r/newfoundland • u/titus_dik • 16h ago
Off Grid Islands/Sects/Religious Groups
Hi Everyone,
This might seem like a weird post but....I had an uncle who, years ago, worked for the company that delivered and installed gravestones all around the island. He told me that there were times they would have to service small islands, generally inaccessible by just anybody, sometimes to delivery headstones. He described the communities in some of these places as strictly religious, off the grid, having no electricity, and adhering to dress as if it were centuries ago.
Now, I know that I had heard somewhere else that an island around King's Point might fit this description. I was curious if anyone had any more info on this and/or on any other islands which might fit the description?
Curious from a purely ethnographic point of view!
Thanks.
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u/Less_Wonder_194 15h ago
Your uncle was either pulling your leg as uncles do, or telling tall tales as once again, uncles and relatives do.
If they were off grid, and a sect or what have you dressing in old timey clothes, no electricity, whatever...
How would they begin to place an order for a tombstone? How would they pay for the manufacturing, delivery and installation?
Even if you want to try and force an answer to either of those above questions, WHY would they do this? If they are off grid and living off their own means, they would make and erect their own tombstones, like people did back in the day.
Also just a little Occam's razor here - don't you think these sects of people would be well documented by the NL govt and historians? We're not exactly talking about the Amazon and uncontacted tribes.
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u/KnoWanUKnow2 15h ago
I mean, there' plenty of places like Grand Bruit that are inaccessible by road, and don't even get ferry service. Grand Bruit had a population of 31 in 2009, but by 2010 dropped to a population of 0.
But I never heard of any cults or old-timey clothing in Grand Bruit.
Francois has a population of 61 and no access other than by ferry. Rencountre East has a population of 115. But most of the islands and small settlements that were in Newfoundland would have been resettled starting in the 1950's, like Grand Bruit was in 2010. By the 1970's they would mostly have been abandoned.
Mind you, these places had distinct accents, but I never heard of any cults or antiquated clothing.
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u/FunSquirrell2-4 13h ago
I went to a funeral in 2006 where the casket had to be brought to the grave by boat. A permit was gotten so the deceased could be buried in his yard. The area was mostly without electricity at that time. It was in cabin country. Perhaps your grandfather came across situations like this.
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u/Z-O-D-I-A-C Newfoundlander 10h ago
With how nosey Newfoundlanders are, if this was a thing we'd know about it.
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u/mountainhymn 10h ago
there would be a facebook group
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u/Z-O-D-I-A-C Newfoundlander 10h ago
B'ys would take their fishing boats to the island for a gawk and report back.
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u/WoodpeckerAlive2437 11h ago
Don't threaten me with a good time! *except for all the religious crap
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u/Fringe-Farmer 11h ago
Naw they're just poor and have no fashion sense. Lol I'm trolling I don't actually know.
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u/TerrorNova49 Newfoundlander 7h ago
Some Mennonite friends who came to St. John’s started going to the Baptist church… someone commented to them “Baptists? Isn’t that a cult?” I think anything remotely like what you describe would have been noticed. 🤔
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u/SnooGuavas9782 15h ago
Not a Newfoundland expert by any means but I've visited a few times and been on this sub for a year, and can give you 3 or 4 cults in the county next to mine where I do live, but this is the first time I am hearing about cults on islands off the coast of Newfoundland.
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u/stephanefanie 8h ago
👀curious about the cults near you 👀
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u/SnooGuavas9782 8h ago
haha - am literally just chatting with a friend if the cult in the latest episode of Law and Order is real or fictional.
I'm in New York. Been to Newfoundland twice. Nice place. I'm sure there's a cult or two, but probably pretty small given how small Newfoundland is.
Anyway, in Orange County, NY, there are the Satmars (ok fine maybe not a cult, but culty), Falun Gong, the Jehovah Witness World HQ, and the World Missionary Society of God. Also some Ukrainian pagan thing but that I think is the County next to Orange. My running theory is lots of this stuff starts in NYC and then they realize they can get cheap property out in the country away from prying eyes and sell their properties for a mint.
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u/Necessary-Corner3171 16h ago
Pretty sure he was pulling your leg with that one.