Record [I. 52] included this English belief:

The old gentleman‥strictly forbade green brooms being used in his house during the month of May, and, as a reason for the prohibition, used to quote the adage—‘If you sweep the house with broom in May, You'll sweep the head of that house away’.

According to Punjabi folk belief, “care is taken to see that no broom remains lying anywhere in that room [where a child is born] because it will sweep off all the luck of the newborn baby.”

Are you familiar with this tradition in Newfoundland? If so, which communities had that folk belief? Leave a comment!

Links:

http://ngb.chebucto.org/Articles/folk-lore.shtml

http://crimsonwolfe.tripod.com/id26.html

Folksongs and Folk Revival at the Water Street Book Club

This Thursday, May 27th at 7:00 p.m., the Water Street Book club will have a special presentation by Anna Kearney Guigné on her book,"Folksongs and Folk Revival; The Cultural Politics of Kenneth Peacock's Songs of the Newfoundland Outports".

Anna holds a Ph.D in folklore from Memorial University, and this book looks at one of the most famous collections of Newfoundland songs, the three volume work "Songs of the Newfoundland Outports". Kenneth Peacock collected the songs over six years on behalf of the National Museum of Canada. Folksongs and Folk Revivial provides a critical review of Peacock's Newfoundland fieldwork to understand better his motivations for creating Outports and his treatment of the materials he collected.

Anna is also bringing some of Peacock's actual recordings to share with the audience. Copies of the book for sale at the Water Street Heritage Shop as well.

309 Water Street, second floor
7:00 p.m. Thursday, May 27th.

Gravel Pit Camping and Newfoundland Culture?

It's the 24th of May and we likes to get away
Up in the woods or going out the bay
There's all kinds of places but the place we likes to get
Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

Recorded by: Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers
Written by: Wayne Chaulk
http://www.buddywasisname.com

The May long weekend is fast approaching, which means the ongoing debate over the legality of gravel pit camping is back in the news. I woke this morning to CBC radio’s interview with one MHA, and the idea was mentioned, again, that camping in a gravel pit is part of Newfoundland’s culture.

Well, a quick internet search reveals gravel pit camping aficionados in Alaska, Oregon, Maine, Russia, Sweden and Venezuela! So while it may be part of local culture, it seems it is something that is not unique to here. I’m not sure how readily available Vienna sausages are in Venezuela, however…

Sound like a thesis topic for a future folklore graduate student? Here are a few articles to get you started:

Bates, Wanda
Summer in the pits [re gravel pit camping]
Canadian Geographic, July/August 2003, Vol. 123(4), pp. 100-101.

Collins, David N.
Foe, Friend and Fragility: Evolving Settler Interactions with the Newfoundland Wilderness
British Journal of Canadian Studies, May 2008, Vol 21(1), pp. 35-62.

Furlong, Jim
Rain, fog and Vienna sausages
Newfoundland Herald, May 18-24 2003, Vol. 58(20), p. 36

Ruby, Winston
Gravel pit camping Labour Day weekend, Sept. 3, 1984
TickleAce, Spring - Summer 1986, (12), pp. 55-57.

Young, Ron
Gravel pit camping [and gov't. policy]
Downhomer, April 1997, Vol. 9(11), pp. 29-30.

Podcast & Video - Jerome Canning makes a sculling oar

The Canadian Museums Association conference has been running this week, and one of the demonstrations was by Jerome Canning, a boatbuilder working with the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador in Winterton.

I spoke with Jerome about the sculling oar he was working on at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland. In the podcast, Jerome describes what a sculling oar is, and how he is making it.

You can listen to a streaming audio version of the interview here:


Or you can download the podcast in MP3 format from:
http://www.archive.org/download/MakingAScullingOar/JeromeCanningMay13_2010.MP3

I have placed a very short video clip on YouTube of Jerome using a spokeshave to thin down the handle of the oar. You can see that video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGWk-JA4we4

or check out the embedded video here:

Folklore and Education Newsletter for 2010 Online

This just in on the PUBLORE listserv:

The annual newsletter for the Folklore and Education of the American Folklore Society is is completed. You'll find a report of the section's meeting, info on new resources for folklorists, a report from the "Local Learning" component of the AFS meeting, an index for various workshops on folklore and oral history, reviews of books that are relevant to folklore and education, and various and sundry reports and announcements. Plus, a cool picture of T-Model Ford, MS bluesman talking with students awaits your gaze, glance, twink, blink or whatever visual code you are using these days.

Anyone is welcome to use the newsletter, and the education section welcomes one-and-all to the next section meeting at AFS in Nashville.

Here's the link:

http://www.afsnet.org/sections/education/Spring2010/

Stories, Kids, Dancing, and Wooden Boats! ICH Update for May 2010

In this issue of the ICH Update, Dr. Gerald Pocius, Chair of the Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee gives a review of ICH in Newfoundland and Labrador; Cape Bonavista Interpretation Centre wants your stories about the Cape; Grade Four students and Cape St. Francis School, Pouch Cove, start work on a community oral history project; dancers hit Quidi Vidi Village; and the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador invites you to help them restore a vintage Gander River boat.

Download the pdf at:
http://tinyurl.com/2ec5ukt

ICH Update for April 2010

In this month's edition of the ICH Update, the community of Branch adds a photo collection to the Digital Archives Initiative, the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council (RIAC) launches a community project which will document the life stories of culturally diverse seniors, Canadian Second World War veterans are given the opportunity to preserve their memories, our Digital Archives intern works on digitizing boatbuilding interviews, and three writers talk about the importance of preserving oral history.

Download the pdf at:
http://www.archive.org/download/IntangibleCulturalHeritageUpdate015April2010/ichupdate015.pdf

Happy Easter from the Intangible Cultural Heritage office

The ICH office is closing down for Easter, and will re-open on Tuesday, April 6th. In honour of Easter (and April 1st), I present this happy holiday photo, courtesy of former HFNL staffer Lara Maynard. Have a good Easter,  Newfoundland and Labrador! (click photo for larger version)

Riddle me this, folklore boy: Two traditional riddles from Forteau Labrador

More proof that I have a truly fun job: I just finished a very lively, funny session in Blanc Sablon, complete with an impromptu Lower North Shore Square set, rhymes in English and French, local insults and folk beliefs, and about 10 women all instinctively making the sign of the cross in the air when I put up a picture of a single crow as part of a power point presentation on intangible cultural heritage.

We also talked about riddles. Here are two collected from Clara Buckle, who learned them from her father, James Buckle, of Buckle's Point, Forteau, Labrador:

Riddle #1.

As I was walking up London Bridge
I met a London scholar
And drew off his coat, And drew off his cap
I told you the name of that scholar.

Riddle #2.

It is in meadows not in fields
It is in mountains not in hills
It is in me not in you
It is in men and women too.

Guess away!

If this is Saturday, I must be going to Blanc Sablon...

It is Saturday morning, and I am (yet again, it seems) at the St. John's airport, ready for another flight to another workshop, this time on the Lower North Shore of Quebec.

I've been invited by the Quebec Labrador Foundation to the Lower North Shore Heritage Forum. This event is intended to bring residents from all across the region together to share, learn, and plan activities that will help preserve the rich heritage and culture of the Quebec shore and the Labrador Straits. Presentations and small workshops will provide residents with some basic tools to adapt to their community plans, and some motivation as they take steps toward the preservation and promotion of local heritage. Through partnerships with Parks Canada and the Minister of Culture, Communications and Women’s Issues, there will also be presentations made that will assist local communities in their development and preservation efforts.

I'll be leading an afternoon workshop on intangible cultural heritage, and how community groups can start to think beyond the walls of a traditional museum to safeguard their living heritage. I will keep you all posted as to how it goes!

DanceNL announces its Road Map Project

DanceNL, the province’s first sectoral association for dance, is pleased to announce the beginning of its Road Map project.

DanceNL is looking to contact people and groups involved in dance activities across the province.

“We are looking to hear from everyone. If you’re a dancer, a dance teacher, a choreographer, a dance writer, a social dancer, we want to learn more about you and your dance activities,” says Kristin Harris Walsh, chair of DanceNL. “This is our first step at connecting people involved in all kinds of dance across the province and to spread the word about DanceNL. It’s a great opportunity for dancers to make their voices heard and share their activities.”

You can participate in the Road Map by visiting www.dancenl.ca and filling in the online form, or by e-mailing info@dancenl.ca.

The mandate of DanceNL is to preserve, promote and support all forms of dance and dance activity throughout the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The DanceNL Road Map document and website will serve as a vital reference to ensure our organization is inclusive of all forms of dance being practiced in our province. As well, it will act as a catalyst to network dancers, practitioners and dance enthusiasts giving dance a stronger presence provincially, nationally and internationally.

For more information, please contact Lynn Panting (coordinator of DanceNL Road Map project) or Kristin Harris Walsh (Chair, DanceNL) at info@dancenl.ca.

Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Program Deadline April 15th

This program supports Aboriginal projects that involve the safeguarding of traditions and culture, including language; traditional knowledge and skills; storytelling, music, games and other pastimes; knowledge of the landscape; customs, cultural practices and beliefs; food customs; and living off the land.

Guidelines (37 KB)
http://www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/tcr/heritage/ach_program_guidelines_2010_11.pdf

Application (49 KB)
http://www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/tcr/heritage/application_form_ach_program_2010_11.pdf

Eligible Projects

• Documenting and inventorying cultural traditions
• Passing on cultural knowledge through teaching, demonstrations, publications, websites and other educational and awareness-raising activities
• Recognizing and celebrating traditions, and those with traditional skills, through awards and special events
• Identifying and supporting cultural enterprises that employ aspects of traditional culture (for example, craft production and cultural tourism)
• Professional Development for cultural workers, educators and knowledge holders

Eligibility

Established Aboriginal organizations with a cultural focus are eligible to apply. Professionals (Aboriginal artisans, cultural workers and educators) can apply for professional skills development if they have a demonstrated background in culture and have community support.

An Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee, with representatives from the Innu, Inuit, Mi’kmaq and Metis, reviews proposals and makes recommendations to the Department on project funding.

Program Deadline

There is one deadline annually: April 15

Project Funding

The maximum project funding available is $15,000. For projects that involve recognizing and celebrating traditional culture in events of short-term duration, the maximum funding is $1,000. While projects can be funded up to 100% of eligible costs, applicants are strongly encouraged to show other contributions, either financial or in-kind.

Aboriginal groups that are thinking of applying are encouraged to contact Lucy Drown, Program Officer or Dale Jarvis, Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer

Serendipity St. John's - A User Created Map of St. John's Tales

This map was created March 25th as part of the ICH Technical Workshop Series. This a rough map, made by the class as we went along, so it is more of an experiment than a finished project! Enjoy the stories!


View SERENDIPITY ST JOHN’S in a larger map

Fun With Google Maps! Website Examples

On March 25th, Jedediah Baker and yours truly are giving a day long workshop on how community groups can use Google Maps to help share local folklore (see previous post).

Below are various examples of historical/ethnographic/archival websites using Google Maps, many of which were found through the super cool Google Maps Mania blog (a source of endless procrastination):

• Twixt Aire and Calder Google Map
• Mapped historical photos, film, and audio | SepiaTown
• Fotocollectie Huis Doorn: Kaart
• The World's Creepiest Places
• Wayfaring Map - Historical San Francisco
• The National Collection of Aerial Photography

Two very different maps of the District of Columbia:

• District of Columbia Boundary Stones: Photos; Locations
• YELLOW ARROW :: CAPITOL OF PUNK

A basic, collaborative Google Map project:

• The Great War 1914 - 1918 Pool, with geodata - Google Maps

Other cool stuff:

• Atlas - Atlas of Historic NM Maps
• www.soundseeker.org
• Oral History of Route 66 (seems to be missing)
• Accents and Dialects - British Library website (links broken)

And, just because I love it, check out the HereSay project.

Dematerialization, illegal cassette dubs, and intangible cultural heritage

Spark is CBC's weekly audio blog of smart and unexpected trendwatching. As its website states, "it’s not just technology for gearheads, it’s about the way technology affects our lives, and the world around us."

ICH Development Officer Dale Jarvis spoke with Spark host Nora Young about the digital shift in cultural fieldwork, and how we are using digital technology in Newfoundland and Labrador as a tool to better record, share, safeguard and transmit our province's intangible cultural heritage.

You can find the Spark blog entry at:
http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/03/spark-106-march-21-23-2010/

Or you can download the podcast as a MP3 directly from:
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/spark_20100321_29504.mp3

Tradition Bearer officially recognized by NL Government

The Honourable Terry French, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, has announced designations under the newly-established Provincial Historic Commemorations Program, which recognizes and commemorates distinctive aspects of our province’s history, culture and heritage.

Importantly for the field of intangible cultural heritage, the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program includes a category for "Tradition Bearer."  This marks the first time that a bearer of a living tradition has been commemorated as a historic resource in the province.

"This program is unique to the country," said Minister French. "In addition to recognizing persons, places and events of provincial historical significance, the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program also acknowledges our customs, practices and traditions – the intangible cultural heritage that defines us as a people and makes us who we are."

Kelly Russell, well-known fiddler and tireless promoter of Newfoundland and Labrador’s traditional music, is the first Newfoundlander to be recognized under the category of Tradition Bearer.

Born in St. John’s, Kelly Russell has been a professional musician since 1974. An original member of such iconic Newfoundland and Labrador groups as Figgy Duff and The Wonderful Grand Band in the 1970s, and more recently The Plankerdown Band, he also spent 10 years working closely with the late, great fiddle masters, Rufus Guinchard and Emile Benoit. Recognizing a need to preserve the music of older performers in Newfoundland and Labrador, Mr. Russell founded Pigeon Inlet Productions in 1979. The label has since produced more than 30 full length recordings on LP, cassette and CD. 

With wife and partner Tonya Kearley, Mr. Russell also runs music and dance events in Trinity such as Dance Upand the popular dinner theatre show A Time in Pigeon Inlet in Bay Roberts. He has performed locally, nationally and internationally, bringing the unique music of Newfoundland and Labrador across Canada and around the world. Most recently, Mr. Russell performed in Vancouver, British Columbia, at BC Place on February 26 – during Newfoundland and Labrador Day at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

"This event is just the beginning for the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program," said Françoise Enguehard, Chair of the Historic Commemorations Board. "We are hoping that people from all over Newfoundland and Labrador will take a close look at their community’s heritage and will nominate the people, places, events and living traditions that they value.　The important thing to consider will be how these aspects of our heritage and culture demonstrate a broader provincial importance."
Administered by a board of six individuals, the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program is citizen-driven, in that residents of Newfoundland and Labrador can make nominations that they feel are provincially significant and worthy of commemoration.

Establishment of the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program was among the objectives outlined in the province’s cultural strategy, Creative Newfoundland and Labrador: The Blueprint for Development and Investment in Culture (2006).

For more information about the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program, including nomination criteria, please visit: www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/tcr/heritage/commemoration_program.html or call the Commemorations Office at 709-729-6901.

Using Google Maps for Community Folklore Projects

This workshop will teach you how to use the Google Maps feature My Maps to create dynamic, interactive maps for your organization or classroom. During the course of the afternoon you will be introduced to My Maps, and explore its use on a neighborhood-, city-, country-, and world-wide-scale. You will learn how to add text, links, photos, and videos to placemarkers on your map, and how to share it with others. (See Accents and Dialects - Archival Sound Recordings for an example of a project using Google Maps to share audio files.)

Instructor: Jedediah Baker is a graduate of Memorial University's Folklore Department and has worked in at City Lore in New York City, where he worked on the website City of Memory. For the past year, he has been employed as Memorial University's Intangible Cultural Heritage Intern, working with the Digital Archives Initiative.

Note: Participants must provide their own wi-fi enabled laptop for use. This workshop limited to 12 attendees. Preregistration mandatory. RSVP to Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or phone 709-739-1892 ext 2.


Tuition: $50
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010. 9am - 4pm
Location: St. John's, TBA

ICH Update Newsletter for March 2010

In this issue of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update newsletter for March 2010: Newfoundland prepares for a visit from Cecile Duvelle, Chief of the Intangible Heritage Section of UNESCO and Secretary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage; the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador introduces its technical workshop series with workshops on digital audio and Google maps; schoolchildren on Newfoundland's west coast learn the traditional art of spruce root basket making; poetry and storytelling; a snowshoe exhibit at the Labrador Interpretation Centre in North West River, Labrador; and an invite to a public lecture on spatial knowledge.


Download the pdf version of the newsletter here:
http://tinyurl.com/ycxzace

Digital Audio Recording for Ethnography and Oral History

Description: Both novice and experienced ethnographers and oral historians are often mystified by digital jargon and by the increasing array of options and equipment available for audio recording. Aimed at the requirements of field researchers, this workshop will provide a thorough introduction to: 1. fundamentals of digital audio 2. the selection and use of digital audio equipment for recording interviews. Attendees will have opportunities for hands-on work with recorders and microphones.


Instructor: Andy Kolovos is the Archivist and a staff Folklorist at the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury, Vermont. He earned an MA in Folklore and an MLS, both from Indiana University. He has worked as an Instructor for the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University, a researcher and archivist for Traditional Arts Indiana, a fieldworker for the Polis Center at IUPUI, project assistant for the Folklore volume of the MLA International Bibliography, and the librarian and archivist of the American Society for Psychical Research. His research interests include audio field recording, audio preservation and the history and development of folklore and folklife archives. He maintains the Vermont Folklife Center's Audio Field Recording Equipment Guide.

This workshop limited to 12 attendees. Preregistration mandatory. RSVP to Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or phone 709-739-1892 ext 2.


Tuition: $50
Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010. 9am - 4pm
Location: The Lantern, 35 Barnes Road, St. John's

Gander and Marystown Folklore and Oral History Workshops

In the first week of March, the ICH program will be offering two more workshops in its ongoing project planning workshop series.

Entitled “How to Plan an Oral History or Folklore Project,” the workshop will take participants through the process of planning a project, from establishing goals, doing preliminary research, addressing issues around ethics and consent, choosing personnel, documentation methods, processing collected materials, equipment, and budgets.

This workshop will be beneficial to people who are contemplating folklore and oral history projects of all sorts, ranging from short-term projects involving a single researcher to complex, long-term projects involving many researchers.


Instructor for the workshop is folklorist Dr. Anna Kearney Guigné. Guigné holds a Ph.D in folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland where she is currently an adjunct professor for the M.A. and Ph.D. Programs in Ethnomusicology, at Memorial’s School of Music. From 2006 to 2008 she was the initiator and Artistic Director for the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention (NAFCO), which crossed over to St. John's, August 2008.

Guigné currently works as an independent folklorist and conducts research in the areas of community history, biography, contemporary legend, ship building, heritage gardens, traditional folksong and family genealogy.

Through her community work with such organizations as the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (1980-81), the Grace General Hospital (1982-1988), and the Seniors Resource Centre Association (1989-1991), she has considerable hands-on experience in such areas as fund-raising, project planning, and volunteer organization. Since 2000, she has owned and operated Kearney’s Watch Repair, a small family business located in the Avalon Mall, St. Johns.

Tuition for each workshop is $25.

Gander Workshop
Date: Monday, March 1st, 1pm – 4pm.

Location: Salon "A", Hotel Gander, Gander.

Marystown Workshop
Date: Wednesday, March 3rd, 1pm – 4pm.

Location: Salon "C", Marystown Hotel, Marystown.

To register, call Dale Jarvis at 1-888-739-1892 ext 2, or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca
For a full list of folklore and oral history workshops, visit our webpage at: http://www.mun.ca/ich/classes/

What is in your pancake? Explore the history and folklore behind Pancake Day

What is Pancake Day? Where does it come from? What do you put in a pancake for Shrove Tuesday?

Listen in to find out!





As part of his Archival Moments series, Larry Dohey, then with the Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s, wrote:

Mardi Gras literally means "Fat Tuesday" in French. The day is also known as Shrove Tuesday (from "to shrive," or hear confessions) or Pancake Tuesday. The custom of making pancakes comes from the need to use up fat, eggs and dairy before the fasting and abstinence of Lent begins.

GIVE HIM “SHORT SHRIFT”

On Shrove Tuesday, Catholics were encouraged to confess their sins so that they were forgiven before the season of Lent began. To shrive someone, in old-fashioned English (he shrives, he shrove, he has shriven or he shrives), is to hear his acknowledgement of his sins, to assure him of God's forgiveness, and to give him appropriate spiritual advice. The term survives today in ordinary usage in the expression "short shrift". To give someone short shrift is to pay very little attention to his excuses or problems. The longer expression is, "to give him short shrift and a long rope," which formerly meant to hang a criminal with a minimum of delay. 

WHAT IS IN THAT PANCAKE? 

Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.
Pancakes were a simple way to use these foods, and one that could entertain the family. Objects with symbolic value are cooked in the pancakes, and those who eat them, especially children, take part discovering what their future will be as part of the meal.
The person who receives each item interprets the gift according to the tradition: a coin means the person finding it will be rich; the thimble finder will be a seamstress or tailor, a pencil stub means he/she will be a teacher; a holy medal means they will join a religious order; a nail that they will be (or marry) a carpenter, and so on.

image:  The pancake woman, Rembrandt, 1635.

Oral History Planning Workshops in Port Union, Gander, Marystown

How to Plan an Oral History or Folklore Project
The workshop will take participants through the process of planning a project, from establishing goals, doing preliminary research, addressing issues around ethics and consent, choosing personnel, documentation methods, processing collected materials, equipment, and budgets. This workshop will be beneficial to people who are contemplating folklore and oral history projects of all sorts, ranging from short-term projects involving a single researcher to complex, long-term projects involving many researchers.

PORT UNION WORKSHOP
Instructor: Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer
Tuition: $25
Date: Thursday, February 18th, 1pm – 4pm.
Location: The Factory/Advocate Building, Coaker Foundation, Port Union.

GANDER WORKSHOP
Instructor: Dr. Anna Guigne, Folklorist
Tuition: $25
Date: Monday, March 1st, 1pm – 4pm.
Location: Salon "A", Hotel Gander, Gander.

MARYSTOWN WORKSHOP
Instructor: Dr. Anna Guigne, Folklorist
Tuition: $25
Date: Wednesday, March 3rd, 1pm – 4pm.
Location: Salon "C", Marystown Hotel, Marystown.

For a full list of workshops, visit our webpage at:
http://www.mun.ca/ich/classes/

To register, call Dale Jarvis a 1-888-739-1892 ext2 or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Intro to Interviewing Techniques Workshop

On February 12th, the Intangible Cultural Heritage program of the Heritage Foundation of NL will be offering a beginner’s workshop for researchers doing folklore and oral history interviews. The session will cover selecting informants, doing a pre-interview, applying the best interviewing techniques, tips for recorded interviews, and suggestions on processing the interview data for preservation and dissemination.

The workshop will be run by Dr. Philip Hiscock of Memorial’s Folklore Dept. Hiscock specializes in the folklore of Newfoundland and Labrador with active interests generally in language, folksong, the relationship between folklore and popular culture, and the evolution of custom.

Hiscock was editor of Foaftale News, the newsletter of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research. For two decades he was Archivist of the MUN Folklore and Language Archive and retains an active interest in field research, archival organization, and conservation. In 2006-07 he was President-Elect of the Folklore Studies Association of Canada (L'Association canadienne e'ethnologie et de folklore).

Dr. Jillian Gould teaches in the Department of Folklore, and argues that interviewing is the heart of any folklore or oral history project. “It is how we learn first-hand about people’s experiences, thoughts, and beliefs,” says Gould. “While we all have had in-depth conversations with friends, family, and community members, interviewing requires different skills – since you will be documenting with purpose.”

“These skills not only will pave the way for smooth and substantial interviews, which will become important community documents, but also, should make the interview experience an enjoyable one for both the interviewer and the interviewee,” she says.

Dr. Hiscock’s workshop will take place Friday, February 12th, 2010, from 1pm - 4:30 pm. It will be held at The Lantern, on Barnes Road in St. John's. Participants are asked to bring notebook and writing tools. Call Dale Jarvis at 1-888-739-1892 ext 2 to register, or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca. Tuition is $25.

For a full list of workshops see:
http://www.mun.ca/ich/classes

A Look at Classical Native Music through Indigenous Eyes

MMaP, the Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media and Place is pleased to announce that Dawn Avery of Montgomery College will be spending the month of February in residence at the MUN School of Music.

About her visit to MUN, Ms Avery said: “I’m delighted to be at MUN with such enthusiastic students, talented faculty, and the brilliant mind and generous spirit of Bev Diamond. I look forward to exploring ideas of tradition and modernity in the sounds and sentiments this place evokes as I work with the World Music Ensemble on a new classical Native composition and collaborate with Bev on a scholarly paper on Indigenous composition.”

While she is here, Ms Avery will be actively participating in the teaching, performance and research life at the MUN School of Music, as well as pursuing her own research. Her activities while at MUN include:

· Participating in a workshop and concert at the Newfound Music festival

· Teaching a module in the World Music Ensemble where students will learn several of her own compositions that draws in Native American musical elements

· Giving a lecture in MMaP’s Music, Media and Culture lecture series on February 16: Tekeni – two worlds: a look at Classical Native Music through Indigenous Eyes

· Collaborating with Dr. Beverley Diamond on a research project on Indigenous composition

· Editing a manuscript for Mohawk Elder Janice Longboat on a project sponsored by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation using culture as a means for healing aboriginal women from the legacy of residential school abuse.

· Writing a string quartet

Ms Avery specializes in the performance of contemporary Native American music. Her recent recording Tulpe was nominated for a Grammy award in the classical crossover and chamber music categories. She has also produced an annual World Arts Festival for the past seven years. She also has two CDs that feature a unique combination of classical music and Native American music.

A composer, cellist, vocalist and educator, Ms Avery is equally comfortable performing at Lincoln Centre as she is in a sweat lodge. She specializes in the performance of contemporary Native American music with her own ensemble, as a soloist for the North American Indian Cello Project and in her native classical trio, Three Sides Taagi.

Working with musical luminaries from Luciano Pavarotti to Sting, Ms Avery has spent years honing her musical talents, collaborating and performing with the likes of John Cale, John Cage, David Darling, Reza Derakshani, Sussan Deyhim, Ustad Sultan Kahn, Karsh Kale, Mischa Maisky, R. Carlos Nakai, Baba Olatunji, Joanne Shenandoah and Glen Velez.

For more information, or to get in touch with Dawn Avery, please contact: Kristin Harris Walsh, Project Coordinator at MMaP, kharriswalsh@mun.ca, 737-2051.

Festivals & Folklife Workshop RESCHEDULED

RESCHEDULED TO SATURDAY, FEB 13TH
This workshop is designed for groups planning cultural festivals, or for organizers of existing festivals who wish to incorporate some aspect of intangible cultural heritage into their events. It will addresses key issues in how to plan for a successful festival, how to engage tradition bearers, and how to showcase local culture, heritage and traditional knowledge.
Instructors: Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer; and Ryan Davis, 2009 Mummers Festival
Tuition: $20 (includes lunch and materials)
Date: Saturday, February 13th, 2010, 9:00am – 3:00 pm
Location: Prince of Wales Loyal Orange Lodge, Cupids
To register, call Dale Jarvis at 1-888-739-1892 ext 2 or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Newfoundland culture now on Kindle

For all you fans of both technology and intangible cultural heritage, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador's monthly ICH Update newsletter is now available free for Kindle e-books, through archive.org.

Kindle is a thin, lightweight, electronic reading device created by the net's largest bookseller, Amazon.com. You can already download literally hundreds of thousands of Kindle-friendly books, as well as many top newspapers, magazines, and even blogs. The Kindle screen simulates paper, allowing it to be read in bright sunlight.

Kindle uses files with the .mobi extension, and the reader also features a built-in PDF reader. Luckily for you, dear reader, all back issues of the ICH Update are now available in both formats. You are welcome!

You can download all our newsletters not only in .pdf and .mobi, but also in .epub format. The .mobi and .epub translations are in Beta format, so if you get some bugs in the text or layout, don't be surprised.

You can find back issues of all our ICH Update newsletters at:

001 December 2008

http://www.archive.org/details/IchUpdate001-December2008

002 January 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IchUpdate002January2009

003 February 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IchUpdate003February2009

004 March 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IchUpdate004March2009

005 April 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IchUpdate005April2009

006 May 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IntangibleCulturalHeritageUpdateMay2009-DanceHeritageEdition

007 July 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IntangibleCulturalHeritageUpdateJune2009

008 July August 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IchUpdateSummer2009

009 September 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IntangibleCulturalHeritageUpdateSeptember2009

010 October 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IntangibleCulturalHeritageUpdateOctober2009

011November 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IntangibleCulturalHeritageUpdateNovember2009

012 December 2009

http://www.archive.org/details/IntangibleCulturalHeritageUpdateDecember2009

013 January 2010

http://www.archive.org/details/IntangibleCulturalHeritageUpdateJanFeb2010

Happy E-reading!

Oral History, Coffee, Love, Questions and More!

In this issue of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update newsletter for January and February 2010, we announce an introduction to interviewing techniques workshop with Dr. Philip Hiscock; a review of websites with sample oral history questions; The Rooms brews up coffee, culture and stories of love with visiting storyteller Mary Gavan; and, Dr. Anna Kearney Guigné hits the road with workshops for community organizations planning folklore and oral history research projects.

Download the newsletter as a PDF document at:
http://tinyurl.com/yd29skx

"If Candlemas Day be clear and fine..." - Happy Candlemas Day, Newfoundland!

"If Candlemas Day be clear and fine, the rest of winter is left behind;
If Candlemas Day be rough and grum, there's more of winter left to come"

While the rest of North America worries about Groundhog Day, we here in Newfoundland and Labrador celebrate February 2nd as Candlemas Day, or "La fête de la chandeleur".

Candlemas Day is an old calendar custom in the province, a name which according to folklorist Philip Hiscock "derives from the tradition of blessing the annual supply of church candles on that day, the official end of the liturgical Christmas season."

For more on the Candlemas Day, you can read Philip's page on NL customs:
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/society/custom.html

Larry Dohey also has a good overview of the day on his page at:
http://archivalmoments.ca/2017/02/if-candlemas-day-be-sunny-and-bright-2/

And of course, what Newfoundland holiday would be complete without its own ghost story?

http://www.nlunexplained.ca/2017/02/the-candlemas-day-token-of-cobbs-arm.html

Job Posting - Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Conservation Project

DUTIESThe successful applicant will assist with the internship on the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Conservation Project.  Duties include assisting in field documentation of ICH and collecting digital materials to be placed online; processing collected data and electronic files; developing web content for the Memorial ICH website; placing ICH material on the DAI website; creating community and special home pages on the Memorial ICH website; maintaining the ICH events calendar; completing community profiles for new communities and special topic collections on the Memorial ICH website using Site Builder; digitizing, compiling metadata and uploading records for the variety of projects and placing on DAI website; and performing other related duties as required. 

QUALIFICATIONSRelated work experience (up to 1 year) relating to the management of online inventories, editing of digital data (audio, photographic, video), designing of website, and cataloguing of ethnographic materials; graduation from a four-year college or University with an undergraduate degree in Folklore or a related discipline; or any equivalent combination of experience and training.

For full posting see:

http://www.mun.ca/humanres/careers/ads/view.php?id=569&audience=1

Workshops on Folklore, Oral History, and Festivals

We are running out our lineup of workshops for the next month, which includes workshops for those of you planning oral history and folklore collection projects, a workshop on folklife and festivals, and one on interviewing techniques. We've got workshops in St. John's, Cupids, Port Union, Gander and Marystown.

The first workshop coming up is in St. John's, on project planning:

Title: How to Plan an Oral History or Folklore Project (St. John’s).
Description: The workshop will take participants through the process of planning a project, from establishing goals, doing preliminary research, addressing issues around ethics and consent, choosing personnel, documentation methods, processing collected materials, equipment, and budgets. This workshop will be beneficial to people who are contemplating folklore and oral history projects of all sorts, ranging from short-term projects involving a single researcher to complex, long-term projects involving many researchers.
Instructor: Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer
Tuition: $25
Date: Wed, February 3rd. 1pm – 4pm
Location: The Lantern, Barnes Road, St. John’s.

Following quickly on the heels of that workshop is one on Festivals, in Cupids

Title: Festivals & Folklife: Project Planning for Cultural Festivals
Description: This workshop is designed for groups planning cultural festivals, or for organizers of existing festivals who wish to incorporate some aspect of intangible cultural heritage into their events. It will addresses key issues in how to plan for a successful festival, how to engage tradition bearers, and how to showcase local culture, heritage and traditional knowledge.
Instructors: Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer; and Ryan Davis, 2009 Mummers Festival
Tuition: $20 (includes lunch and materials)
Date: Saturday, February 6th, 2010, 9:00am – 3:00 pm
Location: Prince of Wales Loyal Orange Lodge, Cupids

For a full list of workshops, visit our webpage at:
http://www.mun.ca/ich/classes/

To register, call Dale Jarvis at 1-888-739-1892 ext 2 or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Exploring the Aesthetics of Outport Interiors Workshop, Fogo Island (NL)

Deadline for applications: January 22th 2010

Call for applications from young artists and designers!

Exploring the aesthetics of Outport interiors workshop on Fogo Island February 11–27th 2010

Project description:


Exploring the aesthetics of Outport interiors is an experimental art/design project, a workshop designed to develop ideas for contemporary furniture and interiors inspired by traditional Outport living conditions and reality. A furniture/interior design competition is planned to follow the workshop in the spring with the intention of recruiting creators of locally rooted designs adapted to the various Shorefast projects on Fogo Island and Change Islands.

Method: Participants will be asked to work on the given tasks individually and in groups.
Local craftspeople and external experts will be engaged in the process throughout.
Formal input will be given regularly every fourth day.

Invited lecturers: 


Todd Saunders architect - Torbjørn Anderssen furniture designer - Sami Rintala architect - Lars & Jason Dressler furniture producers - Joseph Grima director - Kitty Scott director - Walter W Peddle expert on Outport furniture - Mike Paterson cabinet maker - Frank Tjepkema designer - Jerry Dick director of heritage NL - (Please note that the list is not complete and some names on the list are not yet confirmed).

Workshop coordinators: Steve Topping artist & Pall Einarsson industrial designer

Expenses: All travel and other expenses during the workshop will be covered.

For more information please contact:
Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir, director
Fogo Island Arts Corporation
elisabet@shorefast.org

Deadline for applications is January 22th 2010
please e-mail applications including
- CV
- documentation of up to 10 works
- a text explaining interest in the project (max 400 words)
to elisabet@shorefast.org

The project is produced by the Fogo Island Arts Corporation in collaboration with the Shorefast Foundation on Fogo Island. The Fogo Island Arts Corporation is a contemporary art venue specializing in residencies for international artists and the production of art projects and workshops engaging both local and international participants. The Arts Corporation is supported by the Shorefast Foundation. The Shorefast Foundation is a Canadian-registered charity that is using entrepreneurial methods to help secure prosperity for the region of Fogo Island and Change Islands


http://www.shorefast.org

How to Plan an Oral History or Folklore Project (Corner Brook)

A practical, three-hour workshop on how to develop plans for cultural documentation projects. 

The workshop will take participants through the process of planning a project, from establishing goals, doing preliminary research, addressing issues around ethics and consent, choosing personnel, documentation methods, processing collected materials, equipment, and budgets.  This workshop will be beneficial to people who are contemplating folklore and oral history projects of all sorts, ranging from short-term projects involving a single researcher to complex, long-term projects involving many researchers. 

Instructor:   Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer

Tuition:       $25

Date:           Wed, Jan 27th, 2010, 1-4 pm

Location:     Grenfell Room B, Glynmill Inn, Corner Brook



Dale Jarvis is a folklorist, researcher, and author, who has been working for the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) since 1996. In April 2008, he took on the role of Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, one of only two provincially funded, full-time folklorist positions in Canada.

Dale has a BSc (Hons) in Anthropology/Archaeology from Trent University (Peterborough) and an MA in Folklore from Memorial University. He is past president of the Newfoundland Historic Trust, and the author of two popular books on Newfoundland and Labrador folklore, and a third book of world ghost stories for young adult readers.

To register, contact Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or phone 1-888-739-1892 ext2

For a full list of workshops offered by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Program, visit:

http://www.mun.ca/ich/classes/

Traditional Newfoundland dancing in Quidi Vidi Village

Starting Sunday January 10th from 3:30 to 5 p.m., please join us in the bar at the Quidi Vidi Brewing Company for an afternoon of traditional set dancing. We have a great space with dance-friendly wooden floors and a wonderful view overlooking Quidi Vidi Gut. Dances will be the 2nd and 4th weekend each month until Easter - usually on a Saturday, but the first dance is on a Sunday. We plan to have various traditional dance callers and musicians and feature dances from across Newfoundland and Labrador. We'll Run the Goat, do the Lancers, the Cotillion, the Swinging Eight, the Tucker, the Square Set, the Handkerchief Dance, and more! Come early if you don't have dance experience and we'll show you the basics starting at 3:20 p.m. and plan to get dancing as a group for 3:30. This is an all ages, 'scent-free' event.

Dance callers on Sunday January 10th are Jane Rutherford and Ford Elms with Stan Pickett on accordion.
Cost: $8.00 at the door ($5.00 for Seniors 60+ and young folk under 22)
When: Sunday January 10, 2010. The door opens at 3:00 p.m. and there'll be a short dance orientation for new dancers at 3:20 p.m. The first dance will start at 3:30 p.m.

Location: Quidi Vidi Brewing Company, 55 Barrows Road, Quidi Vidi Village, St. John's (parking available on site)

For more information, please conact Jane Rutherford at janerutherford@gmail.com

Are you a dance caller or dance musician? Let Jane Rutherford know if you're interested in getting involved. The schedule of callers and musicians for the series is being developed now.

It's winter, so come and dance!

Old Christmas Day - Jan 6th

"The season of Christmas is often said to be twelve days long, and ends for most people on "Old Christmas Day," January 6th. This date is liturgically the Feast of the Epiphany and signals the beginning of the third part of the church's Christmas season (Advent, Christmas proper and Epiphany). The comparatively recent name "Old Christmas" stems from the 1752 reorganization of the calendar when twelve days were dropped from the calendar; the following year, purists said that the "real" Christmas Day was not on December 25th, but January 6th, 365 days after the previous Christmas. The knowledge of the Old Style has led some Newfoundlanders to name "Old Old Christmas Day" (January 18th) as the "real" end of the season. Indeed mummering can sometimes be seen on the Southern Shore of the Avalon peninsula until the end of January."
- Philip Hiscock, Dept of Folklore, Memorial.

Taken from http://www.heritage.nf.ca/society/custom.html