tales-of-Fogo-Island

Resettled CommunitiesIn the years following confederation, the government of Joey Smallwood triedto reduce the number of small, isolated communities in the province. To helpmeet this goal, they established the 'Resettlement Program'. As part of thisprogram, people were paid to move to larger 'growth centres' and in a shortwhile, whole communities were wiped out.The communities of Wild Cove, Lockes Cove, Indian Islands, Little FogoIslands, Eastern Tickle, Lion's Den, and Cape Cove are resettled communitieson and around Fogo Island. Some of these communities were resettled underthe resettlement program, while others died because of changes in theeconomy and way of life.The residents of these communities did not have easy lives. They had to bringsupplies from far away and could not get services in their communities. Still,some were prepared to deal with these hardships if it meant they could stay inthe places they loved. However, once families began to leave thecommunities, it affected everyone who remained. Soon, there were notenough people to keep the communities alive.Wild CoveWild Cove is a resettled community two kilometers east of Seldom. Like othercommunities on Fogo Island, it was settled because it was near rich fishinggrounds.Most residents of Wild Cove, fished from bully boats or small schooners. Theyshipped their fish in Seldom, where the merchants had agents. While inSeldom, they also picked up food and fishing supplies.In 1891, a church was built in the east end of Seldom and residents of WildCove attended these services. In later years, they built a one room school inWild Cove. This building was also used for worship by the Church of England(Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1994). However, finding clergywho would travel to Wild Cove was difficult. As a result, services were few.After surviving for nearly one hundred years, the community began to die.Some people believed that life would be easier if they moved closer to