Voices of Labrador

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Voices of
Labrador
Voices Of Labrador
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Voices of Labrador
219 Humber Drive
Labrador City, NL
A2V 2Y3
A Sampling of Voices of Labrador
• Bountiful Berries out the Backdoor
• O’Brien: From Camera To Canvas
• John Terriak: Labrador Artist
Central Labrador
Bountiful Berries
By Beverly Nippard
erry picking has traditionally been an
B
annual fall pastime in rural Labrador.
While men fished the coast, women and
children picked berries to make preserves
for the long, cold winter and pies for
the Christmas dinner desserts. With
urbanization, berry patches get farther
and farther away – but not here in the
Upper Lake Melville area. We’ve been
picking berries very close to home.
Actually, I’ve been picking
berries right in my back yard! These
little beauties grow around my back
fence. Raspberries seem to grow better
amidst rubble and stubble and through
fences. I’ve been picking a couple of
cupfuls every second day from mid-July
until mid-September. I use them mostly
to make muffins and jams. Raspberry
jam on homemade toast with a cup of tea
– can’t beat it!
A couple of weeks after the
raspberry debut, I find, just behind
my back fence, another berry patch.
Blueberries! They display a range of
colours from white to pink to purple to
blue. When they are “green,” they are
white and, when they are ripe, they are
blue. These berries can be found in
peaty barrens, along woods paths, or
amongst burnt wood from mid-August
to late-September.
Blueberries are very versatile
and can be used in many combinations
for cakes, cookies, jams, jellies, salads,
and wine. They are popular in my
household for pies and muffins.
An excellent source of Vitamin
C, niacin, manganese, carbohydrates,
and dietary fiber, they also contain
little sodium or fat. A high content of
anthocyanin and antioxidants are said
to prevent high blood pressure, urinary
tract infections, cardiovascular disease,
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Voices of Labrador - Mini-Edition - 2
and cataracts. The same elements are
thought to slow such aging processes
as memory loss and the deterioration of
motor skills while improving circulation
and aiding in the prevention of certain
forms of cancer. At only 84 calories per
cup, blueberries make a delicious dessert
served with a light cream topping.
A little farther from my back door
– actually to the edge of town -- I find a
field of partridgeberries. Better known
as redberries in Labrador, these berries
grow in the dry, acidic soils of barrens,
low to the ground, often among lichen.
Sometimes, I might find a little hill of
redberries in the blueberry grounds.
Partridgeberries are generally
harvested in September when many
of our nights bring frost, and it has
been said that the berries need the
frost to complete the ripening process.
Sometimes they survive being frozen
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under the snow during the winter and
have been picked the next spring when
the snow melts.
Tart in flavour, they are also
high in Vitamin C, tannin, anthocyanin,
and antioxidants -- with all the same
benefits as eating blueberries.
Generally, when I cook with
berries (blueberries, raspberries, or
bakeapples), I use about a half-cup of
sugar to a cup of berries. When I cook
with tart redberries, however, I increase
that to about three-quarters of a cup.
These hearty berries are delicious in
pies, muffins, and jams, but my favorite
redberry recipe is for “Partridgeberry
Pickles.” This recipe is delicious served
with cold chicken or turkey instead of
store-bought cranberry jelly.
Bakeapples -- called cloudberries
in places like Scandinavia -- are closely
related to English blackberries and
raspberries but are a cloudy golden to
orange colour when ripe with a distinct
honey-apricot-like flavour and is found
a little farther afield beyond the edge
of town. You may have to walk a good
distance to the marshes to find this
beauty in mid-August, but it’s well worth
the effort.
If you are not able to make the
trek and decide to buy your supply, you
may find this berry to be about double
the cost of other berries. These berries
are extremely rich in Vitamin C and
contain few calories. The juice has been
used to treat hives, but the berries make
delicious jams, pies, and toppings for ice
cream and cheesecake.
The American blackberry,
also called the crowberry, is similar in
appearance to a black partridgeberry or
blueberry and grows in areas similar to
that of the partridgeberry. A staple of
the Inuit, called ‘Fruit of the North,’
they are harvested from July to
first snow.
Almost
completely
devoid of natural acid, their
sweet flavor generally peaks
after frost. Blackberries are
extremely high in Vitamin
C, about twice that of
blueberries.
Other
berries
that can be found in
the Big Land include
squashberries,
gooseberries, cranberries, and
marshberries.
Before
modern refrigeration, blueberries,
blackberries
and bakeapples used to
be kept in bottles and
steamed to keep for the
winter. Partridge berries
were kept in three- or
five-gallon buckets in
the sheds, because these
berries didn’t spoil as easily.
Now we pack our berries in
plastic bags and ice cream
tubs and store them in our
freezers.
Because berries freeze
well, they can be enjoyed all year
round and their use is only limited
by our imagination.
Why not check out the
bountiful berries in the Big Land, our
Labrador?
Raspberry Jam
Partridgeberry Pickles
Put ½ cup of sugar for every
cup of berries in a pot and bring
to a boil. After a good rolling
boil for about 20 minutes add
a package or two of red jelly
(raspberry or strawberry) and
simmer for five more minutes.
Pour into hot sterilized
glass jars.
6 cups partridgeberries
1½ cups vinegar
¼ tsp salt
5 onions (cut fine)
1½ tsp. allspice
4 cups sugar
Boil together until jelled.
Pour in hot sterilized jars.
Bakeapple Pie
Mix 2 cups bakeapples with
1 cup sugar, let stand while
making pastry. Line bottom of
pie-plate with the pastry and
sprinkle with 2 tblsp. tapioca to
absorb juice.
Fill shell with bakeapples and
sugar mixture, cover with
pastry, and bake at 350F for
about 40 minutes.
3 - Mini-Edition - Voices of Labrador
Western Labrador
From Camera To Canvas
Marjorie O’Brien Visual Artist
arjorie O’Brien of Labrador City
M
always had a penchant for visual
art. In school, she, like many people do,
took drawing courses, but, for O’Brien,
there was something about visual art
that spoke to her. It was more than just
a nice picture, it was also a way to “say
something.” Says O’Brien, “I like my
pictures to make a statement.”
Marjorie’s first big venture into
visual arts was with photography. Always
determined to improve on her art, she
availed of photography courses that were
offered at the local community college.
She still enjoys photography, but, today,
Marjorie is known for a different medium,
painting. After all she says, “Just how
many pictures can you take?
Her interest in painting was keen
and, to improve on her innate talents,
she signed up for every workshop that
became available in Labrador West.
Well-known artists such as Chris Peet,
Jerry Squires, Ed Roache, Kathleen
Knowling, and Mariette Arsenault became
her teachers..
In 1995, she completed a
program in visual arts offered by the
College of the North Atlantic. Part of the
course was offered in Labrador West
and she then traveled to the Stephenville
campus to complete the course.
Marjorie is a driving force within
the Labrador West Visual Arts Association.
You can see her works of art, along with
those of her colleagues, at their frequent
53
north
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Voices of Labrador - Mini-Edition - 4
exhibitions and retailing in local shops.
While you’ll see Marjorie’s
paintings in oils and acrylics, her favorite
medium is water colour. Explains Marjorie,
“They’re not as forgiving. They are more
of a challenge -- and that’s what I like!”
While oils produce rich, vibrant colour,
they became a health issue for O’Brien
because of all the solvents used when
painting with them.
In 1999, Marjorie embarked on
a new venture that would be one of her
biggest inspirations and bring a whole
new passion to her art.
She joined “Artscape,” a group
of the province’s realist artists who visit
communities, meet people, look at the
culture, geography and architecture, and
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then use it to inspire works of art.
It was started in 1997 when
three artists -- Fred Humber, Larry
Mahoney, and Ed Roche -- made their
first Artscape trip to the province’s south
coast. Marjorie knew Ed Roche through
the workshop she had done with him and
was convinced this was a good thing.
Joined by fellow
visual artist Fran Crichton,
they covered 3700km of
the province by road and
100km by water. That journey
took
them
everywhere
from Change Islands to the
Northern Peninsula and on to
Red Bay.
All along the way,
they took photos of everything
they saw, met the people, and
literally absorbed each part of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
Originally, Marjorie
thought she would be a part
of Artscape for five years,
but, she says, “You become a family of
artists, and you can’t wait for each new
year to arrive. You learn so much, you
see so many parts of this province. No
words can express the feeling of coming
into a place like Francois or sailing into
Battle Harbour.”
Fellow artist Fran Crichton was
part of the group till 2004 when she left
the area.
Marjorie says
as long as
based on this year’s trip will visually tell
that story.
For us who are not fortunate
enough to visit these disappearing
communities, we are still lucky, we have
Marjorie O’Brien do that for us and then
share her experience through her art.
She’s very busy this fall with the
local visual arts association
so be sure to keep an eye
out for her work at their next
exhibition. Judging from
her amazing photographs,
the paintings to come will
be memorable indeed.
As well,
Artscape
members are having an
exhibition of their work in
November at the Arts and
Culture Centre in Corner
Brook.
If you’re lucky
Ma
rjo
enough
to
be there, check
s
rie
ion
n
it
out.
a
in p
mp
ink an
Meanwhile, here in
d Artscape co
Labrador West, Marjorie
She says she has no favourite now has the daunting -- but enjoyable
subject but that she likes her paintings “to -- task of sorting through this year’s
photos, deciding which ones will
tell a story and to say something.“
Obviously, the stories from this become paintings.
A part of this province that
year will tell of a province that is quickly
losing a way of life. Says O’Brien, “Many may disappear in the very near future
of our small communities are disappearing will be quietly saved for posterity by
Marjorie’s brushes.
and, with them, our traditions.”
• Mike Power
You can be sure the paintings
there’s an Artscape she expects she’ll be
a part of it. “I don’t want it to end,” she
says.
This year’s Artscape took the
group through a lot of the Placentia Bay
and Burin areas of the province -- again
by road and by water. Marjorie’s photos
of parts of that trip are haunting.
5 - Mini-Edition - Voices of Labrador
John Terriak
Labrador artist
Creates Work Appreciated
Around The World
C
arving comes naturally to John
Terriak of Nain. As a young boy,
the shortage of toys led him to make
his own. Some wood and a knife
soon got transformed into planes,
boats, or whatever his heart desired.
That started him on a love of the
craft.
Then later, at seventeen, he
realized he needed
a Christmas gift for
his grandmother.
John carved a dog
team.
Pleased
with the result, he
decided to carry on
with the craft.
At first a
hobby,
Terriak
turned
carving
into a profession,
and for the past
twenty years he has
been making it his
Voices of Labrador - Mini-Edition - 6
primary source of income.
John uses whatever is
available to carve: soapstone,
ivory, whalebone, antler, wood and
even Labradorite. John will carve
whatever is readily available but he
likes working with softer materials.
Labradorite (anorthracite) is hard
and brittle according to John, but
produces beautiful results. John
says special diamond-cutting tools
are required to work with the material
and they are not always available.
Even when they are, they are very
expensive.
His subjects are always close
to his aboriginal roots. Whales, seals,
animals, and the
faces of his people
inspire him. He
says the material
speaks to him as he
is working, telling
him what the final
product will be.
But there’s
more to John
Terriak
than
carving. He makes
things that are part
of everyday life in
his culture. Tools,
and komatiks, you name it, he makes
it, even sewing his own parkas and
clothes. From the practical to the
simply beautiful, John also makes
jewelry from ivory, labradorite, gold,
and silver.
Like
most
people, he likes to hunt
and fish. John is an allaround member of his
community. For several
years, he had one of
only two sled dog teams
in Nain. Right now, he
has only two dogs, but,
he thinks he will have
a full team again in the
future.
Carvers
on
the coast of Labrador
have been working hard for a long
time. John says they are faced with
challenges all the time.
One of them, for John, is
finding the right stone to work with.
Often he has to travel far from his
home to find the stone he likes best
of all.
Another thing he says is
the marketplace. John says, lately,
carvings haven’t been selling for
as much as they used to. He says
people expect to pay less for the work
and try to bargain for better prices.
That, despite the fact he feels people
are far more aware that carvings
being produced here in Labrador are
quality pieces of art.
Nevertheless, John still
continues to get good representation
from all over. Galleries from Happy
Valley-Goose Bay to Montreal,
Ottawa, and beyond, all sell his
work. John says his works have
been sold often and now sit in homes
and offices all over the world.
Just this summer he traveled
to Carrera, Italy, where he carved
a sculpture of Sedna, the Inuit Sea
God, from a huge block of marble.
The final carving was 4’6” high. John
says the Italians were skeptical at first
that he could do it, but were amazed
at the result. You think they’d have
more respect for carver’s abilities in
other locations across Canada.
His works have appeared
in shows in Newfoundland and
Labrador, Canada, and the United
States.
You can recognize his work,
which is always
signed with his
initials JT and a small
drawing of a weasel,
which is what Terriak
means in Inuktitut,
his native language.
J o h n
continues to carve
in Nain, and says
this is his life. His
appreciative
and
growing audience,
and young carvers
the home of Michelangelo.
across the region, have good cause
For now, John is content to to be glad he isn’t going anywhere
stay in Nain and continue with his else soon.
work. He says recent changes in
• Mike Power
the economy mean more prosperity
for people in the
community.
But,
he says, carvers like
him aren’t looking for
new jobs. He says
simply,
“Carvers
are carvers, and will
always be carvers.”
Many are glad that
this will not be lost.
In fact, the number
of carvers working
in the art is growing
in Labrador, in
no small part to
the
successful
inspiration Terriak
has been.
J o h n ’ s
carvings are available in Labrador at
various
galleries
and craft stores,
and of course at
7 - Mini-Edition - Voices of Labrador
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Voices of Labrador - 7