J. D. Rogers, Newfoundland
Newfoundland by J. D. Rogers is an essential in your library of Newfoundland Mi’kmaq history. Published in 1911, it is part of A Historical Geography of the British Colonies. I…
One Man’s Journey
Early in my reading of Calvin White’s One Man’s Journey: The Mi'kmaw Revival in Ktaqmkuk, I realized how much I owe Gus White, Calvin’s father. The characteristics that made Calvin…
Marie Marguerite Benoit
It’s not often an 18th century Cape Breton woman makes the news, but Marie Marguerite Benoit has recently. Earlier in March, she was named on CBC radio in
Beothuks of Newfoundland
Lady Edith Blake did well at what was expected of a governor’s wife in late 19th century Newfoundland. But teas with local society ladies were not her priority. She preferred…
Salmon Fishing
Salmon fishing has a lure - for the fish and also for the person holding the rod. That lure brought several British naval officers to live in Bay St. George…
Sacred Bear Park
Forty-two years ago, the St. John's Evening Telegram ran a story about a proposed Mi'kmaq park on the west coast of the island. The Sept. 26, 1979 article by Terry…
Sylvester Joe
Sylvester Joe is one of the best known men in the island of Newfoundland's exploration history. He's also one of the least known. A Mi'kmaq hunter and guide from Bay…
Glenwood Tannery
37 years ago this month, the Mi'kmaq band council in the central Newfoundland town of Glenwood began operating a smoke tannery. A Gander Beacon article about the official opening is…
Gerry Penney 1951-2020
From Caul's Funeral Home, St. John's, in part: Passed away at home in St. John's on May 14, 2020. Gerald Penney, Archaeologist and Heritage Consultant. Predeceased by parents Simon and…
Caribou Drive
In his 1969 book Newfoundland, Harold Horwood recounts the story of a caribou drive in western Newfoundland in the late 1800s. He heard it in the Codroy Valley, from "an…
Stephen Gallant
This St. John's Evening Telegram article is about Stephen Gallant and his wife Elizabeth Gaudet of Stephenville, Bay St. George. From 1942, calculating from the month and day shown. That…
Jim John Tourism Ad
Jim John on the Gander River, a full page ad in MacLean's magazine May 2, 1977 issue. From the Dept. of Tourism, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, it reads in…
Beothuk Great-Grandchild
Two hundred years ago today, John Peyton of Twillingate and his party abducted a Beothuk woman, Demasduit. Her husband Nobosbawsut was killed while trying to protect her. Shortly after, her…
Newfoundland Reindeer
So what happened to the Newfoundland reindeer? The ones Mattie Mitchell helped herd down the Northern Peninsula to Millertown? The reindeer Dr. Grenfell took such great pains to bring from…
Journey to Anne Marie
Marie Rundquist writes about her journey into her family history. Not the history she heard from her mother and grandmother, although it's part of the story. The story Ms. Rundquist…
Mattie Mitchell, Response
Good response to Mattie Mitchell story Vignettes of the West, by Don Morris (Apr. 11, 1992) I was pleasantly surprised by the response to the two-part series on the story…
Mattie Mitchell, Reindeer
The unique 400-mile 'reindeer drive' Vignettes of the West, Don Morris - Mar. 14 1992 (Part 2 of Mr. Morris' columns on Mattie Mitchell) Newfoundland's most noted Micmac Indian, Mattie…
Mattie Mitchell, Buchans
The amazing career of Mattie Mitchell - Vignettes of the West, by Don Morris Mattie Mitchell was a Micmac Indian with strong western Newfoundland connections. It was he who, in…
Sea-trouting at Main Gut
In July 1835, Archdeacon Edward Wix joined a night fishing party at the Main Gut, Stephenville Crossing, and described it in his diary. In his Vignettes of the West column,…
Terrenceville Mi’kmaq
(Guest post by Devon Griffin) This story is about Terrenceville, Fortune Bay, about 140 years ago. It was told to the late Esther Mary Cox by her grandmother and namesake,…
Fortune Bay mtDNA
5A guest post by Devon Griffin Mary Park Brooks John G. Edgar provided me with details of Mary Park Brooks from his research. She was born about 1758 in the…
French Shore Settlers
The First Settlers On The French Shore by Rev. Canon J. T. Richards, O.B.E, to The Newfoundland Historical Society (The Newfoundland Quarterly, Sept. and Dec. 1953) The march of the…
Louis John
Newfoundland archivist and historian Don Morris wrote about Louis John in his Vignettes of the West column in The Western Star. The photocopy I have of the article is difficult…
Gander Bay NL
Decks Awash, in 1983, published an issue about Gander Bay and Hamilton Sound. Below are the pages about Charles Francis of Clarke's Head in Gander Bay. He was a Mi'kmaw…
Genevieve Jane Duffenais
Dear readers, I need your help. I am looking for the parents of Genevieve Jane Duffenais or Duffney. She married George Hynes. They lived in the Gravels on the Port…
Fortune Bay NL
Devon Griffin wrote the following about Fortune Bay and the family of Elizabeth Saunders. He sent it as a comment on Newfoundland Mi'kmaq Family History. But with so much information…
Hunger Strike 1983
Early morning, April 21st 1983, St. John's. Atlantic Place offices were just starting to wake up. Thirty-one Mi'kmaq men and women from Conne River went upstairs to the RAND offices.…
Colombe Brothers
The Colombe brothers of Shallop Cove, Fred and Frank, died exactly two years apart. On October 9, 1915, Fred died of wounds received at Gallipoli. On October 9, 1917, Frank…
Shallop Cove
A 1980 interview with Nathaniel Adolph White, 1896-1987, of Shallop Cove, St. George's. It was part of a genealogy and community history research project. I have only a tape transcript…
Nathaniel White
Looking through old papers, I found a summary of a 1980 interview research assistant Joyce Blanchard conducted with Nathaniel White of Shallop Cove in Bay St. George. Mr. White, born…
Terms of Union
"What fair and equitable basis may exist for federal union of Newfoundland and Canada?" Seventy years ago, Newfoundland decided to ask Ottawa that question. Two years later, they'd sorted it…
First Nations Books
Here are some books that are valuable for anyone wanting to know more about First Nations and the history and process of colonization within a land. That land might be…
Wartime Foresters
"The King's Government call for lumber men and all skilled workmen not eligible for the Regiment or the Royal Naval Reserve for service in the forests of the United Kingdom."…
Flat Bay, Newfoundland
The Mi'kmaq community of Flat Bay in Bay St. George is on YouTube. Below is a 16 minute documentary about the west coast Newfoundland village (Feb. 2017). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIF_CJ7TMnU You can also…
Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont Hamel
Below is a list of the Newfoundland Regiment soldiers killed at Beaumont Hamel on July 1, 1916. There are many more; those killed in the lead-up to the battle, those…
Mary Francis Webb
Mary Francis Webb was a midwife, one of the best known and most respected on Newfoundland's west coast. She was also a healer using traditional Mi'kmaq medicines. She was a…
Arias for All Seasons
Pillorikput Inuit (Blessed are the People): Inuktitut Arias for All Seasons is a cd of beautiful music. Soprano Deantha Edmunds-Ramsey, tenor Karrie Obed and the Innismara Vocal Ensemble sing sacred…
Mi’kmaq Images
Ruth Holmes Whitehead's new book Niniskamijinaqik, Ancestral Images: The Mi'kmaq in art and photography is beautiful. If you are interested in Mi'kmaq history, it is also essential. It puts faces…
Iry LeJeune
In James Lee Burke's novel Cadillac Jukebox, a New Orleans mob guy brings a gift to Detective Dave Robichaux. A jukebox filled with 45s of classic Cajun recordings from the…
The Acadians: Review
Bill Smallwood takes a complicated period of history and makes it more complicated - and that's good. The Acadians, the first novel in his Abuse of Power series starts in…
A Grenfell Mat
At the annual Sussex Flea Market in Princess Louise Park you can find almost anything. But a Grenfell hooked mat was probably the last thing I expected to find. It…
Frissell’s The Viking
The Newfoundland Museum, when still on Duckworth Street, had a small collection of films to screen for visitors. The first one I ever showed was The Viking. I had never…
Ancestry Search
Thirty-three years ago I started doing Newfoundland Mi’kmaq genealogies. Over the years, I’ve added and corrected information and marked changes in families. This weekend, I sadly updated the database with…
Tempting Providence TNL
If you’re near London Ont. you’ve got a couple days left to see a grand play at the Grand Theatre. Tempting Providence, by Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador, runs until Friday…
Newfoundland Mi’kmaq Books
The telling of a place often is told through the people who make up the place. Conversely, the telling of a family can be told through the place they lived.…
A Tale of the Sea etc.
In January 1883, a dory was lost at sea off the south coast of Newfoundland. On it were Howard Blackburn and Tommy Welsh. They became separated from their schooner in…
A Tale of the Sea
The Newfoundland Quarterly Vol. XII-No. 3 DECEMBER, 1912 40 cents per year Howard Blackburn and Thomas Welch - A Tale of the Sea By The Right Hon. Sir Edward Morris,…
Newfoundland Mi’kmaq
Newfoundland Mi'kmaq Post Excerpts J. D. Rogers, Newfoundland (Aug. 27/24) Newfoundland by J. D. Rogers is an essential in your library of Newfoundland Mi’kmaq history. Published in 1911, it is…
Drifting into Doom: Book
It was a dark and stormy night when I began reading Earl Pilgrim’s Drifting into Doom: Tragedy at Sea. Winter rain blew at the windows and tree branches hit the…
Musée Acadien PEI
If you have a drop of Acadian blood in your veins or if you just enjoy the distinctive sound of an Acadian fiddle, a place for you to go is…
Qalipu Band of the Mi’kmaq Nation
Monday it was announced: Mi’kmaq people of Central and Western Newfoundland are now members of the Qalipu band under the Indian Act. It’s been 39 years since they began politically…
Newfoundland Mi’kmaq Family History & Genealogy
The internet is a good place to find out about your family history. Lots and lots of genealogy websites and resources. Unfortunately, it ain’t as easy as the tv ads…