Who Am I? More than just the ramblings of a drunken mind on George Street this one question has fuelled many of man kinds greatest pursuits for meaning. It has been said that how a man defines himself is how he will align himself and this definition is usually found in a person or groups self image. This self image not only acts as a grounding force to fortify them in their decisions, but can act as a magnetic force pulling them into a future that is shared in that particular concept of themselves. A nation determines their actions by how they perceive themselves and how they believe others do. What is expected of us? How should we act in this situation? How should we react? All these questions are answered largely through a reliance upon our self image. There exists little difference between the individual and the nation on this concept other than that a nation may in fact be even more susceptible to the restrictions imposed by its self image when determining its future.

Who are we as Newfoundlanders? We wear the label with pride wherever we go. When someone asks, “Where are you from” it would be seldom we would answer anything other than “Newfoundland” The fact that the word ‘Home’ means Newfoundland despite not having had a street address (not counting our mothers) in the province in two decades should be indication enough of where our heart lies. But what do we mean when we say it? Are we referring to the literal rock stuck in the Atlantic Ocean? Or are we referring to a collective identity of people, places and things that sit on, and have sat upon, this rock? What does it mean in 2015 to be a Newfie?

It’s highly unlikely today that any given person on a quiet street in Newfoundland is a fishermen, and with each passing day it is less and less likely their parents were. Yet we know more about Cod than we could have ever learned from Wikipedia. We may speak very good english – hell we may have a masters in it. However, it doesn’t take more than a sentence or two to be spoken anywhere abroad and the befuddled listener is immediately aware that there is an Irishman or Scot stuck somewhere in our family tree. What makes this even more peculiar is that its been 200 years since any of our family has been to Ireland! The list continues on from the words we use to the food we eat. All of these historical twists, some subtle and some not so, have shaped the people we are today – the Newfoundlanders we are today. However, the self image that has defined us historically is not necessarily the paradigm we need to exist in the present and thrive in the future. So do we start over and imitate the self images of our ‘mainland’ American and Canadian cousins?

Absolutely, categorically NOT. What gives the continental cousins their image which is so often tattooed on our culture via the power of media was developed for them by THEIR historical twists and turns. That series of events, however, is not our tale. They do not represent where we have been and they definitely do not represent where we are going. Our triumphs and tragedies, our environment and our particular sets of strengths and weaknesses in many ways bear no resemblance to theirs, so why would we embody those values as our own? As the NOW of the Newfoundland existence changes we too as a people must modernize how we interpret ourselves. Not by discarding everything that has made US but rather by building on this foundation of strength, perseverance and will with the materials of our experience today.

To move forward as a people it is imperative we decide who it is we are and who it is we want to be. Lets reject the image projected onto us by those that aren’t us and envision our own idea of who we will be. The salt water that runs in our veins, the oil that runs under our feet and the sense of pride that surges through every Newfoundlanders heart tells us that we are different! We are people of iron in a world of plastic. A culture that has always embraced unity and support of others over the self absorbed ‘I’ of the current pop culture. Not because we choose to but because we HAVE to.

Will we apply the history and belief systems of a people born to a different world or will we forge our own from the bog iron of this great land? Lets take a step forward in crafting and fortifying our identity in its modern incarnation before we are steam rolled by the image that others want us to drape ourselves in. Its time we realize exactly who we are. We do not say we are Newfoundlanders because we are FROM Newfoundland we say it because we ARE Newfoundland. We embody everything that word means in every individual and relish in it as a group. What does it mean to be a Newofundlander in 2015? The only thing I know for certain is that #IAMNEWFOUNDLAND

#IAMNEWFOUNDLAND: Defining The Self Image of the Modern Newfoundlander is a weekly blog, with a new article every Wednesday, that focuses on the modern Newfoundland experience and how we interpret it into the greater tapestry of our Self Image as a people and a culture. Visit our blog on our website (www.iamnewfoundland.com), Facebook or Twitter (@IAmNewfoundland

• Top