It was an emotionally charged day for Mabel Bungay, a long-time schoolteacher, principal and community advocate in Mainland.
First, she read the Scriptures in French, her first language, during a celebratory mass marking the opening of a new museum that had been the all-consuming dream of her mother for years.
Then she experienced the joy of sitting in one of the seats and standing at the blackboard in a restored classroom environment that was her life for about 35 years.
“I cried when I saw it,” she said during an interview afterwards. “It brought back such a lot of memories.”
But there was more to come. At a dinner that evening, marking the museum’s official opening, Ms. Bungay was honoured for her years of service as a schoolteacher and principal, church choir director and civic leader whose efforts kept her threatened community alive and helped to preserve its local autonomy.
She was the subject of a video presentation and tribute presented by her nephew, Dwight Cornect, principal of Ecole Sainte Anne.
First to complete Grade 11
Born in 1934, Ms. Bungay was one of 11 children of the late Johanna and William Cornect. Her francophone family lived in isolation as members of a land’s end community that was without roads, electricity, telephones, indoor plumbing or other modern amenities.
Their only connection with the outside world was the occasional visit to Cape St. George, a francophone community and her father’s home.
“We would walk the trail over the mountain [a three-hour hike each way] to visit our relatives,” she said. “We were usually 10 years later than other communities getting modern conveniences.”
When Ms. Bungay started school in 1940 at age seven, all her teachers were men and they spoke only English.
“I was not allowed to speak French in school,” she said. Nor was she permitted to write with her left hand.
“My brother and I would have our hands tied behind our backs,” she said. Ms. Bungay still uses her left hand for things other than writing.
She considers herself fortunate to have had an opportunity to complete her high school education at a boarding school, recommended by a Mission Father who had come to the community.
“He told my father my best chance of finishing school was to move way.” She was 15 when she started at St. Michael’s College, operated by the Sisters of Mercy in St. George’s.
Her life was highly regimented during those three years. The typical day started at 6:30 a.m. with mass and concluded at 9:30 p.m. Walks would include two students together accompanied by one of the sisters. Her mail was opened and read before she received it.
When she graduated in 1951, she became the first Mainland resident to complete Grade 11 (the highest level for high school at that time) and later the first to become a teacher.
After teaching for seven years in Lourdes and Three Rock Cove, she returned home to teach at the same school in which she had received her early education.
She remained for 27 years, retiring from teaching in 1988 when the new francophone school, Ecole Sainte Anne, opened its doors.
Saying no to Joey
Ms. Bungay is credited in large measure with saving her community during former Premier Joey Smallwood’s re-settlement program.
She became a community advocate, presenting her people’s case before government, the media and all others who would listen.
As a result, Mainland became one of the few communities who bucked the system.
Watching her mother, who spoke no English, standing one day at the window crying as she looked out over the land they had lived on for so many years, convinced Ms. Bungay to do something about the situation.
She was also approached by a neighbour who was planning to build a new house and was vexed about what to do.
“They lived off the land and the sea, grew their own vegetables, had their own milking cows, laying hens and so on. So I decided to see what I could do.”
She said MP Jack Marshall put her on the right track, suggesting a petition.
Ms. Bungay went door-to-door with a paper that contained one question: ‘Do you wish to resettle or not?’
The government was offering each family $4,000 to help with the expenses of moving. Only two families wanted to move, she said, noting they returned to the community later.
“[MHA] Bill Callahan told me if the numbers warranted it, the resettlement would not take place. It had to be a percentage of the population.”
Her case included the facts that the community had a distinct culture and language, which warranted protection, and the people had everything they needed where they were.
Moving to a growth center – Lourdes, Cape St. George or Stephenville – would not benefit the people, she concluded.
The effort was successful in convincing government to quash the resettlement plans and permit the people to remain in their community. The member of the House of Assembly called a meeting of all residents to announce the good news.
“It was a happy day for us,” she recalls.
Now in retirement, Ms. Bungay looks back with satisfaction over all that has taken place and smiles contentedly, pleased with her role in the ongoing evolution and development of her beloved community.
“This is the greatest day of my life,” she says.
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