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Kristin Catherwood, Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer, Heritage Saskatchewan

I first met Dale Jarvis four years ago when he came to one of my Folklore courses at Memorial University of Newfoundland to tell us about Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Dale is the Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer for the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, the first position of its kind in Canada (I currently hold the second of its kind). I remember being immediately inspired by Dale’s enthusiasm and his obvious passion for his work. In the years since, I’ve learned a lot from Dale, but it was especially exciting to welcome him to Saskatchewan for a ten-day tour of the province presenting Living Traditions workshops, public lectures, meetings, and a few fun stops along the way where Dale made sure to sample some of Saskatchewan's finest cuisine (incuding Chinese smorg, Mennonite perogies, and Ukrainian kobassa sausage).

The workshops, co-presented by Heritage Saskatchewan and the Museums Association of Saskatchewan, took us first to Indian Head for a two-day Living Traditions workshop. First participants were introduced (or re-introduced, as the case may be) to the concept of ICH, after Dale warmed them up with a story. We then got to know each other by sharing a personal story about a food tradition in our family. Dale then shared some examples of the work he’s done with ICH in Newfoundland, including the successful Mummer’s Festival. Dale stressed the importance of starting small, focusing on projects that can be completed, and of collaborating with other organizations. Sometimes these partnerships aren’t immediately obvious – for example, partnering with food security networks to develop projects related to sustainable agriculture – thus showing how heritage is not something confined within traditional cultural organizations. As Dale said himself, “Heritage is a tool we use to do other things.” Those “other things” being the important work of community building.

Though all three workshops followed a similar format, it’s always fascinating to see how different discussions develop, and different issues and concerns are raised depending on the backgrounds of the participants. Part of the workshop focused on an introduction to cultural documentation, and so in each community we invited a local tradition bearer to come share their tradition with us while Dale conducted an oral interview. This was popular in all three workshops as we got to see some of the theory we were learning put into practice. Participants also had the opportunity to brainstorm examples within the five domains of ICH. Our three workshops showed that Saskatchewan is nothing if not diverse, for all three brainstorming sessions contained a wealth of local traditions and cultural practices, and all three were totally different from each other.

In each workshop, we also asked for feedback from our participants about how they see the potential of ICH in their particular context, and also how provincial organizations can be helping them do their work better. We learned that communities and organizations are looking for more resources and training, but also for more connection with other similar organizations. We were told there is a need for some sort of network that can connect individuals and organizations with relevant information and also the opportunity to find out what other communities are doing.

Dale’s work in Newfoundland and Labrador has served as a personal inspiration for my work here in Saskatchewan, and now dozens of culture and heritage workers and volunteers in the province have been exposed to the potential of ICH. Just as I was inspired by my introduction to Dale, I know from the feedback we received, that our participants were as well. Now, we have a lot of work to do here in Saskatchewan!

During Dale’s visit, he and I sat down with Kevin Power and recorded a SaskScapes podcast about ICH and folklore. Have a listen!