Newfoundland trout basket from Tors Cove

Thanks to Anne Manuel at the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, I've got more photos for my current obsession project on traditional basket making in the province.

This one is a woven trout basket, made by Gladys Linegar, who I believe now lives in Tors Cove. When I put out the original call for names of people who are making baskets, several people mentioned the Linegars who sell baskets along the road in Tors Cove.

I like the blending here of tradition and modernity, with the basket being made of traditional materials with the shoulder strap being made of seat belt material. A few more pictures of the basket below.

If you know of a basket maker in the province, or have a basket I can photograph, give me a call at 1-888-739-1892 ext 2, or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

Volunteers needed for Mummers Festival! #newfoundland

We need your help! Volunteers play a vital role in these events. Even the smallest efforts have big effect. We hope you find as much joy as we do by participating in this community event!

Below is a list of roles we need filled. To sign up, please send an email to:

volunteer@mummersfestival.ca

Be sure to include:

• your full name
• your phone number
• the role(s) you would like to take on
• your email address

Many thanks! We look forward to working with you.

Hobby Horse Training:Learn how to make a hobby horse and then help us as a trainer. You will show others how to make them at our workshops. You will need to attend our training session on Tuesday, November 29 from 7:00-9:30 pm. Then sign up for at least 1 of our 3 Hobby Horse Workshops: Dec. 3 (10am-2pm), Dec. 6 (7-9:30pm), Dec. 10 (10am-2pm). *If you have made a hobby horse before, you can skip the training session.

Postering:This one requires many hands! We REALLY need help with this one by putting up posters and distributing postcards. We need help with the following areas: Throughout St. John’s, Mount Pearl, Torbay, Flatrock, Pouch Cove, Portugal Cove/St. Philips, Bell Island, CBS, Goulds, Southern Shore, Placentia/Argentia, Conception Bay North. This will happen late November/early December.

Materials Collecting:Help us gather up the needed materials for our workshops. You will need a car for this one. We have a list of items and locations for pick up. This will be ongoing between now and mid-December.

Sign Making:Help us paint and design various signs for the Festival. This will be ongoing between now and mid-December.

Parade Marshals:We need mummer marshals at our Rig Up and Parade. Various tasks include: setting up clothing stations, offering directions and information, monitoring the parade as we move along. Marshals will be briefed on Parade Day (Dec. 17) at 11:30 am.

Mill lunch basket from Botwood, Newfoundland

As part of our new project on traditional basket making, today I met up with Kristin Harris Walsh, who owns a mill lunch basket made in Botwood. She acquired the basket from Jane Burns, who researched mill baskets as part of her folklore thesis.  You can download a copy of Jane's article on mill baskets in pdf format here.

I've included a few more examples of this Botwood mill basket below. If you know of someone still making this type of basket, or have an example you'd let me photograph, you can email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Moravian architecture slides added to Memorial's Digital Archives Initiative

We are in the process of adding a series of scanned photographic slides to the ICH Inventory on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative. The Moravian Architecture of Labrador collection is from folklore thesis fieldwork I did along Labrador's north coast in the summer of 1995. At the moment, there are photos from Hopedale, North West River, and Happy Valley, with more photos to be added shortly from Nain, OKaK, Hebron, and beyond. All photos were digitized by DAI staffer Chris Mouland.

Living Deadwood: Imagination, Affect, and the Persistence of the Past.

23 November, 2011 · 7pm
Memorial University,  Bruneau Centre, IIC 2001

Dr. Rebecca Johnson will speak on "Living Deadwood: Imagination, Affect, and the Persistence of the Past." Edward Said argued that stories about the past tell us less about that past than about cultural attitudes in the present. In this presentation, Rebecca Johnson turns to popular culture to explore that observation. We will consider the place of imagination, with its structures of feeling, in our current legal, social and economic ordering. 

Dr. Johnson uses the HBO TV show Deadwood as a point of entry to explore and re-consider the affective emotional investments that help sustain persisting colonial relationships in our contemporary legal, social, and economic orders. 

The George M. Story Lecture in Humanities is co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President (Research) and the Office of the Dean of Arts. It was established to honor the memory of Dr. George M. Story, a scholar of international repute and one of the editors of the Dictionary of Newfoundland English.

Baskets, Belbin's, The Battery, and more.

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, we go looking for traditional basket makers; Mel Squarey interviews Chris Belbin about the history of Belbin's Grocery; a new cell phone oral history project is launched in The Battery; and Tales of Town returns to The Rooms Theatre, with memories of Christmas past.

Download the newsletter in pdf format

Intangible Cultural Heritage Podcast - A Good Boat!

In the late 1970s an American folklorist, David Taylor, conducted a series of interviews in the Trinity Bay area while researching his Memorial University folklore thesis, "Boatbuilding in Winterton: The Design, Construction and Use of Inshore Fishing Boats in a Newfoundland Community".

In "A Good Boat!" - the first intangible cultural heritage podcast - we present short clips of two of those interviews.

The first, dating from March 22, 1979 is part of Dr. Taylor’s interview with Mr. Lionel Pearcey, who was born December 8, 1918, in Winterton, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Mr. Pearcey lived most of his life in Winterton, although he would spend time away from home working in mines, as a fisher, and as a carpenter. In the interview, Mr. Pearcey discusses different types of boats, and explains the difference between a speedboat and a trap boat.

The second clip, recorded in Winterton on August 15, 1979, is part of an interview with Mr. Herbert Harnum. Mr Harnum was born November 30, 1919 in Winterton, where he worked as a fisherman with his family. In this clip, Mr. Harnum describes the qualities of a good boat.

To listen to David Taylor’s full interviews with Mr Harnum, Mr Pearcey, and other traditional Newfoundland boatbuilders, visit Memorial University’s Digital Archive Initiative online at collections.mun.ca.

• Download the podcast in MP3 format
• Listen to a streaming audio version of the podcast.

Making Hobby Horses: Prepping for the 2011 Mummers Festival

This week, I taught two train-the-trainer Hobby Horse workshops here in St. John's. One was for the Arts Work conference, for teachers from across the province. The second was for MacMorran Community Centre, who plan on running hobby horse workshops for interested people in the neighbourhood.

Both sessions went extremely well, with a lot of laughter, and some gorgeous hobby horses.  I'll be adding some more hobby horse instructions to the Memorial University ICH page soon, but in the meantime, here are a few shots of our new hobby horse builders in action.

Remember, Remember: Bonfire Night Memories at The Rooms

Coffee and Culture at The Rooms
November 3, 2011 @ 2:30pm

Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night, was a tradition looked forward to with great anticipation in many communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly by young people. Faced with concerns about fire safety and vandalism, the tradition faded, though it is now seeing a bit of a revival. At this special Coffee and Culture, graduate students in Dr. Jillian Gould's Public Folklore course at Memorial University present oral histories with some of the people they've interviewed who have warm memories of Bonfire Night from years past.

Coffee and Culture programs are included with the cost of admission to The Rooms.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Bonfire Night!

One of my favourite Newfoundland holiday's is fast approaching: Bonfire Night! Celebrated on November 5th, Bonfire Night is one of those traditions that has faded somewhat in recent years, with concerns about vandalism and fire safety. In 2010, however, over forty communities across Newfoundland and Labrador hosted official town bonfires, indicating rather clearly that the tradition is far from moribund.

The photo above was taken on Bonfire Night in Carbonear in 2010. Carbonear is one of the communities participating again in this year's Festival on Fire, and their community bonfire will start at 6:30 PM at the community Recreation Complex. Hot chocolate and marshmallows will be served!

To learn more about Bonfire Night, listen to some of the interviews on Memorial University's Digital Archive Initiative.

In the hills above town: Tea and tales in Pippy Park

7:30pm
Thursday, November 3rd
North Bank Lodge, Nagle's Place
Pippy Park, St. John's

The Pippy Park Heritage Committee and Friends of Pippy Park have organized "Tea and Tales in Pippy Park". Join them at North Bank Lodge to hear stories and remembrances of life, living, and working in Pippy Park.

I'll be moderating the event, and there will be opportunity for you to share your own stories of Pippy Park. Or you can just relax by the fire and enjoy the tales!