Kiss the fish: Exploring the history, lore and controversy of the screech-in

It's 11 p.m. on a chilly Wednesday night in May and I'm witha group of touristspacking into the warmth of Christian's Pubon George Street in downtown St. John's.

We're about to take part in one of Newfoundland's most marketed and infamous traditions: we're here toget screeched in.

As classic Newfoundland folk songs blare on the speakers, a mandecked outinfull fisherman's rain gearincluding the sou'wester wields an oar as he makes his way tothe centre of the room in the bar's upper floor.

"Hear ye, hear ye!"announcesKeith Vokey, the master screecher of the night. "I understand we've got a few come from awayshere tonight who want to get screeched in to become real proper Newfoundlanders."

Vokeyis the son of Merle Vokey, the man popularly thought to have developed the screech-in ceremony as it is known today.

During a traditionalscreech-in, come from aways or CFAs are supposed torecite an age-oldsaying, eat a piece of bologna(also known as a Newfoundland steak),kiss a cod and thentake a shot of Screech rum to wash it all down.

But before I tookthe plungeand kissed the fish, I wanted to find out more about the history and lore of the screech-in and what it means to become an "honorary Newfoundlander."

Vokeyexplains that his father, a former teacher,came up with the ceremony when brainstorming ideas for a Canadian Teachers'Federation conference in 1974 to top what had been done the previous year in another province.

"Dad spoke to my grandfather and got a lot of ideas from when he was sailing up on the Labrador coast [with]things that they would do for pranks and having a bit of fun with each other," explains Vokey.

"So Dad took all of those little ideas and put them together with some songs and some jokes and some stories and created an entertaining evening out of it."

Vokey, who performs at least six screech-in ceremonies perweek,says the ceremony became an instant hit. and year after year, demand grewfor his father to perform them at pubs and kitchen parties all over the province.

To find out more about why the screech-in is still so popular today,I travelled to Winterton to find afolklorist who couldexplain why the screech-in has earned itsreputation as Newfoundland's most marketed tradition.

Before Confederation, screech wasconsidered a low-quality, bottom of the barrel, rum.- Crystal Braye

Crystal Braye, the in-house folklorist at Winterton's newly refurbished Wooden Boat Museum, saidthe legend surrounding therum used for the ceremony, Screech, is just as important as the screech-in tradition itself.

"Before Confederation, screech wasconsidered a low quality,bottom of the barrel rum. You wouldn't serve it to your guests, that kind of a harsh rum," said Braye.

Braye explained that, aslegend goes,when Newfoundland hostedAmericanmilitary members during the Second World War,Newfoundlanderswould get entertainment from watching the Americans'reactionsto howharsh screech was. That's where the tradition of serving it to CFAs came from, she says.

However,after Confederation and the introduction of theliquor corporation, rum became regulated, explained Braye, and Screech today is a regular Jamaican rum bottled in Newfoundland.

"The liquor corporation kind of used the legend that screech hadand branded this rum asan experience of Newfoundland," she said.

Braye, a CFA herself,also pointed out that not all Newfoundlanders are fans of the screech-in; some believe the ceremony perpetuates negative stereotypes of Newfoundlanders as "silly drunkards," she said.

Back in St. John's, I met up withfreelance writer Brad Dunne, who wrote the Canadian Encyclopedia's entry on the screech-in, on George Street in the daylight to ask him about that side of the screech-in debate.

Dunne says he became interested in the ceremony after listening to his uncle, who was anti-screech-in.

"He thought it was a grotesque representation of Newfoundland culture and that there are a lot of private interests that are pushing this traditionto get money from tourists," said Dunne.

Dunne doesn't agree with his uncle, though, explaining that tourists and Newfoundlanders alike understand that the ceremony isn't aserious portrayal of the island's culture.

"I think people are kind ofin on the joke,and I think the cool thing about this region is that it kind ofsubverts the stereotype in a really fun way," he said.

As slices of bologna are passed around in the upstairs room of Christian's and we all stumble through some lines about getting a big jib to draw, I can't help but admire Vokey'sperformance and ability to captivate us all.

Then the cod comes out.

My father was always of the mind that screech-insbelonged in every house.- Keith Vokey

Kissing the piece of dead fish may have been unpleasant, but the shot of Screech that followed wasn't much better. And just like that, I've becomean honorary Newfoundlander.

Well, maybe not. But as the bar starts to clear out, I realize that I've learned quite a lot about this cool and quirky island just from the screech-in ceremony alone.

For Vokey, showing CFAshow welcoming Newfoundlanders are and breaking down the negative stereotypes about his homeprovince arewhat makes performing screech-ins so much fun.

"My father was always of the mind that screech-insbelonged in every house," said Vokey. "Really, in my mind it belongs in the kitchens, it belongs in people's homes and it should be reflective of those people."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador