Stop Motion Video
Duration: 2:21

This video chronicles my father’s story of leaving Newfoundland using an abridged version of an interview I conducted with him, and is part of a greater project called Goin' Down the Road: Newfoundland Stories of Leaving.

Adventures in Canada centers around a library book of the same name from the 1860s, which is essentially a memoir of traveling across the country and experiences of the Canadian wilderness. I chose to contrast this story-- a very typical narrative of the Canadian experience from the early modern period-- with my father’s experiences hitch hiking and riding the rails from Newfoundand and across Canada before finally settling in Toronto, searching for a place to make a life for himself. His story is also contrasted with a song by the Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot called Talkin’ Frieght, which was commissioned by the Canadian National Railway in 1967. The song mythologizes the train, painting it as the bringer of valuable natural resources and goods to Canadian consumers, from coast to coast.

By writing my father's words in this found book, I am attempting to immortalize his story and elevate his words, making his experience as a young man from a marginalized maritime province out of work and “going west” a part of our national narrative.