Tales from St Anthony Part XIV -- Cultural sensitivities

To Newfie or not to Newfie, that is the question and one whose answer is far from being simple and straightforward.

Australians suffer a rare genetic disposition that propels them to shrink everything to its lowest common diction denominator ; the term reductio ad absurdum was originally penciled onto Australia’s coat of arms but it was shortened to just Australia – true story.

Incidentally does anyone else find it strange the phrase on the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom is in French? I would have surely just gone with God and my right, rather than the French translation, Dieu et mon droit.

Their sensitivity to pre-Revolution aristocracy means the French haven’t bothered with a heraldic coat of arms, however if one existed I am almost certain it wouldn’t be in English, unless it was a jibe directed squarely at the English, something simple like “nick off” or “your rugby team is rubbish”.

Back on point, the Newfie argument is one that hasn’t been resolved since our re-settlement from Vancouver to St Anthony.

Before we left the message was clear – calling a Newfoundlander a Newfie is the greatest disrespect imaginable

Since our arrival the overwhelming message has been that Newfoundlanders don’t find Newfie derogatory unless the recipient is from St John’s in which case they will berate you endlessly.

I am always very concerned when it comes to nicknames for a country’s inhabitants.

As an Australian, I am comfortable with the term Aussie a simple contraction of our country. In fact I don’t know of anyone who finds Aussie offensive, I don’t mind it when I’m called a convict in reference to our prison colony past. Sticks and stones and all that I guess but Newfie, now that is an interesting one.

According to The Dictionary of Newfoundland English, the term was first used by the province natives well before transiting US soldiers started using it as a pejorative and disrespectful term in 1945.

It could be argued that Australian soldiers solved a similar issue in 1942 when they rumbled with US soldiers who they deemed to be disrespectful of Australian culture and in the words of one author, "the Yanks were overpaid, oversexed and over here."

The term Newfie was abolished in Alberta of all places in the 1970s; the government of the day deemed the term a racial slur and banned its use on number plates until 2006 when, according to CBC, the government changed their mind and described the word “as a term of endearment”.

I don’t know if that makes it any better, “a term of endearment” makes it sound patronizing, in itself could be considered far worse in some circles.

I guess the thing is any term used to describe a group of people can be used with negative undertones and let’s be honest, some names are better used by their owners.

Looks like I may to have to suppress the innate compulsion to shorten the tongue-twisting term Newfoundlander until I can fully justify its legitimacy. The last thing I want to do is pick the scab off a freshly healed sore or come across as someone culturally insensitive.

Having lived in London, I know what it’s like to be thought of as a cultural barbarian.

Whenever I overheard the word “Australian” it was generally prefaced by the term ‘bloody’ and not by someone exclaiming, “oh those bloody Australians are such a lovely jovial lot who can handle their alcohol and are delightfully quiet and pleasant on the Tube”.

No, it was more, “when we shipped those bloody Australians down there the first time, did someone leave a map because how the hell else did they all find their way back up here to take all our jobs?”

Just the facts maam, nothing but the facts -- Departure T-minus 27 days

I love facts.

They provide higher ground from where the very best argument can be launched and if you've got your facts right, the meandering substance of the argument is offset by the conclusion. (Disclaimer: This doesn't apply to scientific fact however as it seems to change every time someone has a thought.)


So when I came across a website extolling facts of Newfoundland I was automatically engrossed however it left more questions than answered. For instance:

• 99% of the world's population of the critically endangered Boreal Felt Lichen is found on the island of Newfoundland. (Now that is fine and all but what I want to know is where the other 1% resides and how they studied and came up with this figure. I am assuming it wasn't on any census.)
• Showy Lady's Slipper orchid, "the largest and most beautiful northern orchid in North America" is found in western Newfoundland. Because of its rarity, this orchid is imperiled in the wild. (Imperiled? Sounds like something from Communist China or Stalinesque Russia)

This however is a fact that is indisputable, my kind of fact:

• Corner Brook in terms of latitude, is a little distance south of Vancouver, British Columbia but it is on the same latitude as the French capital, Paris. St Anthony, our glorious new home to be on the northern tip of Newfoundland, is on the same latitude as London, England.

Having lived in London for 18 months, I always found 51°30′28″N to be quite a nice latitude so it is another tick in the column for our new home town. Confused as I was about Pacific and Eastern time zones I also found out that Newfoundland is actually 3.5 hours west of Greenwich, and hence has its own time zone. The Newfoundland Standard Time Act of 1935 enshrined this time zone before Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949.

Just back to London for a minute, Newfoundland celebrates Guy Fawkes Night as they do in England which to this day is still one of the most hilarious celebrations I have come across.

Who else but the English would celebrate via fireworks no less the attempted assassination of King James I of England by a man who planned on blowing up Parliament house with explosives. Like pyrotechnics explosives.

Anyway, time for another history lesson:

• The ceilings of the Council Chamber and the Assembly Room in the Colonial Building in St. John's were painted by Polish fresco painter Alexander Pindikowski in 1880. Mr. Pindikowski had been serving a 15 month prison sentence for passing forged cheques - his sentence was reduced by 1 month for his work. In 1940, the ceiling work was restored by local painter Clem Murphy.

Remember the moose that Em had nightmares about, well here's a little known fact:

• Moose are not native to Newfoundland, but today there are more than 100,000 on the island. One pair was introduced in 1878 from Nova Scotia (not thought to have survived). Two pairs of moose were introduced on May 14, 1904 from New Brunswick. All of the moose in Newfoundland today are descended from the 1904 moose and possibly also from the 1878 moose.

• Arctic Hares are native to Newfoundland, but Snowshoe Hares were introduced from Nova Scotia in 1864 and 1876. They were released at the same time by local Magistrates. Hares are often erroneously called rabbits.

• 
  
• The Newfoundland Timber or Grey Wolf became extinct on the island of Newfoundland in the 1930s.


• The coyote arrived in Newfoundland during the winter of 1985, when heavy ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence allowed passage from Nova Scotia.


• There are no snakes, skunks, deer, porcupines or groundhogs on the island of Newfoundland. Chipmunks were introduced to Newfoundland from Nova Scotia in 1962 and 1964, and today they are plentiful in the Codroy Valley of southwestern Newfoundland where cultivated (farm) oats are a favourite treat. There is no ragweed pollen on the island either (a very common allergen).

Anyway enough facts.

Em had her wisdom teeth taken out today and now she looks like she's done 10 rounds with Tyson. It hurts my heart to see her like this but I know it's only temporary but it still hurts however I am passing the time by cooking for her and instituting a drug regiment of military precision.

In other news, there's still no word on a car. The $800 I spoke about earlier seems to have disappeared so we are trying another avenue, a mechanic in St Anthony with a 1999 Mazda Protege. We'll just have to wait and see.