Northern Gulf Culture and Heritage
QLF Atlantic Region heritage programs are committed to promoting, through community empowerment, the safeguarding of culture and heritage and the use of it to foster the economic and social vitality of rural places. QLF has been involved with supporting local culture since the organization’s inception in the early 1960s. As the economic and social bedrock of rural communities has faced substantial challenges in the last 20 years, cultural traditions are at great risk of dying out as young people are leaving for urban areas. This trend of out-migration threatens the existence of the region’s fishing communities and their special cultural heritage.
QLF works with local groups in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence region, which generally includes the Quebec Lower North Shore, Labrador Straits, and the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. Our projects highlight the continuing value of cultural traditions within the process of change. The Northern Gulf Culture & Heritage Program facilitates opportunities for rural communities to safeguard their cultural heritage and use it as an asset for community revitalization and economic diversification.
Conche, on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, part of the French Shore, the hub for QLF's Northern Gulf Culture and Heritage Program. Photograph © Candace Cochrane
Traditional Skills Network
The Traditional Skills Network is an ongoing and evolving program serving the people of the Strait of Belle Isle in Quebec and Labrador. By supporting local artisans in a variety of community venues, it serves to "bridge the gap" between the traditions of our ancestors and today's society through the preservation and transmission of traditional craft skills.
The boatbuilding tradition continues in Newfoundland and on the coast. Photograph © Candace Cochrane
2008 Projects
Most QLF heritage projects are multi-year collaborations with local groups in the project area. In 2008 the major projects included:
- Middle Bay Interpretation Centre (Middle Bay, QC)
- Northern Newfoundland Heritage Exhibits (Ship Cove, Raleigh, Cow Head)
- Jacques Cartier Trail (QC Lower North Shore)
- CoastFest 2008 (Lower North Shore, QC)
- Innu Banner Project (Sheshatshiu, Labrador)
- Land of First Contact Heritage Atlas (Northern Gulf region)
Heritage projects are developed and implemented by a collaboration of QLF permanent staff, QLF interns and volunteers, local organizations and community members in the project area. Openings for employment in heritage projects are listed yearly under Interns & Volunteers.
Photograph © Candace Cochrane
CoastFest 2008 - A historic opportunity for tourism development
In 2008, Quebec City will be celebrating the 400th anniversary of its founding by French explorer Samuel de Champlain. QLF is working with local partners Tourism Lower North Shore, the Coasters’ Association, and others to develop CoastFest 2008 along the Quebec Lower North Shore. This festival, with heritage events in communities across the Lower North Shore, highlights the important role of the Lower North Shore in the founding and development of New France. Connecting with the Quebec City’s 400th and parallel celebrations in France, the CoastFest will highlight and celebrate the Lower North Shore’s unique contributions to history and culture on both sides of the Atlantic. See www.coastfest2008.ca for more details.
