Gendered Landscapes of Fishing Rooms in Northern Newfoundland

Summary

The fishing room Champ Paya, in Cap Rouge Harbour, northern Newfoundland, was in use from about 1540 to 1904, primarily occupied by transatlantic migratory Breton fishermen. However, during the period of the Napoleonic and French Revolutionary wars, from about 1790 to 1820, the French were absent from Newfoundland waters and Anglo-Newfoundlander families prosecuted a regional migratory fishery on the vacant French Shore. Though both groups undertook a similar industry here ‘ preparing salted, dried cod ‘ the occupations differed in size, duration and most interestingly, gendered make-up of the crew. The family became the essential working unit in the resident Newfoundland fishery by the late eighteenth century, employing men, women and children alike; the French migratory fishery was exclusively male. This presentation considers the two differing organizations of the same industry in the same physical setting, focusing on recovered material culture (primarily ceramics) and the relevant historical documentation to help understand the multiple dimensions of a single landscape.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• The French Migratory Fishery and the Maritime Cultural Landscape of Newfoundland’s Petit Nord

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-22,04