Call for online papers and presentations: Folklore and Crisis. #FolkloreThursday

The Folklore Studies Association of Canada will hold this year's annual meeting online! The meeting will take place between June 2 and 7. Specific dates and technologies will be communicated shortly.

The theme of the conference is “Folklore and Crisis.” We invite applicants to reflect on creative responses to situations of difficulty and distress. Creativity, a key characteristic of folklore, often comes into play at such times. The current pandemic, for example, continuously affects our daily lives, prompting us to create vernacular mechanisms to cope with new fearful realities, resist inequalities, fill gaps in institutional knowledge, maintain a sense of normalcy, and build future plans. Creative impulses range from traditional practices revived during lockdowns to emergent health beliefs and conspiracy theories. Folklorists also face the need for creative innovations. During the pandemic, scholars have had to adjust their methodologies, research questions, and knowledge dissemination trajectories. Likewise, public folklorists and practitioners have developed alternative platforms and strategies for museums, archives, government organizations, arts institutions, and businesses.

We invite academic and practice-based paper proposals on all manifestations of folklore and folklife that address crisis and creative responses to it. How can folklorists, as well as the individuals and groups we study, shed light on the nuances of human experiences at times of difficulty, discomfort, or danger? In the case of the current pandemic, what implications do the new realities have for our field in both academic and public spheres? Proposals for panels, discussion sessions, and individual papers related to other themes in the disciplines of ethnology and folklore are welcome.

We especially encourage proposals from graduate students. Given the nature of the virtual format, this is an affordable chance to present at a national conference. We also intend to create virtual opportunities for networking.

Please send abstracts of 150 words, in English or French, to Dr. Mariya Lesiv (mlesiv@mun.ca) by March 1, 2021.

All accepted presenters must be paid-up members of FSAC/ACEF for 2021. To join or renew your membership, visit https://www.acef-fsac.ulaval.ca/en/join.

Historic Paint Colours, Heritage Palettes, Red Ochre Paint, and Jellybean Row!

Two-tone house in Hickman's Harbour, Random Island, late 1990s. 

In the early days, the colour palette used on Newfoundland and Labrador buildings was much more limited than today. Colours available were those that could be made from natural materials such as minerals (for example, red and yellow ochre, zinc white or lime white wash) or plant dyes. In the first half of the 19th century many wooden buildings, particularly in rural parts of Newfoundland and Labrador were either unpainted, whitewashed, or covered with red ochre paint comprising powdered ochre mixed with seal or fish oil. Evidence of red ochre paint has been found in the archaeological remains of the province’s earliest known residential building constructed in 1610 at the Cupids Cove Plantation. 

In the 19th century the houses of the wealthier residents sometimes employed a different colour for trimwork while most houses were a single colour.  Until well into the 20th century, houses in many outport communities were white with a coloured trim.  Fishing structures such as stages and storehouses were generally either white, red ochre or brown or not painted at all, although there were always exceptions to the rule in terms of colour. 

In the early 20th century, pre-mixed paints became available, particularly with the establishment of the paint division of Standard Manufacturing in St. John’s in 1907. After World War II, a much broader range of colours became available around the province, the product of modern industrial paint production processes. The 1970s and '80s saw the beginning of a significant expansion of the colour palette, particularly in St. John’s. The St. John’s Heritage Foundation played a significant role in the revitalization of the old downtown residential neighbourhoods during this period.  The foundation encouraged livelier colour schemes with one or more accent colours for exterior trims and mouldings

Heritage Paints

Historic paint colours in Newfoundland and Labrador
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q9sG2zmR2lM3ixsznf542E9WDgjy7Zok/view?usp=sharing

Historic Paint Chart from Templetons
https://heritagefoundation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/nl-historic-paint.pdf

Shane O'Dea on heritage paint schemes:
http://www.ichblog.ca/2016/03/an-oral-history-of-heritage.html

Red Ochre and Lime Whitewash
http://www.ichblog.ca/2019/01/looking-for-people-who-remember-making.html

Making red ochre paint
http://www.ichblog.ca/2016/05/fisheriesfriday-red-ochre-and-lime.html

Way more on red ochre than you would ever want to know
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hp8ndU8-K6a99KARGh0WNjiG4Io-6KJf5PLuNPk5Qlk/edit

Paint in Twillingate
http://www.ichblog.ca/2014/05/folklore-photo-painting-jenkins-house.html

Jelly Bean Row Colours

The Jelly Bean Palette
https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/trip-ideas/travel-stories/the-jelly-bean-palette

Is the bay being bedazzled by Jellybean Row colours and losing its unique identity?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/jellybean-row-shift-1.4777383

Candy Coloured Homes
http://www.outdoorlifestylemagazine.com/2017/03/candy-coloured-homes/

Memories from Whiteway: Uncle Jesse's Cellar

Uncle Jesse’s cellar is a root cellar built into the size of a hill in Whiteway sometime in the 1930s, located just behind the Burgess Designated Heritage Property’s Cellar. In typical cellar fashion, it is not a very big building, but it is unique in the way that it is only partially underground. 

Like all root cellars across Newfoundland Uncle Jesse’s cellar would have been built to store vegetables over the winter. Unlike other root cellars, however, Uncle Jesse’s cellar was reused by the Burgess family over the years for a variety of reasons, and even featured some built in benches and furniture at one point. Ian Burgess recalls, for example, that Uncle Jesse would nap or lay down in his cellar during the summer months because:

‘He had some kind of consumption or issue with his lungs and found it difficult to breath so uh, on-uh, on-uh muggy summer days they-they had uh, y’know the uh-th’ fainting couch? Th-the the one with the rounded back? uh, uh, the s- the settee I guess you’d call it? Uh he had one of those put out there and he would go out there and uh, an get some relief on-uh, on warm days.’

Bob Burgess recalls this as well, saying that his Uncle Jesse had severe emphysema, and may have even lost a lung to his illness at one point. Bob also informed us that, because of its second use as a resting place for Uncle Jesse, the cellar was actually quite cabin-like in his youth, around the 1970s. 

More generally, Uncle Jesse and his wife were known around the community for always having a household full of young people. While they did not have any biological children themselves, the couple took in a few kids over the years who lived with them for a period of time. Bob Burgess recalls that there was always a ‘jeer’ of kids around his Aunt and Uncle’s house. He told us, more specifically:

‘I remember being it in - in it - as a cabin. Right? Like it had a roof and all that kind of stuff, and um… Just being in there...and, y’know, th-the boys were hanging out, my brother - older brother - was there and all that kind of stuff yeah I remember being in there….It’s not very big. Its was tight quarters right? yeah, yeah, one hundred percent. And there was...uh, my memory is foggy about it, but it was just a series of benches and maybe even bunks somehow in there, right, but uh, yeah, I can remember being in there.’

Both Bob and Ian Burgess also recall that there was a musical component to their time in Whiteway with their Uncle and his kids. Bob recalls that they were often singing and playing guitar, and Ian told us:

‘I can remember them playing guitar and I still play the same chords that-uh junior taught me[….] And down on the-uh, down on the, near the beach of the drum going down uh, to there, I can remember them playing there for some guys who came over from-uh, they spent a couple weeks over here catching eels in the brook. And I can remember Junior and Ches down there playing for them.’

Today, the cellar, along with the rest of the Burgess Heritage Property, are still owned by members of the Burgess family. Uncle Jesse’s cellar, unfortunately, fell into disrepair after years of neglect, but has recently been renovated into a greenhouse, bringing it into a new phase of existence. While Uncle Jesse’s cellar is not a designated building, the stories attached to it are compelling and help illustrate to ways in which buildings evolve and are adapted or refit to suit the needs of the people who use them. 

Living Heritage Podcast Ep200 - Doughboys and Molasses, Oh!

We chat with folklorist Dr. Anna Kearney Guigné about the new CD - Doughboys and Molasses, Oh!, which offers listeners a fresh perspective on the musical heritage of the Gros Morne region on Newfoundland’s west coast. Available on disc and digital download, the album features 22 carefully restored tracks originally recorded from local singers by folk song researchers in the mid-20th century. 

Also included are four new performances specially commissioned for the compilation from musicians Anita Best, Matthew Byrne, Daniel Payne and Jim Payne. The accompanying booklet explores the stories of the songs, the singers and the collectors, as well as the role of singing in family and community life.

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

Heritage Update for February 2021 - Sustainability, and Craft at Risk

In this edition of our newsletter: heritage and what the past has to teach us about a sustainable future; threats to the continued transmission of craft skills in Newfoundland and Labrador; and the history of the Burgess family of Whiteway, Trinity Bay; plus a link to our ongoing Fieldnotes series!

• Download the pdf version of the newsletter here

Community Development and Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Newfoundland and Labrador

Boat building workshop, courtesy Wooden Boat Museum of NL

 

As part of Heritage NL's ongoing Fieldnotes series, this publication provides an overview of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) program developed by Heritage NL. It traces the early development of the program, and outlines the ICH Strategy and the shifting role of heritage work in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

It then provides an overview of two ongoing projects that explore, document, and encourage the continued safeguarding and sharing of ICH knowledge and skills: the Living Heritage Economy Case Study project, and the NL Heritage Craft at Risk project. 

Download the pdf version here

Heritage NL has two job postings: Executive Director and Training Coordinator

 Two new job postings with Heritage NL

Training Coordinator

Heritage NL seeks an individual to perform the role of Training Coordinator to help develop and deliver a series of modules and mentorships targeted to: a) individuals involved in the building trades who are interested in developing their knowledge of traditional building practices and restoration and; b) members of the public interested in developing knowledge and practice of traditional skills that are at risk of disappearing in the province. 

PDF of job ad - Deadline Feb 12, 2021

Executive Director

The position of Executive Director is responsible for the management of all staff, all reporting functions to the board and Provincial Government; budgeting and financial management, providing support to the board in its planning and policy making functions, and the implementation of all plans and policies. Heritage NL seeks a highly motivated individual with experience in organizational management and planning. Candidates should have demonstrated training, knowledge of, experience in, and a broad understanding of the heritage field and current thinking and issues relating to it. They should be comfortable working at the grass roots community level at the same time that they can work with senior government officials, community leaders, and decision-makers. Good facilitation skills are a definite asset as is recognized leadership in the heritage field.

PDF of job ad - Deadline Feb 24, 2021

Living Heritage Podcast Ep199 Growing up as a Lebanese Newfoundlander

Folklorist Wyatt H. Shibley interviews retired local politician Lorraine Michael about what it was like growing up with Lebanese roots in downtown St. John’s.

https://anchor.fm/living-heritage/episodes/Ep199-Growing-up-as-a-Lebanese-Newfoundlander-epl2lu

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

A history of the Lane/Heffern House in Salvage, Bonavista Bay

The Salvage Fisherman’s Museum (alternatively, the Lane/Heffern House) was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by Heritage NL March 20th, 2020 due to its historic and aesthetic value. Supposedly the oldest surviving home in the area, the museum building was constructed sometime in the mid 19th century by members of the Lane family who lived in Salvage by 1830.

Heritage NL has been working with the museum committee on documenting the history of the structure, which has proven to be more complicated than originally thought. It may be that the building was constructed in two phases, which would explain some of the quirks of the building itself.

You can download the full report in pdf format and get all the architectural gossip right here.