Epilogue 109 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     being so. What they need is to be able to work together 
     
     and to be held together by some deep bond. In the case 
     
     of Tignish, the deep bonds are the Catholic Church and 
     
     nearly two hundred years of shared experience and 
     
     achievement. The very fact that co-operative institutions 
     
     of one kind or another have always flourished in the area 
     
     shows both that there was sufficient unity beforehand to 
     
     allow this to take place, and that the institutions themselves 
     
     have encouraged further unity. Yet Alberton, the next 
     
     community southeast from Tignish, appears to be doing 
     
     well, even though it is very diverse religiously and 
     
     includes inhabitants who represent a wide range of ethnic 
     
     origins. So the question of how important unity is to the 
     
     survival and development of a small community is more 
     
     complex than it seems at first. Let us say, pending further 
     
     research, that it is advantageous for a community to be a 
     
     certain size and to have some form of underlying unity. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In order to survive, a small community needs one 
     
     or more industries which depend on renewable resources. 
     
     Fishing, if carried out judiciously, and sustainable forestry 
     
     are examples. Without these, a community will last only 
     
     as long as the resource is available, and no longer. This 
     
     has often been the case with mining towns, but it can 
     
     happen with other resource—based communities too. That 
     
     is why Tignishs position is still somewhat precarious, 
     
     based as it is on the fishing industry. And the story of so 
     
     many of Newfoundland’s coastal villages has shown us 
     
     all too clearly what can happen if the one and only 
     
     resource fails. 
     
    
   
   
    
     A spirit of independence, not necessarily a conscious 
     
     one, is essential. Independence, bom of remoteness, poverty, 
     
     and the desire to survive, encourages doing what seems 
     
     best for oneself, the family and the community, regardless 
     
     of what may be going on elsewhere, and using the means