Monday, August 22, 2016

Twillingate, Newfoundland 8/18-19/2016


The lighthouse in Twillingate is set on some beautiful cliffs.  Built in 1876, the house and light tower were connected by an interior tunnel to keep the light keeper out of the weather.  The colors of the water were absolutely stunning.

Within the city of Twillingate is the Twillingate museum.  The museum is housed in a former 1915 Anglican rectory.    The museum housed lot of local artifacts including information on Twillingate's most famous resident, Georgina Stirling, said to be the Nightingale of the North.  She was a promising Opera singer whose stage name was Marie Toulinquet.  Marie.

The Prime Berth Fishing Heritage Center we found to be a bit disorganized.  That said, the owner took on a 3 year project of  taking a beached Sei whale, removing all the flesh and carefully piecing her back together again.  It was a fascinating story, and straight from one of the men that helped with this huge task.  From what he shared, it was a pretty smelly task as well.

The Beothuk Interpretive Center was our favorite find in near Twillingate.  The Beothuk Indians have been documented as being in Newfoundland and Labrador as late as 7500 years ago.  Unlike other Indian tribes,  the Beothuk were not willing to  trade with the Europeans.  In the early years, the Europeans only came in the summers to fish the Newfoundland waters.  The Beothuk quickly realized they did not need to trade.  They would scour the abandoned camps when the Europeans returned during the winter.  The Beothuk were great at re-purposing.  They took iron nails left behind and fashioned them into metal arrows and scrappers for animal hides.  When the Caribou did their migration, the Beothuk built fences along the river where the Caribou crossed, forcing them into a narrow area, where the Beothuk would spear them while they crossed in the water.  The Beothuk sadly were destroyed by the Europeans.  The Europeans caught them for slaves, drove them into the mainland, away from their food source (the water) and brought numerous diseases that they had no immunity to.  The last know Beothuk was Shanawdithit who was found in 1823 staving and sick at the age of twenty.  She lived another six years in St. John's where she died in 1829 of tuberculosis.  

We were impressed by how the Beothuk adapted to their changing situations.  One of the many things we learned was how at birth they would begin to coat their bodies with red ochre.  While it was thought to also have some ceremonial purpose, it is believed that this coating kept them safe from biting insects, the sun and also served to keep them warm.

We finished up our visit to Twillingate celebrating with the locals, the group Sweet Peas and toutans and tea.  Sweet Peas is a local group of 7 ladies that have been playing together for 24 years. It was another fun night of Newfoundland Folk music and Toutons and tea too!  Toutons are fried bread dough with fresh jam or molasses.  They tasty and a common Newfoundland treat. Oh, and if you didn't know an ugly stick is a traditional Newfoundland musical instrument made out of household items and things from one's shed.  It typically has a mop handle, bottle caps that rattle and is connected to a boot that does the stomping.

Newfoundland Trivia: Newfoundland has it's own time zone.  It is 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic Time and 90 Minutes ahead of the Eastern time zone.

Long Point Lighthouse (1876)
Twillingate, Newfoundland
View from trail- Long Point Lighthouse
Twillingate, Newfoundland
View from trail- Long Point Lighthouse
Twillingate, Newfoundland
Foggy Morning
Twillingate, Newfoundland
Twillingate Museum
Twillingate, Newfoundland
 
Twillingate Museum
Twillingate, Newfoundland
Sei Whale
Prime Berth Fishing Heritage Center
Twillingate, Newfoundland
Baleen from Sei whale
Prime Berth Fishing Heritage Center
Twillingate, Newfoundland
Re-purposed iron nail into an arrowhead
Beothuk Interpretative Center
Boyd's Cove
Arrow heads at the top are 500 years old, at the bottom they are 1000 years old
Beothuk Interpretative Center
Boyd's Cove
Sweet Pea, demonstrating Mummering
Twillingate, Newfoundland
Sweet Peas Band with the Audience helping out on the 'ugly sticks'
Twillingate, Newfoundland


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