Before the Europeans Came to Newfoundland

When Wayne and I visited The Rooms Museum in St. John's last year we saw a few exhibits with information about the Beothuk tribe of native people.

Beothuk pendants, bone and red ochre

With the widespread use of DNA testing a lot of questions are being answered these days that the archaeological record alone was unable to address, making for a more complete picture of Newfoundland before the Europeans arrived.

It now appears that multiple tribes may have arrived in Newfoundland besides the Beothuk and the Mi'kmaq over the centuries.  I recently told Wayne that the next time Ancestry is having a sale I'm buying a kit for each of us so we can contribute to the data being collected.

Newfoundland historians are sure to be excited these days as news of the remains of a pair of the Beothuk tribe are about to be returned to Canada from a Scottish museum.  They will journey to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa first before finally coming home to Newfoundland and there will likely be DNA testing performed to see if it can be determined if any Beothuk DNA traces can be found in the current Newfoundland population.

One of these persons is Demasduit, who was kidnapped by a European fur trapper in March 1819 to retaliate for an alleged theft by her tribe. Nonosabasut was killed that same year as he tried to rescue his wife, who was given the name Mary March by her English captors.

Demasduit died of tuberculosis in January 1820, and was returned to Beothuk land to be buried at Red Indian Lake. A few years later a Scottish explorer retrieved the two skulls and some grave goods, which eventually made their way to Edinburgh.  What possessed people to do such a thing?

Here's a link to a nice little story from one of my distant cousins about the Mi'kmaq, which is a separate native tribe perhaps thought to originally have come over from Nova Scotia.  Unlike the fate of the Beothuk, there is still plenty of their DNA going around!  It's an interesting topic that I'm sure I'll learn more about when we move back home.

Tacoma Art Museum and Legendary Doughnuts

This post is from a trip to Seattle that I took with Cory last spring.

It used to be cupcakes and cookies but now I find myself searching out donut shops while on the road.  There were a few recommended for the Seattle/Tacoma area, but I chose Legendary Donuts in Tacoma.

It was a bit off the beaten path, but worth the journey.  Legendary donuts indeed!

From there it was on to the Tacoma Art Museum where I saw the coolest moose ever.

Eternal Vigilance, Sherry Markovitch

I really liked the space in this art museum, there were a lot of windows and I prefer natural light.

The painting below was done by Melissa Weinman and is titled Patron Saint of Vision.  At the time she was intrigued by the stories of the saints and how the gory forms of their martyrdom became the basis for their spiritual responsibilities.

Known as the patron saint of vision, part of Saint Lucy's torture was to have her eyes plucked out.  Yuck! Disturbing as the topic is, I did enjoy the painting with my long history of work in the optical field.

And it wouldn't be an art museum in Tacoma if it didn't include some work by Dale Chihuly, right?

Blown glass is one medium that actually benefits from a darker room with the objects spotlighted.

The museum has a good representation of Native art, and for me it's always interesting to contrast the Native work of the Pacific Northwest with the work of the Southwest or the Midwest.

Gregg Deal's painting Childlike Identity is a commentary on how the racist names of sports teams misrepresent native people.  There was a whole series on this topic that was very thought provoking.

Not all the art in Tacoma is indoors, keep your eyes open for the outdoor art as well.

Welcome Figure

This work above was done by Shaun Peterson, follow the link to read a great interview conducted by the art museum.  No more hidden posts about my trip to Seattle!

The Chicago Mural

This post is an installment from a trip to Chicago in June with Katrina

While walking around Chicago with Katrina I saw a poster advertising some art exhibits at the Chicago Cultural Center, which I had visited in the past and was eager to share with her.

photograph from display

Artist Keith Haring came to Chicago in 1989 to create a 488 foot long mural with 500 Chicago public high school students.

They painted 122 panels each one 4 feet by 8 feet over the course of 5 days.  The 36 panels on display at the Cultural Center seemed immense laid side by side, I can't even imagine 122 of them!

These panels were on display at Midway Airport for years, and now that the exhibition at the Cultural Center has concluded they will be given to the Chicago Public Schools for conservation.  Apparently the other panels have already been distributed to various schools and other locations throughout the city.

Chicago residents are probably sick of seeing them over the last 29 years, but they were a new sight to me.  Haring produced more than 50 works of public art between 1982 and 1989 including the Chicago Mural.

He also created a 6 story mural banner commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty with 1,000 children in New York City and a mural painted on the western side of the Berlin Wall before its fall.

Sadly, 9 months after completing the Chicago Mural the artist died of AIDS related complications at the age of 31.

The colorful and gritty imagery in the mural was a jarring contrast to the classic architectural style of the room where it was displayed.

This building was the first Chicago Public Library, hence the CPL etched within the design above.

Gorgeous ceiling ornamentation

The large galleries that are now used for exhibits were designed to let in lots of light for folks to read.  Speaking of reading, there is a lot of bickering going on in Wisconsin between Governor Walker and his challenger Evers over who is better for education.  Walker would like to claim he has increased funding for education...but that was only after drastically slashing it years ago.  And for at least a decade the state ranks among the worst in the nation in racial equality not only in education but also for income and rate of incarceration.  Just as bad, only 40% of 8th grade students are proficient at math in Wisconsin! Yikes!  Wisconsin has the worst record in that category for the disparity between white and black students in the NATION with white students 5 times more likely to be proficient than black students.

There was another art exhibit on display that day, I'll share that tomorrow. Be patient with my sporadic postings, I've been very busy with work and plans for our relocation to Canada next year!

As Different as Chalk and Cheese

I finally get around to talking about Castle Hill National Historic Site, where the British and the French battled for control of the cod industry during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The cod on display is the real thing, just ask Chris he can probably describe the smell for you in detail.  Fortifications at Castle Hill go back to 1693.  The Basque, Spanish, Portuguese and French were fishing the area for a century before the French founded a permanent settlement in 1662 and named it Plaisance.

The fort atop the hill protected the colony from attack from British warships.  I can't even imagine warships in the harbor!  Though just a mile or two around the way by boat there were warships and planes in Argentia during World War II...I can't imagine that either!

We watched the short filmstrip which described how the fort was built and Leacey gave us a demonstration on how to chop the head off fish.

The map below was an interesting look back in time - notice the beach of Placentia which today is completely covered in residences and other buildings was mainly used for drying fish and not as a permanent settlement.

Cousin Sarah works at Castle Hill for Parks Canada and if you visit she can help you with your questions whether you ask them in French or in English!

Cousin Sarah asks Cooper if he wants to try on some period clothing

Cousin Sarah became my hero of the day when she hauled out the period costumes that are used for re-enactments.  Heck, yeah!

Cooper and Chris strike a pose

I told Cooper to get up there in the woods and let's make it look real! 

We all laughed a lot as we staged the photographs, it was so great to have a young person along to get us in a playful mood.

All that was missing was the boom of a cannon, the flash of a musket through the trees.

Even though Cooper's brother Jack was in a leg cast we even got him to put on the coat and hat and get in on the game for a few minutes.

Brothers at war!

Jack and Cooper are as different as chalk and cheese...never heard that one?  Me neither until this trip home.  Research says it's an old English phrase that likely was coined for its short and snappy alliteration.  Being a fan of alliteration I'm down with that!  The English language is full of these phrases, think of the bees knees, chump change, hoity toity, and riff raff.  I could go on all day, but hey maybe someone will add a few more in the comments section...

Anyway, due to the cast Jack had to stay behind at the Visitor Center so we tried to make our look at the fort further up the hill as quick as we could.  But it isn't a visit to Castle Hill if someone doesn't sit for a photo on the canons!

Cooper climbed up on to the stone walls that were unearthed, disassembled and rebuilt in the 1960's when this park was established.  I encouraged this foolish behavior, of course.

Honestly I'm surprised they let me near him at all, I'm a terrible influence!

We didn't get a view of "Plaisance" on that day, but I returned on a different day when the sun was out and the fog was gone to get the view that I never get enough of.

On that day I walked down the hill to Placentia just like the soldiers would have done.  The path is easy to access just to the left of the canons above, and in especially steep portions stairs have been built.  But hundreds of years ago those stairs weren't there and the soldiers would walk up and down the hill carrying supplies or going back and forth to work side jobs.  Can you imagine the leg muscles they had?

A Look Around The Rooms

We had time for a wee bit of culture while in Newfoundland and made a stop at The Rooms in St. John's where the province’s most extensive collection of artifacts, art and historical records are curated.

In addition to the exhibits The Rooms has an extensive research archive which I made use of during our visit to look up the photograph that the U.S. Navy took of my Great Grandmother's home before they tore everything down to build the base. 

Margaret Griffin's home in Marquise 1941 - image courtesy of The Rooms

Who knows what I could dig up with a little more time on my hands?  I took a quick tour through the photos of Marquise and Argentia properties and unfortunately none featured people but a few had sheep hanging out in the yard!

The view of St. John's Harbour and the Narrows was fantastic, complete with Cabot Tower atop Signal Hill off in the distance.

Inside were a variety of exhibits, including this old map print which was just beautiful to me.

A small exhibit on the art and artists of Newfoundland and Labrador lies inside. I liked the print featuring a harp seal postage stamp issued by the Newfoundland postal administration in the late 1800's.

"Black Seal" Christopher Pratt, 1970

I'm sure because it reminded me of the baby seal my Grandad gave me.  I'm a bit horrified now by the idea, but when I was small I thought it was the neatest thing ever.  Canada banned the killing of white-coated seals in 1987 and the Inuit in Labrador who still hunt seals for subsistence and to make a living never hunted them.  For more on the history of sealing in Newfoundland I found this link.

The Giant Squid on display in the museum was pretty neat. The first still photographs of one of these  huge creatures were captured in 2004, and footage was taken of one floating on the surface of the water in 2006. But researchers and cameramen had never before managed to catch a glimpse of them in the ocean abyss until 2013!

Did you know it has the largest eyes in the animal kingdom? They can grow as large as a human head, and can detect even small amounts of light in the deepest ocean.

Whaling in Newfoundland has been going on for centuries, and I also found another article about the commercial whaling industry that was interesting.  Neither seal hunting nor whaling were activities commercially pursued in our area of Placentia Bay to my knowledge.

A very large exhibit pertaining to World War One was located on the second floor. On August 8, 1914 Governor Sir Walter Davidson promised Britain that the Dominon of Newfoundland would raise a regiment of 500 men and send 1000 sailors for the war effort.

I'm not very interested in war history, but did find the ditty below amusing.

And a post card from loved ones was a reminder of what those left behind endured.

Despite the smiles in the photo below, war is hell, and in addition to the expected fighting the men suffered from hunger, dysentery, yellow jaundice, trench feet and more.

The Battle of the Somme was the Newfoundland regiment's first major engagement, and during an assault that lasted approximately 30 minutes the regiment was all but wiped out. The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is located in France and was purchased in 1921 by the people of Newfoundland, the memorial site is the largest battalion memorial on the Western Front, and the largest area of the Somme battlefield that has been preserved. Along with preserved trench lines, there are a number of memorials and cemeteries contained within the site.

Weighing salt cod, ca. 1900

There were many exhibits throughout the museum from music and social aspects of Newfoundland to the almighty cod which was the backbone of its economy.  Speaking of cod, after our look around we met up with Wayne's brother Jim and his wife Donnie for lunch at the Cafe.  I eyed my sister-in-law's lunch of cod tongues with some skepticism.  When offered a taste I politely declined, but must admit the presentation was clever.

What better way to end a visit to the museum than a traditional menu with a modern twist and a fabulous view of St. John's?  Jim volunteers at The Rooms himself and was very enthusiastic about what it has to offer.

Wayne and his brother Jim