Young Folklorists Interviews - Britannia Teas

As part of the two-day Young Folklorists program we're running this week, students went out and conducted interviews and took photographs at five shops along Water Street. I'll be putting the photos and audio together, and posting them online so the kids (and you) can see what the other groups did.

Here is the first interview, with Britannia Teas and Gifts owner Kelly Jones.

Old digital cameras wanted for Young Folklorists Program

Next Thursday and Friday, the ICH office will be running our first "Young Folklorists Program." One thing we'll be doing is a folklore walk of Water Street, and I want the students taking pictures as we go along.

We have a couple old digital cameras in the office that we'll be handing out to students, but it would be great to have a few more. So, if you have an old camera (and cord if you still have it) that you want to get out of your junk drawer and donate to a good home, I'd love to have it.  You can drop it off at either the ICH office at 1 Springdale Street before Wednesday, or at Britannia Teas and Gifts at 199 Water Street (they are open over the weekend, where the ICH office isn't).

Thanks!

Folklore, Farriers, Nurses and Nunatsiavut: this month in ICH

In this edition of the ICH Update for May 2011, reflections on the Nunatsiavut Heritage Forum held in Hopedale, Labrador; the Young Folklorists Program; a digitization project to share the voices of nurses; and an article on Kevin Dillon, farrier with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.

Download the pdf

Old Time Community Concert series starts tonight, Heart's Content 8pm

The Mizzen Heritage Society invites you to the Community Concert, tonight, with the some skits that are sure to get you to laugh out loud. Features include: A Banana Boa, Between Two People, The Flasher, Gonna Get Me Moose Licence, The Sunday Afternoon Drive with Clem, Bubba Jay from the Hill, Dis and Dat Local News, Uncle Dicky's Annual Appearance, and Airport Check.

Music will be played in between skits by members of the Mizzen Heritage Society.


Mizzen Heritage Society Old Time Concert

Cost: $7.00
Location: 8:00p.m. at The SUF Hall

Dates: April 28th, 29th, and 30th

All proceeds in aid of the Mizzen Heritage Society.

For info on other community concerts visit www.oldtimeconcerts.ca

Old Time Community Concerts on the Baccalieu Trail

HFNL and communities on the Baccaileu Trail team up to produce the Old Time Concert Series



Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) presents Old Time Community Concerts along the Baccalieu Trail. Hosted by the communities of Heart’s Content (April 28, 29, 30) , Cupids (May 6) , and Bay Roberts (May 25). Come join in the fun of a traditional concert, hear some music, and laugh the evening away!

Since last fall, HFNL has been working with community groups along the Baccalieu Trial to document local tradition bearers, and collect memories about concerts, traditional music, skits, recitations, drills and times. The foundation then looked around to set up a folklore project they could use to promote living traditions in their communities.

“When we held a public meeting in Cupids to talk about traditions in the region, old time concerts went right to the top of the list,” says provincial folklorist Dale Jarvis. “We wanted to help communities create something that would revitalize this tradition. So the idea of coordinating a festival of Old Time Community Concerts was born.”

The concert series will take place through April and May month in three towns: Heart’s Content, Cupids, and Bay Roberts. The local events are organized by the Mizzen Heritage Society, Cupids Legacy Centre, and Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation. The concerts cost $7.00 per person.

“The funds raised will stay in the communities, and help support future heritage projects,” says Jarvis. “It is a great way of using local tradition to support the future of heritage organizations.”

The first concert of the series takes place in Heart’s Content on April 28.

If you would like more information please visit www.oldtimeconcerts.ca or call Mel at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 3.

Changes to the ICH newsletter delivery

Hi all.

I know some of you have been getting the ICH newsletter twice, or to a couple different accounts (or maybe you don't want to get it at all). I'm trying to fix all that by switching over to a system that will help me better manage emails, and make it easier for you to subscribe and unsubscribe.

So, if you want to get ICH updates from me in your email from time to time, you can sign up here:

http://eepurl.com/dych9

Your friendly neighbourhood folklorist,

Dale Jarvis

Place Names, History and the Labrador Innu: A Lecture by Peter Armitage

The Newfoundland Historical Society will be holding its monthly free public lecture and Annual General Meeting on
Thursday, April 28th 2011
at 8 pm
at Hampton Hall Lecture Theatre, located at the Marine Institute on Ridge Road

This month’s lecturer will be Peter Armitage, and his talk is titled:

“From Uapamekushtu to Tshakashkue matshiteuieau: Place Names, History and the Labrador Innu”

On the Island of Newfoundland, we are surrounded by place names in daily life and would have a great deal of trouble living without them, yet we take them for granted. Moreover, few of us have any understanding of the origins of the names we use even though many of them have very important historical associations and are anchors for a great deal of memory about our experiences on the land.

The same thing applies to Innu place names in Labrador. They anchor Innu people to the land and help them remember events that took place there. Many Innu place names are already known to us because anglicized versions of them appear on the maps of Labrador, for example, Minipi Lake (from Minai-nipi, meaning 'Burbot Lake') and Snegamook Lake (from Ashtunekamiku meaning 'Canoe Building Shelter').

Armitage's talk will start with a mysterious Innu place name called Tshakashue matshiteuieau. It means 'Tshakashue's Point' which is located on the south shore of Lake Melville. Tshakashue is the name of two people, one Innu the other Settler. But who is the point named after - the Innu or the Settler person? Tshakashue matshiteuieau will lead us into a labyrinth of meaning and historical association that extends east-west from the coast of Labrador to James Bay, and north-south from Ungava Bay to the Quebec North Shore. By the end of lecture, we will understand better the uniqueness of Innu culture, the connectedness of the Innu people across the Labrador-Quebec peninsula, and the role that place names play in facilitating talk and memory about the land.

Peter Armitage is a consulting anthropologist based in St. John's, Newfoundland. He works with Algonquian-speaking First Nations in Labrador, Quebec and Ontario, and has been working with the Innu since 1982. He curated the Innu place names website called "Pepamuteiati Nitassinat: As We Walk Across Our Land" (www.innuplaces.ca).

Here's how to pronounce Tshakashue matshiteuieau:

1. Uapamekushtu

wop-mek-goo-stoo

2. Tshakashue

chuck-ash-way

3. matshiteuieau

much-a-teo-wee-ow (that' ow as in ouch)

the 'a' between much and teo is a schwa as in the 'u' in u

Old Time Music, Tea Buns and Hookers! Happy Easter, Newfoundland and Labrador!

In this edition of Newfoundland and Labrador's ICH Update for April 2011, we announce the dates for the Old Time Community Concerts series in Heart's Content, Cupids and Bay Roberts; Melissa Squarey talks to Betty Rumbolt about the tradition of Easter tea buns in Upper Island Cove, and folklorist Sandra Wheeler introduces us to a group of young fabric artists working in the old tradition of rug hooking.

Download the pdf

The passing of a tradition bearer - Honora (Nora) Skanes, Colliers

In the early stages of the first mummers festival, festival coordinator Ryan Davis and I went out and conducted several folklore interviews in Conception Bay. Dennis Flynn was our local guide, and he introduced us to people who were keeping the old St. Stephen's Day tradition of The Wren alive.

The definite highlight of the day was the interview we did with Honora (Nora) Skanes at her old family home in Colliers. Nora shared her memories with us, and made us all feel like family.

I got an email today from her niece, Trina, telling me that Nora had passed away on Sunday, and asking for a copy of the interview we had done with her aunt.  I was saddened to hear of her passing, because my memories of Nora are of a woman infused with a joy of life. The last time I saw her was at a book launch of Dennis's in Cupids last year, and she was as much fun then as she was the afternoon we spent in her home.

I'm very pleased that we have her interview online as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory - an excellent example of how important it is that we record the voices of our tradition bearers while we can. Because of the inventory work we did in 2009, you can listen to the full interview with Honora (the last 30 seconds are my favourite part!) or enjoy her recitation of The Wren Song.

Dennis tells me Nora will be waked tonight in Conception Harbour. I'm sure many stories will be told!

ABOVE: Honora Skanes, (centre) with Ryan Davis, Dennis Flynn, and Dale Jarvis (l-r). Photo by Dennis Flynn. Read Dennis's article on Nora, An Outport Aunt.