Introduction 5

it furnishes differs somewhat from those of local myth and from that of other writers. It is, however, firmly based on facts and information, as well as the opinions of a number of Tignish residents and my own personal observations since 1964. It is a panorama running through time instead of space, and concentrates on the workings of a strong will to survive and the interplay of independence and co-operation for more than two hundred years.

I am both an insider and an outsider. As far as Tignish is concerned, I was not born there, nor have I any relations in the village or even elsewhere on Prince Edward Island. I come from a different ethnic, cultural, and religious background: Scots-English, British and French, and Protestant. Some years after first visiting Tignish in 1964, I became a Roman Catholic. Since Tignish is a predominantly Catholic community, this meant that I would be able to see an important aspect of its members’ world as an insider, though still not in the way that they saw it. Also I have now lived year—round in Tignish for over eighteen years. During this time, I have been involved in various community projects. At the same time, I have developed an attachment to the community and even some civic pride. I would argue that some subjectivity ~ enough, in this instance, to have acquired a feel for the place and some personal understanding of what is important to it - makes for a better study, because one is not limited to strictly factual understanding, but can put some flesh on the skeleton.

My role in Tignish, whether as a summer resident or a year-round one, has always been that of an observer trying to understand why the community is the way it is. This book is based on a number of my findings which I feel could be of assistance to other small communities.