elanya

What are The Maritimes to you? Is it simply a matter of geography?

To me the Maritimes are more like a really large community. You think about the people of NB, PEI, NFLD and NS/CapeBreton and they are generally very honest, very compassionate very down to earth types. That isn't to say that the people in Ontario or British Columbia aren't wonderful as well, but generally the way of life in the Maritimes is vastly different then in other parts of the country. I have found that the people in Maine and NH are vastly similar to Martimers in these characterisitcs, but then I guess that we are so close they would be.

What does it mean to be a Maritimer? What makes you feel like you belong? Do you feel like you belong? What are common elements that tie Maritimers together?

Being a Maritimer to be means being someone who is compassionate, hard working and very "real". Maritimers in general seem to be pretty close knit, helping their neighbors or even total strangers out as much as they can. It means not having to lock your doors constantly, being able to pull over and ask for directions anywhere you may find yourself, knowing that the people around you arent totally shallow and self obsessed. I don't know the actual statistics but I am betting that the Martimes has the lowest rate of unecessary cosmetic surgery in Canada, I can't even remember people driving alot of SUV's or generally being the sorts of wasteful assosciated with the United States.

What about the word 'maritime.' The Maritime Provinces. What is maritime about them? About the provinces themselves, and the people who inhabit them? How does the 'maritime' ephithet fit the Maritimes, really? Is there a difference in the *perception* of the maritimes, as opposed to the reality?

Hrm I guess the fact that pretty much all of their inhabitants have come from cultures that were generally persecuted. Lets face it, most of the first inhabitants of the Atlantic provinces were Irish Catholics, Acadians, or Scottish Catholics. They worked closely together in tight knit communities where they culture is pretty much alive today.

Is there a common culture to the Maritimes? What are some aspects of it? Does it have any maritime aspects? Do these have any meaning for people who aren't directly involved in them?

Most maritimers are well "real" they make no pretense of being perfect.They are hardworking, largely poor to middle class, compassionate, loyal people who make their living largely from the land just like their ancestors before them. Martime culture reflects this and to many city folk I'm sure it may seem a bit backward but really it is just well..homey.

I'm from the Maritimes, but nowhere near the sea ;) As such, I don't feel that the sea has any particular relation to my self-identity, or what I consider a 'Maritimer'. I certainly wouldn't expect people from, say, Norway or New Zealand or Japan to share these characteristics, though they might come from near the sea.

I do think there's a common culture in the East Coast, reaching (with variations, obviously) from Nfld to Mass., and possibly a bit south of that, though I have less experience with that area. Historically, there have been very strong connections between these places, stronger than, say, the connection between NB and AB or whatever. E.g., my father's family are from Mass., but have a number of relatives in NS. It's not even as though they were sailors or fishermen or anything - it was just comparatively easy to travel between coastal areas when looking for work or whatever (which is my understanding as to why my g-g-grandfather moved to Mass - shoe factory ;) I feel that, particularly, there seems to be very little distinguishing a NBer from a person from Maine, in terms of dialect/culture. Lots of boarder-crossing towns and families. So I guess I see it more as an East Coast identity than a specifically Maritime (as in the provinces) one. 'Atlantic' as a designation is redundant, imho, and leaving out Nfld makes no sense - sure, it's got some differences (due to being more isolated), but it also has a lot of similarities. It's not really more 'distinct' than anywhere else, I don't believe.

As to what characteristics Maritimers tend to have, I guess I'd say they (stereotypically) tend to be pretty pragmatic, down-to-earth, sensible, family-oriented, friendly, self-deprecating, etc. The difference in perception vs. reality - there might be the perception that all East Coasters are...how shall I say it? Newfies, in the derogatory sense. Slow ;)

In Toronto, I've noticed that Maritimers still tend to cluster together, even if they didn't know each other back home. In a small way, it's like being members of a minority group. We can sympathise with each others' situation, and complain about how no one can remember if we come from NB or NS, or even know the difference between the two. I admit I would likely be more favourably disposed towards a stranger if I knew they were from the Maritimes. I would probably expect them to be a friendlier person - which is totally unfair, but there you go ;)

I have all sorts of insightful things to add, including some thoughts about Maritime (not maritime) landscapes, but it will have to wait till tomorrow, since I have some work to do, and then reading AFFC! Which is more important! Sorry ...

How does a 'Maritime' identity, if such a thing exists, compare with an 'Atlantic Province' or an 'East Coast' identity? Is there a difference?

I think that there is a difference between a Maritime and East Coast identity, less so between 'Maritime' and 'Atlantic Canadian.' Canadians, whatever you may think of this, tend to define themselves, not only in terms of their own culture, but also in opposition to an Other -- specifically the US. This is why I would say there *is* something setting apart an East Coast and Maritime/Atlantic Canadian identity: however similar our roots and cultures may be, for a lot of people, the fact that they are not American is a big part of being Canadian. It's like a differential identity. I'm Atlantic Canadian -- not Central/Western Canadian. But I'm Canadian-not-American first.

There is definitely something about the Maritimes... I probably told you this story already but I'll share the abridged version here as well. When I was at a party in Aberystwyth, a guy I'd never met came up to me and asked me if I had ever been to Canada. I thought at first that he was just some guy hitting on me, but I said yes all the same; and told him I was in fact Canadian. He asked me where I was from, and I told him NB... This is where he got a weird look on his face. He asked me if I'd ever been to Moncton. Feeling kind of weirded out, I told him that most of my family were from Moncton. It turned out that's where he was from as well, and he'd decided to come up and talk to me because I "just looked like ... home." How did he know? I hadn't been talking to him or anything previous to that, so it couldn't have been my accent...

OK, well obviously, I am not a Maritimer, but here goes:

I can't possibly comment on whether there is a "Maritime identity", but I don't think there is such a thing as a "Maritime personality", regardless of whether you include or exclude Nfld. I think that what some people may perceive as an openness, or a small-town feeling, or a particular pragmatism and honesty, is also found in lots of other parts of the country. Specifically, having grown up in Central/Eastern Ontario, which was settled in the late 18th century by a mixture of Loyalists and Irish Catholics with a good smattering of French, I think that rural central-eastern Ontario is pretty darn similar in personality and general culture to "the Maritimes", once you exclude the fishing and coal mining, which obviously doesn't apply to Fredericton anyway. It is not a coincidence that a lot of F'ton people like Ottawa a lot more than Toronto - the similarities in background and culture are really very deep! And for the more rural parts of NB, you have parallels in the sort of north-central Ontario belt that runs along Highway 7 up from about Peterborough up to Ottawa - small towns, some heavy industry, lots of forestry once upon a time but not quite as much anymore, with people stereotyped as rednecks/hillbillies. Contrast this with the prairies, settled mostly in the mid-19th to mid-20th century, in a much more organized way and including lots of people from various European ethnicities, but not so many Catholics - I think there's a distinction there, although linguistically and culturally, Canada is surprisingly homogeneous for its size once you exclude Quebec.

But you mentioned in your original post that you were led into this thought by your class in maritime landscape, and so I thought that unlike other people, I'd add my thoughts on that:

One of the things that struck me first about the landscape of NB was coming down the Trans-Canada and thinking how oddly and unnaturally beautiful some of the areas near the river were. It was only somewhat later that I realized that it was because of the dam and the way the flooding had altered the natural landscape, and that in fact inland NB is very much like parts of Ontario in terms of general geographical features. I think it would be very challenging for me, or anyone else with familiarity with both regions, to accurately identify which is which from a set of photos.

I do think that the sea makes a big difference to the feeling of being in a maritime landscape. There is no place in Ontario that is really like, say, St. Andrew's, or Fundy park. Nova Scotia thus feels a lot more to me like "the Maritimes" in terms of general landscape and setting than Fredericton does, although as I say, coastal NB "counts" too. I don't mean to imply that anyone from F'ton *isn't* a Maritimer, or whatever - like I say, I can't really comment on identity issues. And I'm not even saying that all coastal landscapes feel the same to me - Cape Breton is radically different from Fundy! But in terms of when I feel, "Gosh, this is the Maritimes!" it's pretty much only when near the ocean.

P.S. Do Maritimers consider the Gaspé to be part of the Maritimes? It's really not so different from northern NB, but no one has mentioned it.

Hey... I saw this up on the nbfriends board. Although I may not answer your questions properly - I'll share a piece of my mind. Hehe.

I come from Massachusetts, so obviously I can't exactly tell you what it means to be from your area. My ties to New Brunswick go back to my grandparents (my fathers side). They were from Shediac and Bouctouche. I never took much intrest in this as a kid - except that the names sounded pretty silly. I always wanted to belong to a "culture"... but alas I am a mutt. My mothers parents were French, and Fin-Swedes.

Where I am from in Massachusetts, I'd go out on a limb and say that 25-40% of the population in my town is from New Brunswick. The phonebook is full of Leblancs and Cormiers. Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting my current boyfriend who happened to have been born in St. Antoine. I never realised the extent of the influence New Brunswick has had on my life, or my home until then.

For me, New Brunswick, and the Maritimes mean two things - family & culture. Until I met these people, like I mentioned before I never had a sense of family or culture that I longed for like I do know. I met my boyfriend while playing music - him and his brothers (all four of them are excellent musicians) came and joined us one night and jammed. From the minute I heard them play, and their music - I knew it was familiar. It may sound silly and it's hard to describe... but I knew it was in my blood. (My boyfriend says there are a lot of excellent musicians in New Brunswick - because thats all there is to do).

At least once a week, sometimes two or three times, we all get together someplace and play music. Sometimes 3 or four of us, at other times it could be 14 of us. The music is one common denominator amongst many french-canadians down here. We play mainly bluegrass, and country classics - canadian and american. It is a huge part of our lives... I think (I know) some of us couldn't function with out it.

I also find it amazing how networked the french-canadians are down here. Everybody knows everybody - which is amazing, because the first generations commonly came from families of 15, 16, 17, 18+ kids. I had a crush on a boy in my highschool - my father broke it to me that he was my cousin. :( We had no idea - but my family did make up about 20% of my town (the odds are not good) :) Not only do they know everybody from our town... they seem to know all the french-canadians in other towns. They know everything about everybody, who they're married to, what they do, where they lived in NB - who they lived next to. It's crazy.

Random things I've noticed:
The ladies manage to gossip in two different languages while knitting and making rappe at the same time.

The men are hard-working, and seem to like their liqour.

If you ask them - EVERYTHING in Canada is better. Potatos, yarn, tea, bologna, coffee crisp!

I can't describe what it is about these people that make them different, but there surely is something. They seem incredibly humble. I know... I'm glad I'm a part of it - even if it's just a little part of me. I'm just happy I found that culture I was looking for... someplace I finally fit in. And... maybe that IS what it is about (if you think of the history of the people).