Celebrating our History – The Restoration of the Colonial Building

The Association of Heritage Industries is pleased to support and applaud today’s joint funding announcement by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Government of Canada of $22.3 million to complete the restoration of the Colonial Building.

Located in the heart of a nationally significant historic precinct, the Colonial Building is the finest example of neoclassical architecture in the province. As the seat of government for 90 years, the Colonial Building has played an important role in the province’s history and political culture.

The heritage community, under the umbrella of the Association of Heritage Industries, collectively lobbied for the restoration of the Colonial Building when the Provincial Archives relocated to The Rooms in 2004. The heritage community rallied to have the Colonial Building carefully restored, maintaining the historical and architectural integrity of both the exterior and interior. We also recommended transforming the building into a public space to interpret and celebrate Newfoundland and Labrador’s political history.

The provincial government adopted AHI’s recommendations and, in the intervening years, completed a management plan, making an initial commitment of $3 million towards the restoration project, along with a $648,000 contribution through Canadian Heritage’s Building Canada fund.

Today’s landmark announcement means there will be sufficient resources to complete the restoration work to a high standard - a fitting contribution to this significant building. AHI Chair David Bradley notes that, “The Colonial Building may be the province’s most important, surviving historic structure, and we are pleased that both levels of government recognize its importance and are prepared to make the necessary investment in its preservation and redevelopment. We will watch the progress with great interest.”


Contact:
Kim Shipp
Executive Director
Association of Heritage Industries
709-738-4345
ahi@nfld.net
PO Box 2064, Stn C.
St. John's, NL A1C 5R6

Labrador kayaks old and new, and adventures with polar bears.

This morning, Peter Cowan, reporter and video journalist for CBC in Labrador, tweeted a link to this story, about Noah Nochasak's journey to Hebron in a handmade, traditional style kayak. It is well worth a listen, particularly the part about Nochasak's run-in with a polar bear.

As a sometimes kayaker, I was interested in Nochasak's construction of the kayak, which is built along traditional Inuit lines, but using nylon instead of skin as the covering. It is a good example of one of the basic tenets of intangible cultural heritage: that ICH comes from the past but is in a constant state of evolution.

Give the interview a listen here.

A few years ago, I got a "backstage" tour of the collection vaults at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec. In a darkened room full of boats from all across Canada, there was one treasure that stood out for me: a traditional Inuit skin kayak from Labrador. A few pics below:

Roadside Gardens, Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland

I'm back in the office from our HFNL/ANLA workshop in Plum Point. Along the way, I took a few photos of one of my favourite "roadside attractions" on the Great Northern Peninsula: roadside gardens.  In conversation with David Adams in Cape Onion, he explained that when the highway was put through, the existing peat had to be moved to the side of the road to make room for laying a new roadbed.  That resulted in thick layers of peat on the sides of the road.

In a region with thin topsoil, it is perfect location with gardening, as long as you build the requisite moose fence and scarecrows. A few shots:

A little jaunt - 900 kilometres to Plum Point

In the morning, I'm heading out on the road to Plum Point - over 900 kms betwixt here and there. I'm giving a workshop with ANLA on Wednesday. So, you might not have a blog post for a few days, depending on internet availability.

And what does that have to do with Edward Teach, commonly known as Blackbeard? Not much, really, but any excuse to put up a picture of a pirate is a good one. Teach, reportedly, hung his hat at Plum Point (North Carolina, however, not Northern Peninsula).

Fair winds, all!

Aug 22nd, 1846 - Happy Birthday, Folklore!

On August 22, 1846, antiquarian William John Thoms coined the term "folk-lore." Writing under the pseudonym Ambrose Merton, in a letter to the editor of the London magazine The Athenaeum, Thoms wrote:

Your pages have so often given evidence of the interest which you take in what we in England designate as Popular Antiquities, or Popular Literature (though by-the-by it is more a Lore than a literature, and would be most aptly described by a good Saxon compound, Folk-Lore,—the Lore of the People)—that I am not without hopes of enlisting your aid in garnering the few ears which are remaining, scattered over that field from which our forefathers might have gathered a goodly crop. No one who has made the manners, customs, observances, superstitions, ballads, proverbs, etc., of the olden time his study, but must have arrived at two conclusions:—the first how much that is curious and interesting in those matters is now entirely lost—the second, how much may yet be rescued by timely exertion…. It is only honest that I should tell you I have long been contemplating a work upon our “Folk-Lore” (under that title, mind Messes. A, B, and C,—so do not try to forestall me);—and I am personally interested in the success of the experiment which I have, in this letter, albeit imperfectly, urged you to undertake.


[reposted from the American Folklife Centre facebook page]

Rare historic photo of Newman Wine Vaults interior

Earlier this summer, I borrowed a collection of photographs from Provincial Historic Sites which show various interior and exterior scenes of the Newman Wine Vaults on Water Street, and the associated Newman Building on Springdale Street, here in St. John's.  Vaults staff have scanned those photos, and we are currently compiling metadata for the photos, which will be added to a new sub-collection for St. John's on Memorial's Digital Archive Initiative.

The photo above is undated, but is probably from the early to mid-twentieth century.  I don't know the identity of the gentleman with the cane; if you know, email ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

The back of the photo reads:
"Pipes" of Newman's Port ageing in a bonded warehouse in St. John's 
Story 15 
V.P. 3
E 1-3 
53%
CANADIAN COLLECTOR


A "pipe" is an old unit of measurement for wine or port, sometimes called a "butt" and equal to two hogsheads, approximately 475 to 480 litres.

What is a Hay Barrack, you ask? A Newfoundland-wide photo hunt

I'm hoping that someone out there in Newfoundland has a photo (or memories) of a hay barrack. I'm working on a little article on hay barracks for a future newsletter, and would love a good illustration.

Here is what the Dictionary of Newfoundland English says:

barrack n Cp DAE hay barrack (1807-). Structure consisting of four posts and a movable roof, designed to protect hay from rain and snow (P 245-56). M 71-39 A barrack is composed of a square base of criss-crossed poles, to keep the hay from the ground, and at each corner a large upright pole. In each pole there are holes through which a large bolt can be passed. Resting on four large bolts, one in each pole, is a four-faced cone-shaped roof. These barracks are usually boarded in for about four feet from the ground. 1974 MANNION 176 ~ A roof sliding on four posts, under which hay is kept.

I'm hoping that someone might have seen one in a photo, perhaps not really knowing what it might have been. If you've seen one, let me know at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Thanks to Philip Hiscock for pointing me towards this excellent photo of one in the Ukraine. The illustration above is of both a five and four pole barrack, the four pole barrack showing boarding similar to the description in the Dictionary. Illustration taken from the Dutch Barn Preservation Society website, which writes:  Five-pole hay barrack (left), published in van Berkhey, 1810 (Vol. IX). The Dutch wagon size suggests this barrack is about 24' wide and 33' high. Note the winding jack set in position to raise the roof using a long pole. Its form is similar to that of a cheese press. Its relative size, however, appears exaggerated for clarity. Four-pole barrack at right, also from van Berkhey.

See also:

• Quebec example
• Netherlands example
• More about haystacks, hay barracks and hooibergs than you ever wanted to know

Two Tasty Riddles

I started off my Food, Folklore, and Tourism talk on Monday with these two riddles, and I figured I'd include them here for other lovers of traditional riddles:

Riddle One:

Flour of England,
Fruit of Spain,


Met together


In a shower of rain,

Put in a bag


And tied with a string,


If you tell me this riddle,
I'll give you a ring.

Riddle Two:

Pease porridge hot,
Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot,
Nine days old.
Spell me that in four letters?

Guess away!

Thoughts on pudding, folklore, and culture

Folklorist and Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer Dale Jarvis introduced the Food, Folklore and Tourism Workshop in Cupids, Newfoundland on Monday, 15 August 2011, with some thoughts on steamed and boiled puddings, and on how food, folklore, and culture are intertwined.



Download Dale's talk as a MP3