Being and belonging: the construction of Filipino spaces in Newfoundland

Abstract

Filipinos have a six-decade-long history in Newfoundland. However, since their arrival and gradual settlement on the island from the early 1960s onwards, only one survey has been carried out in 1982 that provides a brief glimpse into this community’s life and activities. No ethnographic research has ever been conducted about this population. However, Filipinos are the third biggest ethnic minority group on the island. Despite a pattern of low immigrant retention rates in Newfoundland, the number of Filipinos has steadily increased, revealing visible growth throughout the years. This ethnographic study is the first one of its kind that examines the Filipino population in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The setting of this study is considered through the lens of “host-region” (Lesiv 2022; Lesiv and Shibley 2024). The enquiries in this research have been designed to primarily investigate how this community has historically created a sense of place and belonging in the context of the culturally distinct host-region of Newfoundland. In order to achieve this goal, thirty community members of different generations, occupations, and socioeconomic statuses have been interviewed. Through the study of three folklore genres (material culture, foodways, and community gatherings and events), the collective placemaking efforts of Filipinos in St. John’s, Newfoundland, have been examined, specifically taking into consideration emic perspectives that reveal the important role of cultural psychology and worldviews with regards to building a community life. Furthermore, the finding of this research have been analysed with regards to sociologist Peggy Levitt and social anthropologist Nina Glick-Schiller’s the “ways of being” and the “ways of belonging” (2004), further expanded in the work of ethnologist Maja Povrzanović Frykman (2019). This ethnographic study documents, analyses, and provides previously untapped data about Filipino-Newfoundlanders and their history in Canada’s most easterly location.