CANADA: Newfoundland

From deepest China, Paul Simon reports: "My mother is a Newfie and immigrated to the US in 1945 and thus was technically never Canadian. This fact has confused the State Department's diplomatic security people when doing my background clearances. Once, unable to make an investigator understand the nuances of British sovereignty, change to Canadian rule, etc. I finally yelled "Well, considering the hostile and suspicious relations that existed between the US, Canada, and Britain in 1945, and persist to this day, I can see why you are so worried!".

Newfoundland once had its own silver coins, stamps, railroad, police (the Newfoundland Ranger Force) and other trappings of autonomy. They joined Canada in a plebiscite in which several alternatives were not allowed (such as joining the USA and independence). The English they speak is as unusual as Dwight describes; I've heard it claimed that Newfies have been so isolated that the brogue is actually akin to much earlier versions of English, and has heavy Scots and Irish colorations (some other scholars dispute this). All I know is that my own mother still remains occasionally incomprehensible to me!

In any event, the place has a fascinating history from the Beothuks (the only native American tribe systematically exterminated by settlers) to Leif Ericson, John Cabot, and the old French capital at Placentia, to the trans-atlantic cable, Marconi's wireless, WWII and the collapse of the fisheries.

Recent popular novels such as The Bird Artist and The Shipping News have resulted in some new interest. The ultimate ultra-detailed history and description is the immense, 6-volume Book of Newfoundland (various authors, Newfoundland Book Publishers, 1937)".

My comment: We have touched on only one of the three Canadian maritime provinces, the other two being Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. I believe I was in Newfoundland once when on a trans-Atlantic flight my plane stopped at night in Gander. The geography of the Island of Newfoundland is fascinating. In the southeast is Avalon Peninsula, linked to the main part of the island by a narrow isthmus. The present capital, St. John's, is on the east coast of Avalon, the old French capital, Placentia, to which Paul refers, is on the west coast. The double island of St. Pierre et Miquelon, just off the coast, is still under French sovereignty, an outpost of la Francophonie. Spanish and Portuguese place names of ports are testimony to the importance of cod fishing for Catholic countries. Somewhere once in Spain I rushed into a grocery store and hit my head against a dried cod hanging from the doorway. It was like being hit on the head. Strange. I had forgotten this nasty encounter, but as I was writing these words, the incident and the pain suddenly emerged from the depths of my memory. Now, where was that? I forget. I can remember only the dried cod, doubtlessly once swimming happily off Newfoundland.

Ronald Hilton - 7/19/02