Holly Everett (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador is infamous for its seal fishery, first begun in the 1790s. The seal hunt tragedies of 1914, which altogether claimed 271 lives, loom large in the province's master narrative(s), which manifests in both folklore and popular culture, including literature, art, and tourist productions. At the same time, environmental competence, especially regarding food procurement, continues to be an integral aspect of male identity and conviviality in the province, as well as of local character in general. In consideration of its place in the calendar of annual observance, and its continued link to religious and fraternal institutions, I submit that the traditional flipper pie dinner, usually held in April, is a memorial feast and thus a mechanism of collective memory and the management of stigma.
Part of 08-05 Stigma: Foodways at the Intersections of What is Marginalized and Centralized [hybrid], Saturday, October 15, 10:30 am–12:30 pm