MUNFLA (Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive) is the largest sound recording folklore archive in Canada. It is hosted at Memorial University of Newfoundland, located in the G.A. Hickman Building at the St. John's campus in Newfoundland, Canada. It is a member of the Canadian Council of Archives and the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives. MUNFLA was founded in 1968 by folklorist Herbert Halpert, head of the Folklore Department, and his wife, researcher-librarian Violetta Maloney Halpert, [1] as a joint-venture by the Folklore and English departments at Memorial University. The archive was created as a repository for recordings and material culture of Newfoundland and Labrador folk culture.
The archive contains a variety of items including oral histories, songs, poetry, childlore, folk narratives, personal experience narratives, folk beliefs as well as student research papers and graduate theses and dissertations from the Department of Folklore.
Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN, is a public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and in Labrador, Saint Pierre, and Harlow, England. Memorial University offers certificate, diploma, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate programs, as well as online courses and degrees.
Newfoundland and Labrador is an Atlantic Canadian province with a folk musical heritage based on the Irish, English and Cornish traditions.
Figgy Duff was a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland, Canada. They played a major role in the Newfoundland cultural renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s. Formed in 1976 by Noel Dinn, who named the band after a traditional pudding, Figgy Duff travelled across Newfoundland, learning traditional songs and performing them with distinct elements of rock and roll.
Folk plays such as Hoodening, Guising, Mummers Play and Soul Caking are generally verse sketches performed in countryside pubs in European countries, private houses or the open air, at set times of the year such as the Winter or Summer solstices or Christmas and New Year. Many have long traditions, although they are frequently updated to retain their relevance for contemporary audiences.
Public folklore is the term for the work done by folklorists in public settings in the United States and Canada outside of universities and colleges, such as arts councils, museums, folklife festivals, radio stations, etc., as opposed to academic folklore, which is done within universities and colleges. The term is short for "public sector folklore" and was first used by members of the American Folklore Society in the early 1970s.
Alan Mills was a Canadian folksinger, writer, and actor. He was best known for popularizing Canadian folk music, and for his original song, I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. He appeared on several radio and television programs and in movies.
The Confederation Building serves as the home of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. It is located on Confederation Hill overlooking Newfoundland and Labrador's capital city, St. John's. The brick- and concrete-clad building has 11 stories and is 64 metres (210 ft) tall. It was completed in 1960 at a cost of $9 million to replace the Colonial Building. A lantern is located at the top of the copper roof of the central tower and acts as a beacon when turned on at night.
Richard Francis Nolan was a Canadian musician, from Newfoundland. Nolan was known for performing Newfoundland folk music in Toronto night clubs. During his 50-year career he released more than 40 albums and recorded over 300 tracks. He is particularly known for his song "Aunt Martha's Sheep".
Ron Hynes was a folk singer-songwriter from Newfoundland and Labrador. He was especially known for his composition "Sonny's Dream", which has been recorded worldwide by many artists and was named the 41st greatest Canadian song of all time on the 2005 CBC Radio One series 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version.
Tom Dawe, is a Canadian writer from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Johnny Burke (1851–1930) was a Newfoundland poet, singer, songwriter, and musician from St. John's, where he lived all his life. He was nicknamed the Bard of Prescott Street and wrote many popular songs that were released by folk singers in the 1930s and 1940s.
Maud Karpeles OBE, was a British collector of folksongs and dance teacher.
"Sea Lion Woman" is a traditional African American folk song originally used as a children's playground song.
Margaret Bennett is a Scottish writer, folklorist, ethnologist, broadcaster, and singer. Her main interests lies in the field of traditional Scottish folk culture and cultural identity of the Scots in Scotland and abroad. The late Hamish Henderson, internationally distinguished poet and folklorist, said about her: Margaret embodies the spirit of Scotland.
Herbert Halpert was an American anthropologist and folklorist, specialised in the collection and study of both folk song and narrative.
Gazeebow Unit is a rap group from Newfoundland, Canada, founded by a group of teenagers in the provincial capital of St. John's. Gazeebow Unit uses a home computer to develop their music; they integrate samples and downloaded drum loops. The group was noted for its combination of the rap music styles with depictions of working-class Newfoundland culture and the use of the Newfoundland English dialect.
Canadian folklore is the traditional material that Canadians pass down from generation to generation, either as oral literature or "by custom or practice". It includes songs, legends, jokes, rhymes, proverbs, weather lore, superstitions, and practices such as traditional food-making and craft-making. The largest bodies of folklore in Canada belong to the aboriginal and French-Canadian cultures. English-Canadian folklore and the folklore of recent immigrant groups have added to the country's folk.
Violetta Maloney Halpert, American folklorist, researcher, and U.S. Navy Veteran. Born Violetta (Letty) Goff Maloney, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, she was instrumental in the development of university folklore collections in Canada.
J.D.A. (John) Widdowson is a British linguist and folklorist.
Peter Narváez was a Canadian writer, scholar, folklorist, and musician known for his contributions to the study of folklore, ethnomusicology, blues, popular culture and Canadian culture.
MUNFLA operates an online catalogue.
The archive also contains The MacEdward Leach Collection of Songs of Atlantic Canada.