Into Battle – Jerry Kobalenko

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This is the story of the town in Labrador. Its name is Battle Harbour. It offers a charming look at 18th-century living.

Battle Harbour was founded as a cod-fishing centre in the early 1770s. In its heyday, 300 people lived here full-time, but by the mid-1960s, the number of residents decreased rapidly. In the late 1980, the former provincial deputy minister of fisheries, Gordon Slade took on a personal mission to save Battle Harbour. After that, the city has revived as the historical city and now, it has many visitors. The buildings were restored, and some of which date back to the 1700s.There, we can find the life at that time. The cutouts in the city also help us to know the men at fishing work.

This story made me feel like visiting Battle Harbour, since I have just learned about cod-fishing when I visited the museum of civilization. I think it is important to retain its valuable history, and show it next generation. In my city (in Japan), people tends to build a new or high building after the old building is destroyed. But sometimes, we need to restore the old building as Battle Havour did, in order to inherit its history and tradition.

Jerry, Kobalenko. “Into Battle.” Canadian Geographic. April 2008. Print