June 13, 2004
Page 11
The Sunday Independent
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Tilting towards tradition Fogo Island residents hold on to the past, but slowly change to meet today’s economic and social realities
R
ita Reardon and Phillip Foley sit on the doorstep of Rita’s Convenience in Tilting, Fogo Island, overlooking immaculate homes, small fenced-in gardens, restored stages, and the small inlet the town is built around. There are a handful of pastures of sheep to one side; a Newfoundland pony grazes in a yard not far away. There are virtually no boarded-up houses or litter to be seen. On the other side of the community is a fish plant, quiet these days. Beyond the plant’s roof, the horizon is dotted with icebergs — 38, according to Foley. The community, declared a designated heritage district in 2003 — the first in the province — has changed in the past few years, undergoing a renaissance of sorts with the helping hands of federal funding, increased awareness of tourism potential, and community pride. Reardon points to a notice on the wall beside the door of the shop. Heritage workshops are offered regularly, giving hints to residents on how to renovate or repair, according to agreed-upon standards. Stages and wharves are being rebuilt and repainted; signs featuring historical notes have been put up around town. There’s a new museum; the community’s first bed and breakfast is scheduled to open this summer.
Since architect Robert Mellin’s book, Tilting — a non-fiction account of the architecture and people of Tilting — was published a year ago, and took this year’s Winterset Award, Tilting has been receiving even more attention on the provincial and national scene. Foley, providing a constant stream of facts and anecdotes and plans for the future, gives a tour up to a nearby graveyard, fixed up a couple of years ago. Many of the headstones are 150 years or more — cracked and wind-worn, but legible. The view from the small cemetery is spectacular — there’s a herd of caribou visible on the barrens. Rocks lap into deep blue water; grass pokes skyward near shards of snow. Foley, walking from headstone to headstone, speaks about a reporter-photographer who came to live in Tilting for a full month last summer. He runs into his nearby house to fetch a copy of the magazine featuring the resulting story. Tilting, unlike other communities on the island, is an Irish-Catholic settlement — the visiting journalist couldn’t believe how much it reminded him of home. This town of a few hundred may be under the tourism spotlight a bit these days, but there is a handful of other communities on
the island, each with their own history, attractions and, in some cases, dialect. The small fishing towns weren’t connected by roads until the 1960s — about the same time electricity was brought to the island — which enabled them to keep their personalities, even today. Fogo island, off Newfoundland’s northeast coast, is 25 kilometre long and 14 km wide. It’s only accessible by ferry, a 40minute run scheduled a few times a day. Once inhabited by Beothuks, the island was settled by Europeans around 1700. The story of modern-day Fogo Island is similar to that of many outports in Newfoundland. It was, and is, a group of communities that live from the sea. Cod was always abundant off the coast, and the island maintained a decent standard of living. In the 1960s, islanders were given the option to follow Joey Smallwood’s provincial resettlement program and move to larger centres in Newfoundland. Residents today credit deep roots and pride for their refusal to let go of their homes. Like so much of Newfoundland and Labrador, everything changed with the destruction of the cod stocks. The dark days of the early ’90s have been slowly brightening, thanks to a substantial crab fishery, a
Story by Stephanie Porter / Photos by Paul Daly
new focus on tourism, and the sheer determination of those who decide, every year, to hold on. “There’s no doubt, still, the fishery is outport Newfoundland, it is Fogo,” says Andrew Shea, mayor of the Town of Fogo. “You know, at least when the economy was bleak in the ’70s and ’80s, we still had the raw materials to work with. If the crab fishery does taper off, there’s not much left for us to turn to.” Ron Johnson is the new general manager of the Fogo Island Co-operative Society. Incorporated in 1967, the co-op is still strong on the island, with about 1,150 members — half fishermen, half plant workers. The importance of the co-op is obvious, considering the population of Fogo Island now hovers somewhere below 5,000 — about a fifth of the population are members of the organization. “The future of the co-op, and indeed Fogo Island, hinges on the availability of the resources,” Johnson says, agreeing with Shea’s statement. “Crab is the mainstay at this time, and keeping the island alive will depend heavily on all residents, especially fishers and plant workers, pulling together in Turn to page 12