Mizzen Heritage Society Visit, Heart's Content

Yesterday I traveled to Heart's Content to spend some time with members of the town's Mizzen Heritage Society. This group of individuals have a vested interested in the heritage structures within their community. With their help, the Heart's Content Town Council has submitted an application to the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador to have an officially designated heritage district in their community. In the proposed district there are 18 buildings of historic interest, many of which are connected to the cable companies that once operated in Heart's Content. The Mizzen men discussed the proposal with me, and offered some historic background on some of the heritage buildings the are within the district. Over the next few months I will be making many trips to Heart's Content to visit not only the Mizzen Heritage group, but members of the town council and greater community too. Ultimately, I hope to figure out how I can help the Heart's Content heritage district be as successful as possible, as both a provincial point of interest as well as a tool for local community-building initiatives.

Here are John, Bob, and Claude (L to R) of the Mizzen Heritage Society standing in the town hall conference room. They told me all about what they do as a society, what some of their successful campaigns have been, and what some of their future plans are. They also gave me a sneak peek inside of some of the heritage buildings within the district (see below). I look forward to collaborating with them in the coming months.

The above photograph shows the interior of the Methodist School House (c.1919) in Heart's Content. It is now owned by the Mizzen Heritage Society who have converted it into a community museum. The amazing tiled floor is likely from when it was used by the Masonic Order from the 1940s-1960s.

 This model, on display in the community museum, depicts the historic Anglican Church that once stood in Heart's Content. Sadly this building was lost in a fire in the mid-1980s-- a tragic event that has not been forgotten. While the town still misses this beautiful structure, community members have found ways to celebrate it and keep it in the collective memory.

On my next Heart's Content excursion I hope to speak with some of the owners of heritage buildings within the district -- stay tuned!

-Lisa

Weaving in the Woods

This past Saturday the ICH office, in partnership Memorial University's Folklore 6740 graduate class, put off a pillow top making workshop.

Pillow tops are woven with wool on wooden frames and were traditionally crafted by Newfoundland lumber camp workers to be gifted to their wives, girlfriends or mothers. They are sewn onto pillows, used as throws, pot holders or place mats.

Today this handcrafted tradition is being carried on by Elizabeth Murphy of the Burin Peninsula. She grew up in a house where crafting pillow tops was a winter pastime and learned to make them from her parents in the early 1960s. This is a skill which she has gone on to teach for several years and we were fortunate to have her lead this workshop. The event was a great success and everyone who participated walked away with a lovely pillow top and the skills they require to continue this traditional Newfoundland craft.

 Susan Lee, June Russell, Arlene Penney, Nicole Penney, Elizabeth Murphy and Raymond Russell (left to right) examine the differences between the Russell's pillow top and the three Murphy brought. All these pillow tops are between 30-50 years old.  

The beginning step of making a pillow top is layering the wool on the wooden frame.

Raelene Thomas

  

Jillian Gould teaches Folklore 6740 and
 partnered with the ICH office on this project

Elizabeth Murphy instructing Jenny Taroff,
a student in the Folklore 6740 class

Caitlin Bethune of the Folklore 6740 class (blue hat/shirt) works alongside a workshop participant

After layering the wool the next step is to tie off the back. We were shown by Murphy how to use fish net twine and a twine needle for this step. 

Raymond Russell, who made a pillow top while working in the lumber camps in 1958, helps his daughter, Arlene Penney, with her pillow top. 

Murphy (back) looks over some of the workshop participants as they weave their pillow tops. 

The Next step, after layering all the wool and tying off the back, is to cut the wool. This  cutting will  form the  pom poms on the pillow top. Be careful not to cut all the way through! As you can see in the picture above, a few strands of wool are not cut in order to form the backing of the pillow top.

Dale Jarvis and Nicole Penney, of the ICH office, cut their pillow tops to form the pom poms

Shamus MacDonald, of the Folklore 6740 class, tries his hand at cutting wool.

The very last step is to steam the wool in order to fluff up the pom poms

A close up on the pom poms

Two of our participants showing off their finished pillow tops. 

If you have any pillow top memories please contact Nicole Penney with the ICH office. We are actively collecting information about this interesting Newfoundland craft. Nicole can be reached at (709) 739-1892 ex. 6 or via email at nicole@heritagefoundation.ca.

Photographs courtesy of: Christina Robarts

Making Memory Maps Workshop with Marlene Creates

Memory maps are subjective drawings based on personal experience in, and perception of, a specific lived place. This is a device Marlene Creates has used in her teaching and in her own artwork for over 30 years. Drawing memory maps can help you remember, record, interpret, investigate, and communicate both present and lost attributes of local places and everyday life –– ones not normally registered in the larger historical record. This is an excellent device to stimulate conversation for anyone doing oral history research.

Marlene will show examples from her own works based on memory maps that were drawn for her by elders in various areas of the province: Inuit and Settlers in Nain and Hopedale, Mushuau Innu in Davis Inlet, and her own elderly relatives in Lewisporte and Joe Batt’s Arm, as well as from some of the multi-disciplinary place-based projects she has done with other adults and over 2,000 schoolchildren in the province.

About the instructor
Marlene Creates is an environmental artist and poet who lives in Portugal Cove. She was born in Montreal and in 1985 she moved to Newfoundland, the home of her maternal ancestors who were from Lewisporte and Fogo Island. Her artwork, spanning more than three decades, has been an exploration of the relationship between human experience, memory, language and the land, and the impact they have on each other. Since the 1970s her work has been exhibited in over 300 solo and group exhibitions across Canada and internationally. She has been a guest lecturer at over 150 institutions, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Glasgow School of Art, the University of Oxford, the University of Kent at Canterbury, the University of Hartford, and many Canadian universities. This year, she was a plenary speaker at Space + Memory = Place, the biennial conference of the Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada.

Workshop Details

Saturday, 10 November 2012, 1pm-4pm
MMAP Gallery (Old Art Gallery Space)
Arts and Culture Centre, St. John’s, Newfoundland
Workshop fee: $20
Pre-registration required.
Contact Nicole at nicole@heritagefoundation.ca or call 709-739-1892 ext 6

Materials list for the participants to bring:

• plain HB pencil
• colour pencils
• white art eraser
• glue stick

image credit: Memory map of Freake land in Joe Batt's Arm drawn by Bert Freake for Marlene Creates, 1989; excerpt from where my great-grandmother was born, in the series Places of Presence: Newfoundland kin and ancestral land, 1989-1991.

Fortis Memorial

Sadly, a construction worker recently fell 80 feet to his death while working on the new Fortis office building on Springdale Street in St. John's, just behind the ICH office. Below are some photos of the spontaneous memorials that popped up within a day or two.

Spontaneous memorials are a first reaction to the unanticipated, unexpected and violent loss of life. Most spontaneous memorials start within hours of death notification; someone leaves a candle or bouquet of flowers, which is often followed quickly by contributions from others. They can be the limited, personal expression of the family and friends who place flowers, candles, stuffed animals, and notes on a tree by the roadside where a fatal accident occurred, or occur on a global level. 

Spontaneous memorials tend to be impermanent, but can become the place of a permanent memorial. For more on spontaneous memorials check out Holly Everett's book, Roadside Crosses in Contemporary Memorial Culture.

Two ICH Workshops - Pillow Tops and Memory Maps!

This November, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is offering two workshops related to intangible cultural heritage:

November 3, 2012 - Weaving in the Woods with Elizabeth Murphy
November 10, 2012 - Making Memory Map with Marlene Creates
Weaving in the Woods: Recreating a Lumberman’s Pastime with Elizabeth Murphy
Saturday, Nov. 3rd, 2012
1pm - 4pm
Cochrane Street United Church
Registration fee: $20
What are pillow tops? Woven with wool on wooden frames, these Newfoundland textiles were traditionally crafted by lumber camp workers to be gifted to their sweethearts or sewn onto pillows, used as throws or even placemats. Today this handcrafted tradition is being carried on by Elizabeth Murphy of the Burin Peninsula. She grew up in a house where crafting pillow tops was a winter pastime and learned to make them from her parents in the early 1960s. This is a skill which she has gone on to teach for several years.

Making Memory Maps with Marlene Creates
Saturday, Nov. 10th, 2012
1pm - 4pm
MMaP Gallery, Arts and Culture Centre
Registration fee: $20

Memory maps are subjective drawings based on personal experience in, and perception of, a specific lived place. This is a device Marlene Creates has used in her teaching and in her own artwork for over 30 years. Drawing memory maps can help you remember, record, interpret, investigate, and communicate both present and lost attributes of local places and everyday life –– ones not normally registered in the larger historical record. This is an excellent device to stimulate conversation for anyone doing oral history research.

For more information on both workshops please visit www.mun.ca/ich
Pre-registration is required for both workshops. To register, please contact:

Nicole Penney
Heritage Foundation Newfoundland and Labrador
nicole@heritagefoundation.ca709-739-1892 ext 6

From weaving in the woods to working high steel

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, folklorist Dale Jarvis gives an update on the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador's Avalon Folklore Project; news about two ICH workshops, one on making pillow tops and one on memory maps; Nicole Penney interviews Joe Lewis of Conception Harbour about working high steel; and an introduction to HFNL's newest staff person, Lisa Wilson.

Download the pdf

Every Building Implies a City, a talk by architect Bruce Kuwabara

Every building, whether consciously or unconsciously, embodies a vision of a city in an urbanizing world. The vitality of the city is dependent on what individual buildings and their programs contribute to the animation of streets and public spaces. The talk will focus on recently completed projects of KPMB Architects across Canada that expand on new strategies that will contribute to making better cities and communities.

Guest Speaker: Bruce Kuwabara
Topic: "Every Building Implies a City"
Location: Resource Centre for the Arts, LSPU Hall
Free Parking behind "Bluedrop Building" on Prescott Street

Date: Monday, October 22, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Free Admission, All Are Welcome, Reception to follow. 

Hosted by the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Architects 

Mapping the legacy of resettlement in Arnold's Cove, Newfoundland

"Overall, some 307 communities were abandoned between 1946 and 1975, and over 28,000 people relocated. Captured in film, poetry, visual art and music, the response to resettlement was an important political thread in the province's cultural renaissance in the 1970s. The programme had a profound impact on the lives of those affected, and continues to resonate in the culture and collective psyche of the province today."

- excerpt from “No Great Future” Government Sponsored Resettlement

in Newfoundland and Labrador since Confederation

I had an interesting day today, with a trip out to Arnold's Cove to meet with representatives of the town's heritage committee. I was there to help provide some advice on project focus and preliminary project planning around a few ideas they have for future heritage projects.

I'm always encouraging communities to focus on projects that are somehow unique to their communities. One of the interesting facts that came out of today's meeting is that the town has a large number of buildings that were moved into the community from now abandoned Placentia Bay towns during the resettlement period.  A lot of communities in the province have resettled buildings, but the heritage committee has tentatively identified 71 houses still standing in Arnold's Cove, with a few additional buildings yet to be added to the list.  They are clustered, perhaps unsurprisingly, with people from the same home towns, with people setting up their houses in Arnold's Cove close to their original neighbours. You can see a rough version of a preliminary map above.

We are talking about setting up a public workshop in Arnold's Cove around the topic of mapping cultural resources, using this as a case study, and possibly incorporating features from of one of our old Google map workshops. Stay tuned! If you'd like to be involved in some way, you can drop me a line at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Resettlement Links:

• “No Great Future” Government Sponsored Resettlement in Newfoundland and Labrador since Confederation
• The Resettlement Program - “Resettlement Now While Resettlement Pays”

Folklore Fieldwork Guide: Getting interesting answers

I had a meeting today with a group looking to collect some oral histories from its pioneer members. I told them about a video from Traditional Arts Indiana about getting interesting answers from your informants.

You can watch the video here:



In the same series is this video on structuring interview questions.

I like the topics-based approach taken in this second guide, where the suggestion is that an interview ask questions based on five topics:  beginnings;  community; aesthetics; process; and, creativity/traditionality. It is a good idea for people doing any kind of folklore interview related to traditional and contemporary craft or practice.

Exploring a historic well hidden underneath a St. John's home.

I've been working with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) since 1996, for much of it involved with HFNL's work preserving and promoting the built heritage of the province. In that time, I've poked around in more basements and attics of historic properties than I could attempt to count. But today I saw something new, even for me.

A while back, I posted on my personal twitter account (@dalejarvis) a link to a news item from Devon, UK, where a man found a 33 foot deep medieval well underneath the floor of his living room.

I thought this was pretty neat, and then got an note from local real estate agent Janet Kovich (@J_Ko__) saying she had handled the sale a property in St. John's that had a well under its floor. I, of course, wanted to see, so she arranged with the owner for me to go take a peek.

I don't want to give out the street address of the property without permission from the owner, but the house is relatively new, I'd guess having been built in the 1970s or 1980s. It is a curious house,  constructed in the Tudor Revival style, with a central stone-faced tower and spiral staircase. The house was built in a section of the city that would have been on the outskirts of town in the early twentieth century, in farming country.

I arrived at the house, Janet meeting me there and bringing me down into the low, partially finished basement. We ducked our heads under beams, past the base of the central tower, and made our way to the corner of the basement. There, we found a large wooden cover about 8 feet square slightly raised from the level of the concrete floor. Workmen doing renovations on the house assisted by propping up the cover, giving us a clear look at the structure below.

Sure enough, it is a well, circular in shape, about 6 feet wide. The well is constructed with dry stone walls, several feet deep. It very clearly predates the house, and for some reason the original owner of the building had kept the well intact, instead of filling it in. At the bottom of the well is set what looks like a metal barrel or oil drum, filled with rubble or silt. I'm guessing that the drum had been placed inside the well at some point to keep the walls stable.

The well is filled close to the rim with water.  The workmen said the level of the water in the well had risen lately, as had the level of the water in the tiny brook that runs along the boundary line of the property.

I don't know much yet about the history of the property, but will post more later if I find out anything. I suspect there was an old house or barn near the site of the present house.

I'm always interested in hidden architectural gems and oddities like this. If you know of hidden wells or passages in or around St. John's, you can email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca as I'm always up for an underground adventure! Have you seen something like this? Or have any theories on this one? Drop me a note!

Life in Public Folklore - talk with folklorist Dale Jarvis @MemorialU

Life in Public Folklore
Join folklorist Dale Jarvis, Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer for Newfoundland and Labrador as he gives a presentation on the work of public and applied folklore in the province. What does a public folklorist do all day? Come and find out!

12 noon
Tuesday, October 16th
ED4036

Education Building, Memorial University

St. John's, Newfoundland

Tea & Baskets with folklorist Dale Jarvis

Coffee and Culture - Tea & Baskets

The Rooms Theatre

October 11th, 2012
2:30pm

Baskets remind us of a simpler time when made many everyday objects by hand. Join folklorist Dale Jarvis for tea (or coffee) as he displays historic baskets from Mi'kmaw traditions to mill baskets and tells us about the people who used them.

Free with your admission to The Rooms (and of course, tea is included!)

Job Posting: Heritage Outreach Officer with Heritage Foundation of NL

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL)  is hiring a Heritage Outreach Officer to promote and assist in the delivery of heritage programs, under the direction of both the Executive Director, and the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Development Officer.

Heritage Outreach Officer will

• Promote HFNL programs;
• Help establish heritage committees in participating communities;
• Assist the ICH Development Officer with cognitive mapping in heritage districts and other research projects;
• Prepare basic inventories of heritage assets;
• Assist with published reports and community presentations;
• Undertake activities that build community capacity for heritage districts and other heritage projects;
• Assist on projects that demonstrate the link between built heritage and ICH;
• Assist core HFNL staff with maintenance of files, telephone work, research and office duties as required.

The applicant must have excellent oral and written communication skills; good knowledge of Microsoft Excel; valid driver’s licence and use of automobile;  availability to travel throughout Newfoundland & Labrador; and an undergraduate or master’s degree in history, archaeology, folklore, or architecture. Previous experience with a heritage organization is an asset.

This is an entry-level, one-year contract position with HFNL. Salary is in the range of $20-$25/hour, depending on qualifications. Please send a copy of your cv, three references, and a cover letter describing your interest in heritage work, to:

Hiring Committee, ℅ Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
PO Box 5171, St. John’s, NL A1C 3A5
ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Deadline for applications:  Monday, 15 October, 2012

Workshops, Graveyards, Boatbuilding and Tea!

In this edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Update for September 2012, we present two workshops about safeguarding ICH, in Trinity and Norris Point; Lisa Wilson discusses the restoration of a historic graveyard in Placentia Bay; Crystal Braye presents on a young man keeping the boat building tradition of Newfoundland alive; an invite to tea and a talk on baskets at The Rooms; and, a job posting for a heritage outreach officer with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Contributions by Dale Jarvis, Lisa Wilson, and Crystal Braye.

Download the pdf

Photo of Tilting by Robert Mellin

Butter on your nose - a slippery birthday tradition

The other day, I got an email from Shirley, who writes:

"When I was growing up, it was a tradition in our home that on your birthday your mother would sneak up on you and put butter on your nose to bring you good luck on your birthday. I know none of my townie friends experienced this. So, I wonder if this was something only my family did? Or if it was a outport tradition? My family had connections to Placentia Bay, Bonavista Bay, Green Bay and Corner Brook. Have you heard of this?"

I have indeed heard of it, but it isn't a tradition I'm overly familiar with, and I'd love to know if other people celebrate someone's birthday in this way, and where they are from. A quick internet search reveals a little bit of information, much of it recycled word for word from various websites. The tradition goes by a few names, such as "grease face" and "buttered noses." Another variant is referred to as being "flakied" - where a flaky pastry (notably the Passion Flakie popularized by the Canadian firm of Vachon) is rubbed in the face of the person celebrating their birthday.

The tradition clearly goes beyond Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada.  One blogger writes, "When I was growing up in the Floyd/Patrick/Carroll counties area of Virginia, it was traditional to attempt to sneak up on the birthday person and smear butter on their nose. Even our teachers in elementary school would get in on the action, going to the cafeteria and getting the butter." Another American blogger writes that "As the story goes, the butter is meant to help you slide into your new year!"


UPDATE: 14 MAY 2020

Madeline Moore, of El Cerrito, California, writes:

I was born and brought up in Providence, R.I. We children buttered each other's noses on birthdays which meant being chased around all day by a sibling with a hunk of butter on her finger. Mother did nothing more than shake her head. I have lived in California for the last 63 years. Nobody out here has heard of it. A faculty member at UC Berkeley said the custom originated in Cornwall UK. I'm now 86 and it pleases me that I'm in good company.

UPDATE: 22 JULY 2020

David Baxter, who grew up in North Carolina, writes:

I grew up in North Carolina and our tradition was putting black grease on the birthday person’s nose by sneaking up from behind as a surprise. I know of several families in NC that did the same thing. I thought it was a southern tradition, didn’t know it has its roots in Canada. None of my grandparents or parents ever told me what it was supposed to mean. I assumed that it was for good luck. My kids hated it and would run away, my wife from Indiana didn’t understand what it was all about, so we discounted it once our kids got to be teenagers. It made me a little sad to see a tradition die away, even though it was a little strange. 

If you have thoughts on birthday butter, black grease, or flakies, email me at dale@heritagenl.ca or leave a comment below.

(photo from Top 10 Unusual International Birthday Gestures)

2 Job Postings for Manuels River Hibernia Interpretation Centre

The Manuels River Hibernia Interpretation Centre (MRHIC) is a 1200 m2 facility under construction in the Town of Conception Bay South and due to open early in 2013. While its primary function is to inform visitors about the river—its geology, biology and human history—it will also operate as a community resource, with function rooms, a mini-theatre, and café and gift shop. The Centre will be operated by a small staff of full-time, part-time, and volunteer assistants, overseen by the Manuels River Natural Heritage Society (MRNHS).

The following two positions are full time. They require highly motivated individuals with strong leadership and collaborative abilities. The candidates must have the ability to engage and motivate people.

Operations Manager
The Operations Manager will be responsible to the Board of the MRNHS for the management of the MRHIC, including visitor services (exhibits, programs, gift shop, café, functions, etc.), staff supervision, accounting, building and trail maintenance, marketing and promotion. The Operations Manager will also contribute to the development of the vision and strategic direction of the Centre, ongoing fundraising activities, reporting and liaising with external sponsors.

Experience in business and people management, event planning and customer service would be desirable. Strong leadership, networking, and communication skills are essential. Previous experience in writing funding proposals would be an asset.

Education Manager
The Education Manager will be responsible for the development, promotion and delivery of educational programmes, to include curriculum-related programmes for K-12 school classes, post-secondary programmes for MUN and CNA, summer camps, and a variety of programmes for visiting community groups. The Education Manager will also be responsible for the maintenance and development of the permanent exhibits and the procurement of travelling exhibits. She/he will be assisted by a small staff of part-time and volunteer interpreters.

Experience in running educational programmes is essential. A university degree in an appropriate discipline is required. Applications for both positions should include a cover letter, résumé and the names and contact information of three references. Please send applications to arrive no later than 5 October 2012 to:

CBS Parks Commission
24 Cherry Lane, Unit 3
Conception Bay South, NL
A1W 3B3
info@cbsparkscommission.ca

An Intangible Cultural Heritage Session in Norris Point

Organized by Anita Best (contact abest@mun.ca to register).

Sunday, September 30 from 1pm - 4:30 pm, The Julia Ann Walsh Heritage
Centre, Norris Point. Cost: $15

Dale Jarvis, Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Officer will talk about ICH, what it is and how you can keep track of it in your community. Local folks will be on hand to show their ICH products. Dale will also help us to understand the logistics of planning an Oral History Project, really useful information before you dash out with your video camera or audio recorder to record Aunt Dot or Uncle Harry.

Intangible Cultural Heritage Collections in Museums - A Workshop in Trinity, NL

1:00 – 4:30 pm
Friday, October 12, 2012
Trinity, NL

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is also known as “living heritage” and it encompasses many traditions, practices and customs of a group. These can include the stories we tell, the family events we celebrate, our community gatherings, the languages we speak, the songs that we sing, knowledge of our natural spaces and our healing traditions. In this workshop participants will learn how to document ICH and living traditions in their community, support and encourage the passing on of knowledge and skills, how to digitize this material for easier access, and explore the potential of ICH as a resource for community development.

Instructor: Dale Jarvis, Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer
Enrolment Limits: Maximum of 25

Space is limited!! Register early!!

Financial assistance for transportation costs is available for MANL members: please contact the MANL office for more information. You may also visit www.museums.ca to find out more about the Canadian Museums Association Travel Bursary. 

For further information, please contact the MANL:
manl@nf.aibn.com ¨ Ph 709-722-9034 ¨ Fax: 709-722-9035

Download the pdf

Bread, boats, papers and pillow tops: The ICH Update for August

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, we present a review of the ICH workshop held in North West River, Labrador; our summer intern Joelle Carey reviews the Make and Break Festival in Bonavista; we introduce our occasional papers publication series; and Nicole Penney discusses the sewing of pillow tops by men working in the lumber woods, and how it served as a means of group socialization.

• Download the update in PDF format.

The occasional papers in ICH referenced in the newsletter can be downloaded from www.mun.ca/ich/resources.

Contributors: Dale Jarvis, Joelle Carey, Nicole Penney.

Occasional Papers in Intangible Cultural Heritage: Best practices in conservation and safeguarding of ICH

The Intangible Cultural Heritage office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is always working on one type of workshop, presentation, research project, or another. I try to post some things here on the blog, but it seems I rarely have time to go into any great detail on many of the projects we are involved with.

In order to let you know a bit more about what we are working on, and to share some of the ideas we are developing around the safeguarding and best practices for intangible cultural heritage (ICH), I've started an occasional papers publication.  So far, we have two short papers, which deal with the project-based training model we are developing for ICH projects. Thanks to Graham Blair for the design work, and to Nicole Penney and Joelle Carey, our ICH interns, for proof-reading.

Future papers to follow!

Occasional Papers in Intangible Cultural Heritage:

No. 001 - July 2012 - Project- Based Training Initiatives: A Model for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage

No 002 - August 2012 - Old Time Concerts on the Baccalieu Trail: A Project-Based Training Case Study

(photo: Baccalieu Trail project focus session, Cupids 2010)

Hay Barrack photo from Cape Anguille, Newfoundland.

In my ongoing quest to document the seemingly now-vanished tradition of hay barracks in Newfoundland, I've come across another photograph.

This one comes courtesy of John Pratt, who took this colour slide in the early 1990s around Cape Anguille, on Newfoundland's west coast. It shows the pyramidal wood roof laid on the ground, and the four support poles caught mid-twist.  Left empty and unattended, these structures quickly toppled over.

Hay barracks were once a typical technology for the storage of hay in certain regions of the province, in particular the Codroy Valley area and in the Goulds/Killbride region. If you have a memory of a structure like this, or know of a photograph, please email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call me toll free at 1-888-739-1892 ext 2.

Looking for Newfoundlanders who've worked high steel

This famous photo, Lunch atop a Skyscraper, was taken by Charles Ebbets on September 29, 1932 on the 69th floor of the RCA Building in New York during the last months of its construction. Various names have been suggested for the men in the photo, with the third man from the left having been possibly identified as Austin Lawton of King's Cove, and the fifth as Claude Stagg of Catalina.

On November 14th of this year, The Rooms museum and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is looking at presenting a live, informal talk-show style interview in the Rooms theatre on Newfoundlanders working on high steel, past and present.

Right now, I am looking for a couple people with good memories of working high steel, who might represent different generations of workers. If you know of someone who might be up for a conversation with me (Dale Jarvis) about the topic, you can call me at 739-1892 ext 2, or email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

For more on the work of Newfoundlanders working High Steel in New York and other places, check the documentary by CBC's Curtis Rumbolt: Men of Iron.

Avalon Folklore Project - working with communities to safeguard culture

We are launching new folklore project which I'm very excited about!

Since 2008, the Intangible Cultural Heritage office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) has worked to provide a broad range of training workshops throughout the province. While this approach has reached a lot of communities, there is often little opportunity for follow-up support, or on-site guidance, as community groups develop their own projects.

In response to this lack of follow-up, we have developed a project-based training program to help community groups, this year with a focus on the Avalon peninsula region.

The Avalon Folklore Project is exciting for me because I will get to work alongside a community group, from start to finish, as they develop a small local folklore project.

Communities in the area will submit ideas for projects to the foundation, which will select two projects for work in 2012.

The foundation will walk the community through the process of planning and implementing their project. We will give project-specific training and lead community-based workshops.

The training will culminate in a final presentation or community activity, where the general public will be invited to see the collected research.

We often hear about traditions that are under threat. The Avalon Folklore Project will allow us to work with communities on those parts of their culture that they feel are important to safeguard.

Interested communities can contact me toll free at 1-888-739-1892 ext 2, or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca. Priority will be given to projects where traditions are currently in danger of being lost, or which are in communities where the ICH office has not done work in the past.

Deadline for submissions is July 31st, 2012.

Avalon Folklore Project, Max Clarke's Make & Breaks, and ICH in Labrador

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador: The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador's ICH office launches its new Avalon Folklore Project, a project-based training initiative where communities can apply to work with a folklorist on local traditions under threat; Memorial University public sector folklore co-cop intern Joelle Carey interviews Max Clarke of Paradise about his love of make and break engines; the Make & Break Flotilla and Parts Swap draws closer; and the Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador offers a workshop on ICH in museums in North West River, Labrador.

Download the pdf.

Traditional Boat Launch, Trinity, NL – July 7, 2012

Henry Vokey Launches Two Masted Wooden Schooner
The Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Trinity Historical Society Inc. are pleased to announce that a Traditional Boat Launch will be taking place in Trinity, Trinity Bay, NL onSaturday, July 7, 2012. Henry Vokey, recipient of the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador, will be launching his schooner at approximately 1:00 PM (time of launch is tide dependent – we are encouraging people to arrive by 11:00 AM)

Garden Party with food and music will be held following the launch (approximate time 4:00 – 6:00 PM) at the Ball Field / Bandstand area in Trinity on Church Road. 

A historic part of our Heritage and Culture, and a possible once in a lifetime event will be witnessed. Not to be missed!

Join the Vokey Family and fellow boat enthusiasts as we celebrate Henry’s accomplishments.

Looking for supernatural stories, and poems and songs about Bay Roberts

Do you have a ghost story from the Bay Roberts area, or a memory of someone who was a wart charmer? The Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation is looking for stories, and would love to hear from you! We are interested in stories of the supernatural, as well as recitations, songs and poems about Bay Roberts. Call Cyndi toll free at; 1-888-739-1892 ext 3 or email her at cak046@mun.ca

Help wanted - The Cultural History of Jam Jams, Billy Boots, and Pineapple Crush

Purity Jam Jams, Billy Boot garbage bags, and Pineapple Crush pop have become iconic Newfoundland products, with unique ties to Newfoundland history and culture.

Morgan Murray at The Scope is trying to unravel/uncover/figure out the history of the cultural significance of these products in NL, e.g. how and why they have become so popular, and the important political, historical, and social factors that have made them, and kept them so.

If you have any information, theories, insights, or wild guesses about any of these products, please contact Morgan at morgan@thescope.ca.

Phantoms of the French Shore

Below, you will find links to Phantoms of the French Shore blogs (La Tapisserie du French Shore). They are about a French-Newfoundland tapestry project and the film based on the tapestry.

The contents on both blogs are the same; one is in English and the other in French.

http://french-newfoundland.blogspot.ca/

http://latapisseriedufrenchshore.blogspot.ca/

Fresh generated content is posted twice a week, and if you have any question, you can contact Terence Mbulaheni at terencebm@yahoo.com

Make and Break Festival, Heritage Plaques, UNESCO and Bay Roberts

It has been a busy few months for the ICH office at the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL), and we are gearing up for a very busy summer.  In this edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update, there are a few big announcements, including the accreditation of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador by UNESCO, and the launch of our 2012 Folklife Festival, which this year will take place in Bonavista on August 4th, with a celebration of Newfoundland’s iconic make and break boat engine. We also go looking for supernatural stories and local songs in Bay Roberts, and gather information about HFNL's historic plaque program.

Download the newsletter in pdf format.

"Runs on Screech" - The most awesome heritage photo you'll see this Friday

Our intern Nicole Penney is working on organizing the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador's old Registered Heritage Structure files, and came across this gem in the collections from 562-564 Water Street in St. John's.

We don't know much about the photo, only that it dates to c1940, and shows Morrissey's shop in the background. In the 1940s a Mr. Morrissey sold provisions and groceries from the store, up until 1969/1970. As for the young gentleman in the car, they are a mystery. Let us know if you have any ideas! Email ich@heritagefoundation.ca if you know anything about the car, or the men in the photo.

Read more about the history of the building in the background here.

UPDATE!

Folklorist Philip Hiscock writes:

I bet it's not as early as the 1940s. My guess is the mid-1950s.  Hairstyles seem to be mid-1950s.
The use of "kid" (around well before the 1950s) was popularised in that decade by popular songs etc.
"Screech" was hammered down as local usage in the mid-1950s when the Board of Liquor Control labelled one of its locally bottled Demerara rums "Screech." (But it had been popular as a local name for rum since at least the 1940s.)

Attention all Newfoundland Make & Break Engine Enthusiasts

Joelle Carey, our public folklore intern for this summer, has been hard at work spreading the word about our Make and Break Flotilla and Parts Swap in Bonavista this August.

You can check out the new Newfoundland Make and Break Engine Enthusiasts page on Facebook, and check out the interview she did with Ted Blades on CBC radio about the project. If you know of a working engine, email her at joelle@heritagefoundation.ca