Canada Research Chair in Intangible Cultural Heritage

One of the goals of establishing this chair is for Cape Breton University to continue to show leadership in the study of folklore and endangered traditional cultural expressions. The Chair will sponsor CDROM, video and audio collection/research projects as well as scholarly books and articles to preserve and interpret threatened or vulnerable aspects of culture. There is a worldwide need for research, publication and policy development in this emerging field (Hufford, 1994; Loomis, 1983). First, there is no clear and comprehensive inventory of intangible cultural heritage of this region. The Research Chair will systematically identify and continue to update an inventory of the region’s threatened intangible cultural heritage (ICH). The academic and popular publications that will result from this study will offer examples and suggestions for the protection and preservation of ICH. This, in turn, can serve as a model for the development of inventories in other regions and countries. The Chair recognizes that the protection of folklore resources must also proceed with local recognition that the tradition is valued for it to be maintained and continued. What conditions or factors help to condone the perpetuation and maintaining of local cultural traditions? The chair will identify a mechanism to solicit recommendations from individual tradition bearers on the preservation of traditions; it has been shown that general public hearings are not particularly effective forums for gathering this kind of information (Hufford 1986: 111). Cape Breton Island is an ideal location to take international leadership with this research. The Island has many distinctive cultural groups including Scottish, Irish, English Loyalists, Acadian French, Ukrainian, Italian, Polish, Czechoslovakian, African-American, Chinese, etc. Furthermore, it is home to five Aboriginal First Nation communities. The Mi’kmaq people are the original inhabitants of the island and are now planning to develop their own museums and Arts and Culture Centres with a view toward preserving aspects of their distinctive cultural traditions. In addition, the island is now experiencing severe structural change from a resource to a postindustrial, knowledge-based economy. The island has become an international leader in the field of social economy through its Community Economic Development research and interventions, while at the same time, the tourism, culture, arts, and heritage sectors are experiencing vibrant growth. For these reasons, the island can be viewed as a laboratory for studying innovative ways to protect, preserve, and educate people about intangible cultural heritage. The practical lessons learned will be applicable to other regions and multicultural countries who are experiencing similar structural transformations in their economies. The research conducted by the Chair will be valuable to UNESCO and their participating member states in their attempts to create a multilateral instrument for the conservation of ICH. While extensive work has been completed on the history of coal mining (Campbell 1997; Frank 1999; Hornsby 1992; MacGillivray 1980; McKay 1988; Muise and McIntosh 1996; Ryan 1992), the fishery (Balcom 1984; Innis 1978), and the steel industry (Candow 2001; Earle 2001; Frank and MacGillivray 1987; Heron 1988; MacEwan 1976), fewer studies have focused on the distinctive traditions and expressive culture of fishers, coal miners, steelworkers and their families (Davey and MacKinnon 1996; Frank 1985). What traditions and local knowledge are being lost with the closing down of these primary industries? Will the cultural knowledge of mining disappear? The Nominee will conduct research with fishers, miners, steelworkers and their families and with members of the diverse cultural groups that have shaped the island. Recording of fishing, local mining and steel making terms is one topic area that needs to be collected, studied and interpreted before older workers are no longer available to pass this work terminology along. …