Department of Folklore Field School Presentation - Work in Cupids

In the second week of September Dale, Heather, and I spent several days in Cupids with the new folklore students. Each year Memorial University's Department of Folklore holds an intensive three-week field school for the incoming MA and PhD students to focus on fieldwork techniques. This year the students were in the community of Cupids, Conception Bay North and they focused on occupational or workplace folklore.

Dale describing good interview techniques.

During the students' first week in Cupids, Dale spent two days teaching them interview techniques, showing them the basics of working with recording equipment, and doing a staged interview. I also gave a short presentation with suggestions of how to use the material collected in oral history interviews for blogs, articles, audio and video clips, booklets, etc.

Gerard and Emma taking field notes during the Targa Newfoundland Races.

Heather and I also joined the students in class to learn more about fieldwork techniques and how to take better field notes with folklorist Bonnie Sunstein. Bonnie teaches nonfiction writing and ethnographic research at the University of Iowa and gave the students a presentation on how to take field notes and how to work with the field notes taken to produce a piece of data that can be used in future writing. She stressed the need to be descriptive and suggested the students do double entry notes - using one side to describe the situation and the other to describe their feelings and reactions to the situation.

After the students classes in research, writing, and field techniques they went out into the field and conducted their own interviews and research. This Thursday September 29 the students will be presenting their research results to the community. This event is open to the public and everyone is invited to come out and learn more about work in Cupids!

~Terra Barrett

Cupids Workshop - What's in a Name?

This Thursday, June 23rd, residents of Cupids will start to map out what their heritage means to them, with a little help from folklorist Dale Jarvis.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, our living heritage is rich and diverse. It includes historic buildings and places, ballad singing, snowshoe-making, accordion playing, knitting, mummers and jannies, berry picking, boat building, and much more. We tell stories, make clothes, build stages, shear sheep, and spin yarn. We have a complex knowledge of place, the seasons, and the movements and patterns of animals from moose to cod fish. If we lose these important parts of our living heritage, we will also lose important resources that can keep our communities going culturally, economically and socially. But where do we start?

Dale Jarvis, folklorist with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, will be leading a community conversation about historic places, trails, old stories, place names, traditions, and local knowledge.

Come for a cup of tea, and tell us what matters to you in Cupids. It will be a FREE and FUN community workshop with snacks and door prizes, sponsored by Cupids Historical Society Inc.

Thursday June 23rd
Legacy Hall, Cupids Legacy Centre
7:30-9:00pm

Join us for "The Fishing Grounds of Cupids" sharing session

On Wednesday February 11th at 7 pm, the Cupids Legacy Centre will be hosting a sharing session on "The Fishing Grounds of Cupids". Please join us and bring along your stories and knowledge of traditional fishing in the Cupids area.

We look forward to seeing you and hearing about your fishing experiences!

Wednesday night Root Cellar talk and tour in Cupids

This Wednesday, September 24th, myself and folklorist Crystal Braye will be hosting an event all about root cellars at the Cupids Legacy Centre, at 7pm.  The event will include a tour of two cellars at the Cupids archaeological site, a presentation on root cellars, and a discussion of local traditions around root cellars and food preservation. Tickets are $8 at the door, and include light refreshments after the talk and tour!

See you in Cupids! - Dale

Headstone Rubbing Workshop

Workshop participant outlining the symbols on the headstone.

On Friday July 18th Lisa and I geared up and drove to Cupids for the second annual Headstone Rubbing Workshop. It was a beautiful day for a drive to Cupids and it was both of our first experiences at the Cupids Legacy Centre. Although we didn’t have much of an opportunity to explore the centre it looked wonderful.

Participants rubbing one of the older headstones in the cemetery.

Located next to the Cupids Legacy Centre was the Cupids United Church and cemetery. After Lisa’s introduction to the practice of headstone rubbing, and ideas of which stones to choose we headed to the cemetery. Lisa did a demonstration of the process which involved taping a thick paper over a headstone and using charcoal to outline the shape of the headstone and wording on the headstone.

These sisters chose a husband and wife's headstones to do their rubbings.

It was my first experience with headstone rubbing and I found the technique very methodical. It was interesting to see people’s different approaches to the very hands on process. Some people were looking to uncover the words on headstones while others were interested in taking their time and enjoying the practice.   

Almost done!

It was a great workshop and participants left with a greater knowledge of the practice, some information on resources for information on genealogy, and their own headstone rubbing.  It was a beautiful way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Headstone Rubbing in Action!

If you have two minutes to spare, please watch this video showing the artful hands of our headstone rubbing participants! This event took place on July 18, 2014 as a collaboration between the HFNL and Cupids Legacy Centre.  It was a great day in Cupids--we had a good turn-out and lots of fun learning about cemetery documentation under blue skies. This short was recorded and put together by Lisa Wilson, who facilitated the workshop. Accompanying music is Gerard Chaytor of Conche, NL, on accordion.

Also, please stay tuned to see photos of the event, which will be posted in the near future.

Cupids Headstone Documentation Workshop

If you are in Cupids this upcoming Friday, you might considering joining us for the HFNL's second annual Headstone Rubbing Workshop! This session will be in partnership with Cupids Legacy Centre.

This workshop is aimed at teaching best practices for documenting headstones in historic cemeteries. We will cover the art of making rubbings, reasons to use this method for headstone documentation, basics of discovering headstone symbology, and how to give attention and respect to our historic cemeteries without doing damage to the stone artifacts.

You will walk away with at least one headstone rubbing that you have made yourself, as well as some knowledge about the importance of cemetery conservation.

Note: Charcoal can be messy so please remember to dress in clothes you don't mind getting dirty.  All materials provided but you may wish to bring a pillow, knee pads, or a stool.

Date: Friday, July 18
Time: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Admission: $15
Facilitator: Lisa Wilson, Heritage Outreach Officer, Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland Labrador
Pre-registration required, please contact Cupids Legacy Centre at (709) 528-1610


*All outdoor events are weather dependent. An alternate date will be set in the case of wet conditions. For updates call 528-1610, or check facebook or twitter.*

Nan's Cookbook: Tea and Talk

Nan’s Cookbook

Tea & Talk

Friday, March 21, 2014

3-5 p.m.

Cupids Legacy Centre

368 Seaforest Drive, Cupids

Do you have your nan’s recipe cards? Did your mother keep a scrapbook of her favourites? Do you reminisce about that old copy of the Cream of the West Cookbook with the comments and changes written all over its pages?  Bring your old recipe books and cards, and join us for some tea, buns, and memories of cookbooks and cooking.

Free event, please RSVP to Sarah

sarah@heritagefoundation.ca

1-888-739-1892 ex. 5