2011-2012 WILLOWBANK STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
Doug Mackay spent the summer working in Conche, Newfoundland.
Discover his Experience
I worked as a bilingual interpretative guide for the French Shore Historical Society, in Conche, Newfoundland. I provide tours to visitors of the French Shore Tapestry, which is loosely based on the famous Bayeux Tapestry. Two artists and a dozen women from Conche designed and hand-stitched a 222 foot long linen tapestry that uses images and primary source text to depict the history and lore of Newfoundland's French Shore, from the beginnings of time to the present day. Ambitious, no? They also have a new Centre for Textile Arts, which works to promote and preserve traditional local craft skills.
Conche is a fishing village of nearly 200 people located on the Eastern coast of Newfoundland's northern peninsula, and about an hour south of l'Anse-aux-Meadows (the Viking settlement and National Historic Site). European, and particularly French, fishermen came to this area to catch and salt cod for more than four hundred years. Since the moratorium in 1991, Conche's population has been dwindling and the remaining residents have had to redefine themselves in order to survive as a community. The French Shore Historical Society, including the Tapestry, is central to this process of revitalization.
The tapestry along with the other exhibits in the French Shore Interpretation Centre, are housed in a former Grenfell Mission nursing station. The Grenfell Mission was instrumental in providing healthcare (and more) to many isolated communities in Newfoundland. Countless people visit the Interpretation Centre and tell me stories of getting bandaged, stitched, or fixed up by Joan Cattell, the nurse-in-residence of the old Grenfell Mission in Conche. Moreover, the Tapestry is so long that it snakes its way around the centre, and in order for it to be adequately displayed, the French Shore Historical Society needs to expand the building. So here is an historic property of great importance to the community that has been adapted for a new use, and that requires historically sensitive intervention.
There are a number of archaeological sites around Conche, reflecting the area's use over the centuries by Inuit, Innu and First Nations peoples, as well as European fishermen and settlers. Archaeologists from Memorial University, with help and support from the French Shore Historical Society, are currently searching for evidence of French fishing operations mentioned by Jacques Cartier in 1541. The team has uncovered incredible artifacts dating to the 1600's, including corpses, bread ovens, shoes, musket balls, fish processing areas and more. I was fortunate enough to spend two weeks digging with the team, learning the ins and outs of archaeology as well as the history of the region from their perspective. Today, I even built a dry stone retaining wall to slow down soil erosion where archaeological excavations took place close to the beach.
I have also met a number of people working in heritage related sectors, from tourism, to the arts, politicians, academics, foundations that support local community development and economic sustainability, as well as a group working to restore/conserve an old cemetery on an abandoned island. The Grey Islands' population was resettled to the mainland in 1965, causing their cemetery to fall into disrepair. I spent three days documenting the site and headstones, searching for graves and clearing forty-five years of overgrowth. We also spent this time discussing the goals and challenges of this project, from headstone repair to fundraising. All that was left of the church next door were the concrete pillars it once stood on, and we talked about reusing them as corner posts in the new fence of the cemetery. I have learned a lot from this experience and I think I was able to offer valuable insights and raise relevant questions with everyone involved. I am even hopeful that I may get a future job from this...
Generally, my summer in Newfoundland has given me a better sense of how a community can utilize its heritage and cultural resources in order to sustain itself. Also, I have seen first hand some of the sought after skills out there in the real world...
Some of the following amazing photos were taken by my co-worker, Sara Gardiner.
The blue building in the foreground is the French Shore Interpretation Centre, a former Grenfell Mission Station, as well as the new Centre for Textile Art
Doug with locals and archaeologists from Memorial University
The beautiful tapestry
Doug MacKay
The incredible Newfoundland landscape
