“While the tradition of birch bark canoe building may be fading into history, some of this legacy is retained in modern cedar strip and canvas copies. What ever romantic name modern companies give their models, Ojibway and Algonquin Indian were their original authors” - Tim Du Vernes, Golden Lake, Ontairo

There is a video featuring Ray Mears making a birch bark canoe on YouTube. Ray Mears is a British author and TV presenter on the subject of bushcraft and survival techniques, best known for shows such as Ray Mears’ Bushcraft, a show seen here in Canada on OLN. This YouTube series on building a birch bark canoe was an episode of this show. It followed the entire process of building a bark canoe, over a nine day period. It starts out with Ray briefly visiting the Canadian Canoe Museum (in Ray’s words: “a real Aladdin’s cave” of treasures). Ray is guided through the building process by  Algonquin canoe builder, P. Smith of Pikwakanagan Indian Reserve, Golden Lake, Ontario (north of Ottawa). Mr. Smith comes from a family of canoe builders although he is identified in the show as one of the people alive to have this skill. Throughout the building process, there are segments that include Bill Mason and his daughter Becky, Kirk Wipper and William Commanda, to put perspective on the canoe in general, and birch bark canoes specifically.

Photo of Ray Mears from http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Media/Pix/pictures/2009/04/01/RayMearsSurvival460.jpg.

For more on the birch bark canoe builders of Golden Lake, see the VirtualMuseum.ca website, Canoe Builders of Pikwakanagan, http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm_v2.php?id=exhibit_home&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000384. Included are photos of the largest canoe built in Golden Lake by Matt Bernard.

There is also this link on Turtle Island website, the official website of the Algonquins of Greater Golden Lake First Nation Membership, to an article on the birch bark canoe, http://www.greatergoldenlake.com/bark.html. Some interesting background information.

Here is the video on YouTube of Ray Mears building a bark canoe with Pinock Smith:

….the best I can do does not do the place much justice in the way of beauty. - Tom Thomson, letter to Dr. James MacCallum, Oct. 6, 1914, from Canoe Lake Station (MacCallum Papers, National Gallery of Canada Archives).

Take everything as it comes; the wave passes, deal with the next one — Tom Thomson, 1877-1917

Thomson had caught the bug of the North. He soon showed up at work carrying a new paddle, which he immediately tested out by filling one of the photoengraver tanks with water, then placing the tank beside his chair so he could sit down and practise paddling.

“At each stroke he gave a real canoeman’s twist,” recalled J.E.H. MacDonald, “and his eye had a quiet gleam, as if he saw the hills and shores of Canoe Lake.”  - from Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him by Roy MacGregor, p. 28

….“Mark,” he says, “they found Tom Thomson’s canoe, and it’s floating upside down, just in back here, just back this direction, in there against the shore.” Now the water was not near as high as it is now and how that canoe got in there in that condition it was I’ll never know, or anybody else I guess. However, in the Algonquin Story it tells you the canoe was floating right side up. That’s absolutely false. I’m the man that took that canoe and turned it over and examined what was in the canoe; there was none of his equipment in it -…his little axe even was gone – and the paddles were tied in for carrying – his paddle that he used in paddling was not there. If he’d had it with him, we never found it afterwards…. - Mark Robinson, from an interview he gave at Taylor Statten Camp, Oct. 1956 (from Death On A Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy).

A few years back I was at THEMUSEUM in Kitchener….and did a presentation as part of the Searching For Tom art show….my talk was on Tom’s canoe….and I was happy to share some of the information I had gathered about Tom’s canoe….as well as the role of the canoe and paddling in his art and his life…..between 40 and 50 people came out to hear this ‘heritage canoe expert’, or as I explained ‘heritage canoe’ means ‘old canoe’ and I’m an ‘old guy who paddles’….as for ‘expert’, that’s actually an ‘ex-spurt’ or ‘former drip under pressure’. My talk was based on the information I gathered for previous blog entries here….as well as an article I did for Canoeroots. I was asked by a few that attended (and some who couldn’t) to post the text of my talk on Tom Thomson’s canoe….so here is the main parts of the talk I gave (as well as the photos I used)….hope you enjoy:

Tom Thomson: The Artist And The Canoe

The artist and the canoe: when one thinks of canoeing and Canadian art, what readily comes to mind is Tom Thomson.

After 1900, the canoe was not merely something identified with Native people or the fur-trade and exploration. This was the Golden Age of the canoe. Canoes were being used for recreation, especially hunting and fishing. The canoe was necessary to travel into wild places like Algonquin Park. Tom Thomson fell in love with Algonquin Park from the moment he first visited there in 1912. He spent as much time as possible there over the next five years of his life. If not painting or sketching, he took whatever work he could to make ends meet, even briefly as a park ranger and a guide. Often he was off on a canoe trip, portaging into remote lakes and camping out under the stars. So the canoe is central to the work of Tom Thomson. Tom Thomson became known for his skill with a paddle as well as with a brush.

Title: Tom Thomson Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Library and Archives Canada/Bibliotheque et Archives Canada Collection or Fond: Lawren Stewart Harris fonds Reference Number: PA-121719, Box T2509

Title: Tom Thomson on Canoe Lake Creator: UnknownArchive or Repository:  Archives of OntarioCollection or Fond: William Colgate collection Reference Number: F1066/I0010309

Title: Tom Thomson fishing Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Archives of Ontario Collection or Fond: William Colgate collection Reference Number: F 1066-6/I0010312 Notes: An iconic image of Thomson fishing below one of the dams created to help move lumber from lake to lake in Algonquin Park.

Canoeist’s camp by  Tom Thomson, from Library and Archives Canada, Reference Number: PA-193562 Notes: This photo may have been taken by Thomson on his trip through the Mississagi (Provincial) Forest Reserve, Northern Ontario, in summer 1912. The negative has been damaged, explaining the distorted nature of the image.

Title: Tom Thomson, a member of the Group of Seven, shaving after coming out of the woods with a beard Creator: Unknown [Ed Godin?] Archive or Repository: Library and Archives Canada/Bibliotheque et Archives Canada Reference Number: C-007900 Notes: Library and Archives Canada notes this photo was created at Grand Lake. Achray is located on Grand Lake, which was where Ed Godin was working as a Park Ranger in 1916. Thomson would stay with Godin at times during the summer of 1916, painting a sign to hang over the entrance to Godin’s shack. Note: The title this image is filed under in Library and Archives Canada is incorrect. Thomson was never a member of the Group of Seven, which was formed in 1920, three years after Thomson’s death.

Title: Canoe Lake (and vicinity), Algonquin Park, Ontario Creator: William Little Pages: vi Notes: 1. Original Thomson gravesite. 2. Thomson’s body recovered. 3. Mowat Lodge 4. Winnie Trainor’s cottage 5. The Bletcher cotttage 6. Gill Lake portage 7. Alternate Gill Lake portage 8. Guide’s cabin 9. Canoe Lake train station 10. Mark Robinson’s house 11. Algonquin Hotel 12. Coulson’s store 13. Joe Lake dam 14. Favourite camping site of Thomson’s 15. Thomson cairn (also a favourite Thomson camping site) 16. Thomson’s canoe found

Sketch of Winnie Trainor, who was believed to be engaged to marry Tom Thomson, by Victoria Lywood, John Abbott College, from Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him by Roy MacGregor

Title: Shannon Fraser, Annie Fraser, and others Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 48 Notes: Shannon and Annie Fraser on left side.

Title: Annie Fraser, in front of Mowat Lodge fireplace Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 1016

Title: Shannon Fraser, with “The Hearse” Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 3010

Title: Mowat Lodge Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 186 Notes: Mowat Lodge, how it appeared during the period Thomson was visiting Canoe Lake. The Lodge is where Thomson often stayed when he was not camping in the Park.

Title: Mowat Lodge Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 222 Notes: Mowat Lodge, seen across the water during the 1920s.

Title: Fraser’s Lodge (Mowat Lodge) Creator: Tom Thomson Archive or Repository: Art Gallery of Alberta Collection or Fond: Art Gallery of Alberta collection Reference Number: 77.30 Notes: Oil on wood, 21.9 x 27 cm. Gift of Mrs. Gertrude Poole, 1977.

Title: George Rowe and group Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 5084 Notes: George Rowe, who worked as an Algonquin Park guide out of Mowat at the same time as Thomson was there, is in the back row, far left. Rowe was one of the men who brought Thomson’s body in to shore upon its discovery in the lake.

Title: Canoe Lake, seen from Mowat cemetery Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 6932 Notes: Mowat Lodge is visible at far right.

Title: Canoe Lake station Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 2039

Title: Canoe Lake station Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 5905 Notes: Looking west towards Canoe Lake station.

Title: Going to Canoe Lake station for the mail Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Algonquin Park Archives Reference Number: APMA 2500 Notes: The lady seated in the sled is Daphne Crombie, who would later confess some provocative information she claimed Annie Fraser had told her about Tom Thomson and Winnifred Trainor’s relationship. Mowat Lodge, operated by the Frasers, can be seen in the background.

Algonquin Park Guide’s License — Tom Thomson, from  Algonquin Park Archives, Reference Number: APMA 185 Notes: Original document is held by Library and Archives Canada.

Title: Warrant to Bury After A View Creator: A. E. Ranney, M. D. Archive or Repository: Archives of Ontario Reference Number: I0029100 Notes: This form was filled out by Dr. Ranney, the coroner presiding over the Thomson inquest. It indicates that an inquest had been held into Tom Thomson’s death, and that Ranney gave permission for Thomson’s corpse to be buried. The statement made on the form is not entirely true, however. By the time Ranney arrived in Mowat, Thomson’s body had already been buried. The doctor never actually viewed Thomson’s remains.

Title: Coroner’s warrant to take possession of body Creator: A. E. Ranney, M. D. Archive or Repository: Archives of Ontario Reference Number: I0029101 Notes: This form, signed by Dr. Ranney, the Coroner presiding over the Thomson case, gave permission for the body of Thomson to be released to the Chief Constable of the District of Nipissing. By the time Ranney signed this document, however, Thomson’s corpse had already been laid to rest in a grave in Mowat cemetery.

Few Thomson paintings actually have canoes in them. When he did depict a canoe, it seemed to be just part of the scenery. One such painting, simply entitled The Canoe, shows a lone grey canoe on the shore of a northern lake. But by looking at most of Tom’s smaller sketches, it is apparent that these were created from a canoeist’s perspective. Thomson often painted while he was in a canoe.   Tom included the image of a grey canoe in a couple of his paintings….could this be the same grey canoe as shown in the above photo. In December 2005 Joyner Waddington held an auction of works by Lawren Harris (a member of the Group of Seven) and Tom Thomson. These included a little-known oil sketch,  by Tom entitled Canoe and Lake, Algonquin Park, which sold for $369,600 (now that would have bought a pile of Chestnut canoes LOL LOL).

Image of Tom Thomson’s ‘Canoe and Lake, Algonquin Park’ courtesy Joyner Waddington, http://www.joyner.ca/pages/joyner-auctions/viewlot.php?id=1000696. Title: Canoe And Lake, Algonquin Park, oil on canvas, laid down on panel, signed Creator: Tom Thomson  7 ins x 10 ins; 17.5 cms x 25 cms  EST. $80,000 / 100,000  PRICE: $377,100.00  Painted circa 1912-13.  Provenance: Private Collection, Toronto  Literature: Dennis Reid and Charles C. Hill, Tom Thomson, Art Gallery of Ontario and National Gallery of Canada, Toronto and Ottawa, 2002, pages 157-169, colour plates 5-17 for related Algonquin works from the same period and of similar size and medium, in particular, for a painting entitled The Canoe (plate 6).  This work was included in Joan Murray’s catalogue raisonne of the artist’s work.

Tom Thomson also painted The Canoe in 1914, which is now in the Art Gallery of Ontario, yet another depiction of a grey canoe in Algonquin Park.

Image from Group of Seven Art.com, a fine arts reproduction company,http://www.groupofsevenart.com/Thomson/Images/Tom_Thomson_The_Canoe_1912_GS.jpg.  Note: This image incorrectly identifies this painting as from 1912.

Title: Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park Creator: Tom Thomson Archive or Repository: Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection or Fond: University of Guelph Collection Reference Number: MSAC-UG989.097 Notes: Oil on canvas. Gift of Stewart and Letty Bennett, donated by the Ontario Heritage Foundation to the University of Guelph, 1988.

Title: Chill November Creator: Tom Thomson Archive or Repository: Gallery Lambton Collection or Fond: Gallery Lambton Notes: Oil on canvas, 36″ x 42″/91.4 cm x 106.7 cm. Gift of the Sarnia Women’s Conservation Art Association, 1956.

Title: Tom Thomson studio (exterior), Toronto Creator: Unknown Archive or Repository: Archives of Ontario Collection or Fond: William Colgate collection Reference Number: F1066/I0010308.jpg Notes: This photograph gives a sense of the shack Tom Thomson used as a studio in Toronto. The shack was located adjacent to the studio building Dr. James MacCallum and Lawren Harris erected on Severn Street.

Title: Plaque, Tom Thomson Memorial Cairn, Hayhurst Point, Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park Creator: Ben Greisman

Title: Tom Thomson 1877-1917, Canoe Lake, Algonquin sign

In July 1917, a a very distinctive blue-grey canoe was found floating upside down, with a paddle lashed inside as if ready to portage, in Canoe Lake. A week later, the body of Tom Thomson was also discovered, with fishing line wrapped around him. As in life, a canoe figured in his demise, maybe even in more than one way.   Tom Thomson’s death is a mystery. Suggestions range from Tom falling out of his canoe, bumping his head and then had drowning, to foul play and even suicide. I believe it was foul play, and quite possible that Tom was killed over an outstanding loan of $250 he had made to Shannon Fraser for the purchase of canoes (it could be Tom needed the money for his upcoming marriage to Winnie Trainor).

Whatever the case, a canoe is part of the tale. Even through name of the lake where he died in. Stories of a ghostly canoeist have become part of the legacy of Tom Thomson, said to be seen by Lawren Harris among others. But for all of the intrigue involved, Tom’s art speaks for itself. And his canoe is part of that too. So what do we know of the artist’s canoe? In a letter to Tom’s brother, George Thomson, from Winifred Trainor (a local Algonquin Park woman that Tom Thomson was to marry): “….in July 1915 Tom bought a new chestnut canoe silk tent etc…” Dr. R.P. Little states in his recollection of Tom Thomson: “What a horse is to a cowboy, a 16-foot canvas-covered canoe was to Tom. (This canoe was made by the Chestnut Canoe Company of New Brunswick.)” Another source describes that “Tom took great pride in his own Chestnut-brand canoe, which, like a centaur, was almost part of him. The story is told of how he added a whole tube of very expensive artist’s paint to a can of canoe enamel in order to get the exact shade that he wanted.” As for the canoe’s unique colour, there is no doubt that Tom thomson’s canoe was grey blue in colour. Apparently the colour was the result of Tom’s own creation….one source states: “The canoe was distinctive with a metal strip along the keel and painted a grey-green of Tom’s concoction. The small population of Canoe Lake must have known it by sight”….another reference says: “Thomsom had a canoe in which he took great pride, a graceful cedar and canvas Chestnut craft of a unique dove-grey colour, which he had achieved by adding a deluxe $2.00 tube of cobalt blue artist’s paint to a standard grey canoe paint.” So Tom Thomson had a customized blue or green-grey Chestnut canoe. As for what became of Tom Thomson’s canoe, it apparently disappeared. It is told that in 1930 (13 years after Tom’s death), 75 canoes, in various states of condition, were brought to Camp Ahmek to be reviewed by a group of local guides and experts to determine if any were Tom’s lost canoe. Mark Robinson, the park ranger who knew Tom Thomson well, was part of this panel. None of these canoes proved to be Tom’s canoe and they were apparently burned in the camp’s incinerator. Another rumour has a boys’ camp ending up with Tom’s canoe, where it fell into disrepair. Or that it was used as a spare canoe at the end of a portage in Algonquin so one didn’t have to carry over another canoe. It is even possible that Shannon Fraser used it at Mowat Lodge until it was abandoned or rotted away.

Arthur Lismer and Tom Thomson in a canoe,  Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park, May 1914 (McMichael Canadian Art Collection Archives), fromhttp://www.images.technomuses.ca/swf/sublime/sublime_print_en_02.html.

Tom Thomson in his “grey canoe”….Algonquin Park. Picture from Don Charbonneau’s website, http://doncharbonneau.com/fr_tomthomson.cfm.

From the picture of Tom Thomson in his canoe, I believe that the canoe is a Chestnut Cruiser or a Guides’ Special (that was a version of the Cruiser), likely 16 feet in length. It couldn’t be a Prospector since the Prospector didn’t appear until 1923. The Crusing Model was made in two grades, with the first grade being of better material and finish, with two cane seats; the second grade might have cedar that contained small knots, with a slightly heavier canvas and a waterproof finish to withstand heavier usage, painted in a dull grey slate, having one cane stern seat and a bar forward. The first grade 16 footer was appropriately named the Premier, while the second grade was named Kruger (after a prominent Boer War figure). The Cruising model was a larger canoe than the Pleasure model, “higher towards the ends, and designed for rougher water.”  Because of a rounder hull and being slightly rockered, it was better suited for rivers or whitewater. The Guides’ Special had closer spaced ribs (even having half ribs in earlier models) to supposedly stiffen and strengthen the canoe, again for harder usage. The 16 foot Guides’ Special was known as the Boone. Early prices for a Cruiser ranged from $33 to $43, depending on grade, for the 16 foot length, with the same sized Guides’ Special at $38.

The first is from the 1904 catalog and is the Cruiser model. Next picture is the 1913 Guide model.

The first is from the 1904 catalog and is the Cruiser model.

Second is from the 1913 catalog and is the Pleasure model.

Third is a picture that comes after the Pleasure model in the catalog… one could presume it is the Pleasure but that isn’t stated. The angle is similar to the one in the picture of Thompson (spelling) in his canoe, and the two canoes appear to have similar lines.

Fourth picture is the 1913 Guide model.

Images from the “Canadian Wood Canoe & Boat Company Catalog Collection” available on CD from http://www.wcha.org/catalog/ andhttp://www.dragonflycanoe.com/cdrom.htm on the web.

Whatever the canoe was that Tom Thomson paddled, it certainly is forever interwined with his art and his life.

I also included a poem I wrote regarding the Tom Thomson saga:

Ghost Canoe

Painted using a mixture of regular marine grey and an artist’s $2 tube of cobalt blue

There was little chance of mistaking Tom Thomson’s distinctive “dove grey” canoe

Yet when it was found floating upside down in Canoe Lake

Offshore and unattended, riding free in the wave’s wake

Little could anyone have realized the great mystery about to unfold

The legend and the lore of the man, the story that might never be told

Discovering Thomson’s body bobbing near Little Wapomeo Island

With a bruise over the temple, blood coming from the ear

Could this be the result of an argument that got out of hand?

At the very least finding Tom such had been the greatest fear

With so much talent and surely a prosperous future just ahead

It was sad that by July 1917, at age 39, Tom Thomson was dead

But would anybody ever know how he had met this terrible fate?

Over the years memories fade and facts become less than straight

What is to be made of the ankle wrapped around with fishing line?

Was Tom killed by a waterborne whirlwind or likewise divine?

And what ever became of the missing favourite paddle?

So much that is hard to fathom or begin to try to straddle

What of the two paddles lashed inside the canoe as if ready to carry

But apparently haphazardly tied in with less than an expert’s knot?

Had Thomson decided to head out west, to leave without further tarry?

Was a loan to Shannon Fraser involved, a debt for canoes recently bought?

Were harsh words over the war with Germany allowed to enflame?

Was Martin Blecher (or was it Bletcher?) that was the one to blame?

Would the truth ever come out of what had happened to the artist cum guide

Had he drowned standing up attempting to pee over the canoe’s side?

Was it a case of possible foul play or even suicide?

Had Tom Thomson gone missing due to a matter of family pride?

Had he promised Winnie Trainor that they would wed?

Or was his death the result of a fatal blow to the head?

Was there a baby that was soon to be due?

And who really last saw Tom in his canoe?

What is to be made of the report of the artist’s frequent swings in mood?

Was Thomson a gentleman, true in his word, or a drunkard sometimes crude?

Was he happy or sad? Was he bi-polar or even depressed?

So much remains unknown and never properly addressed

The coroner arrived after Tom had been embalmed and already buried

Holding a brief inquest that found death to have been accidental drowning

When to some such a finding seemed at the very least somewhat hurried

Even the coroner’s report becoming lost can only leave one frowning

What of the bruise on the temple? Was it on the left or the right?

Surely there must have been talk from the locals of a possible fight?

Accidental drowning may have been the official word

But this just seems far too simple and even absurd

Most thought Tom was more than adequate in the water; it was known he could swim

He was also considered a good enough paddler to keep any canoe reasonably trim

No water in his lungs? So long for the body to surface? Did something prevent it to rise?

Too many questions for such a quick report….too much unanswered to just surmise

What of the questions of the actual burial site? Is Tom in Leith or at Canoe Lake?

Was there really a body in that sealed metal casket? Or merely sand meant to fake?

Why has the family never allowed exhumation? Was undertaker Churchill sly as a fox?

Who was dug up in 1956? Thomson or someone of Native descent left in the same box?

Why did Miss Trainor continue to place flowers on a supposedly empty grave?

Baffling and puzzling to say the least….enough to make some even rant and rave.

But through all that is written, whatever theories may be, no matter all that has been told

Whether far too many questions still remain or how much this mystery may take a hold

To me one thing constant through all of this is the spiritual image of the canoe

Canoes appear in his art, even that distinctive Chestnut, painted grey blue

A canoe was involved in his death and in the name of the lake where he lost his life

Maybe from a debt over the purchase of canoes, money he needed to take a wife?

A ghostly figure has been seen on misty mornings paddling a canoe on Canoe Lake

But a silent, even benign ghost, hardly scary enough to keep one up nights wide awake

So canoes weave in out of Tom Thomson’s story; he even often painted from a canoe

But what became of his beloved Chestnut, with metal strip down the keel, and grey blue

Little is known where it ended up; maybe rotting at Mowat Lodge or on a portage trail?

Years after Tom’s death, a local camp even tried to locate this canoe, but alas to no avail

Painted using a mixture of regular marine grey and an artist’s $2 tube of cobalt blue

There was little chance of mistaking Tom Thomson’s distinctive “dove grey” canoe

Yet when it was found floating upside down in Canoe Lake

Offshore and unattended, riding free in the wave’s wake

Little could anyone have realized the great mystery about to unfold

The legend and the lore of the man, the story that might never be told

And while that canoe would become like the figure of a ghost

It is always part of Thomson’s art and life, playing no small role

Not just involved in a bit part, and certainly one larger than most

Maybe it was finally lost in time, but is always seen as in the whole

To some it might appear to be just another canoe, making no difference in any way

But to those who knew it could only be Tom Thomson’s Chestnut of blue grey

Painted using a mixture of regular marine grey and an artist’s $2 tube of cobalt blue

There was little chance of mistaking Tom Thomson’s distinctive “dove grey” canoe

Yet when it was found floating upside down in Canoe Lake

Offshore and unattended, riding free in the wave’s wake

Little could anyone have realized the great mystery about to unfold

The legend and the lore of the man, the story that might never be told

One of the team of builders/support staff involved in the Fort Severn Canoe Project is Doug Ingram. When Doug was in Fort Severn,  he documented Cree paddles from that area on Facebook…..I thought I would share those here, using Doug’s description from Facebook:

The Cree paddles as documented by Adwin Tappen Adney.

Some other documented Cree paddles.  Notice the similarity to the green one from Fort Severn?

Close up of the inscription.

The flat side of the blade.

Shaped side.  For all you paddle makers out there.

Here is a photo of Doug hitching a ride in Fort Severn chief Matt Kakeskaspan’s canoe….showing more of the local paddles:

As well I had posted a photo from a book by John McFie showing a paddle being made….

I have written about canoe songs frequently here….suggesting music that you could paddle your canoe to….mentioning often the ‘song of the paddle’….finding online sources like the YouTube video of Connie Kaldor’s Canoe Song:

So I decided to check out some othertunes on YouTube video related to canoes….some original tunes….some old standbys….some unusual ones….I hope you enjoy this collection of more canoe songs:

First an old standby….frequently played at camps:

Little Canoe Song

Another version:

Boy and a Girl in a Little Canoe

And yet another….a very interesting one:

VERANDA MUSIC – Boy, Girl, Canoe

Then this tune entitled ‘Little Canoe’ (sung by Jim McLean)….with a much different slant….check out lyrics included in video:

Little Canoe - Jim McLean

An old tune first sung by Paul Robeson (of ‘Showboat’ fame):

Paul Robeson Sings “The Canoe Song” from “Sanders of the River”

Or this version of the same song:

The Canoe Song – The Karl Denver Trio

Then there were a few about old canoes:

The Old Canoe, Original Music Video, 2001

Then this song version of George Marsh’s poem ‘The Old Canoe’, sung by Dave Bain:

The Old Canoe

Then there was several tunes based on ‘blue canoes:

This instrumental by Hairy Larry (watch the video you’ll understand the moniker):

Blue Canoe

Then this song by Blue Mountain:

Blue Mountain – “Blue Canoe”

Then this bend on a blue canoe:

“Blue Canoe” by Glen Roethel with Penny Nichols

Then there is this take on blue and canoe….with an interesting old canoe related cartoon included in the video:

“Blue Canoe” Live,  Written and Performed by Jim Chevalier

Of course I’m always interested in music that makes your canoe dance….so I found this video clip interesting from the standpoint of history….this version of a Passamaquoddy canoe/paddle dance:

The Grand Design Canoe Dance

Or take a ride in a voyageur canoe….to a tune by one of my favourite canoeing/paddling songsters Ian Tamblyn:

A Musical Journey by Voyageur Canoe

Paddles up until later then….and enjoy the song of the paddle….

While this is Boxing Day, I thought I would share this YouTube video of the French Canadian folk tale of The Christmas Canoe:

While checking out Henri Vaillancourt’s website, Henri Vaillancourt: Traditional Birchbark Canoes, I came across his work on snowshoes….specifically Attikamek snowshoes….these are very unique snowshoes to say the least….check out this book by Henri….from Henri Vaillancourt: Making the Attikamek Snowshoe:

Making The Attikamek Snowshoe: The square-toe snowshoes of the Attikamek Indians By Henri Vaillancourt

Old Attikamek snowshoe ; circa early 1900′s

Delicate grace and meticulous workmanship, combined in a harmonious blend of function and art make the Attikamek snowshoe one of the finest examples of handmade Indian snowshoes in North America.

“While Making The Attikamek Snowshoe” describes the design, construction, and use of this highly evolved Native American implement.Discussed are the various modifications of the basic”square – toe” snowshoe style and their effect on performance — the selection and preparation of timber stock — tool manufacture and use –frame assembly — skin preparation — plain and fancy snowshoe weaving — snowshoe decoration–and Native harnesses and footgear.   176 pages, 130 illustrations, 255 photos

While Indian snowshoe making was highly developed throughout all of northern Canada and the US , it reached it’s peak of refinement in eastern Canada and Maine, where the snowshoe transcended the merely utilitarian to become fine art .In these regions, the men displayed their skill and aesthetic sensibilties in the fashioning of the snowshoe frames , where the wood staves were often bent into fanciful shapes , making them pleasing to the eye without diminishing their functionality. To the south , the front of the snowshoe was often bent in the ”square toe ” pattern and , in some areas , further hollowed along the sides to enhance the overall effect ; farther north ,snowshoe tails were given the rounded or squarish forms known as the ” beavertail” style. The making of these more elaborate frames required additional labor , and consequently greater care was expended in their weaving , as the most complex woven designs can be seen in these snowshoes ; here the women expressed their talent by incorporating beautiful geometric patterns in a mesh that was sometimes so closely woven that a matchstick would not pass through.

While Making The Attikamek Snowshoe was not written in a ”how -to ” style , it was meant to provide an aspiring craftsman the detailed information needed to reproduce the fine work of earlier generations while serving ,as much as possible, the broader scope of ethnology.

Elisabeth Flamand with the finished snowshoe painted with traditional powdered pigments ; the end sections are painted solid red and the midsection is outlined in red according to a traditional pattern ; Manouane , Quebec , 1983 ; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe”, photo Henri Vaillancourt

Elisabeth Flamand weaving the mid-section of a pair of square-toe snowshoes ; Manoune , Quebec 1979 ; photo Henri Vaillancourt

Weaving the mid-section of an Attikamek snowshoe ; the extra space at the tail crossbar is a decorative feature peculiar to the Attikamek ; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe”; sketch , Henri Vaillancourt

“While Making The Attikamek Snowshoe” describes in detail the making of different styles of snowshoe as practiced by several elderly Attikamek Indians in the 1970′s and 80′s. A partial list of topics covered include :

the relationship of the Attikamek snowshoe to other tribal types

modifications of the basic design and their effect on preformance

“Winter and “Spring” snowshoes

“Men’s”, “Womens’s” and “Children’s” snowshoes

The different species of wood used for snowshoe frame construction and their advantages and disadvantages.

The splitting and preparation of the frame stock and a discussion of the tools used, including the making and usage of the  “crooked knife”

The bending of the frame including a discussion of ”cold bending” versus the use of hot water

The different types of animal skins used for snowshoe lacing and their advantages and disadvantages , as well as seasonal variations in skin material.

The preparation of raw hides for snowshoe material , including techniques employed during both cold and warm weather , and a discussion of the traditional tools.

Cutting and preparing the snowshoe lacing to produce a weave that will remain tight when wet

Lacing the snowshoe , including both basic weaving styles as well as the incorporation of decorative geometric patterns in the toe tail portions ; also the lacing of the mid-section with the fancy double selvage cords.

Painting the snowshoe as ornamentation

The different styles of Native snowshoe harnesses and their superiority over modern systems

A discussion of traditional moccassins and related footgear and their advantages over modern footgear for snowshoe use.

Moise Flamand pulling a square-toe snowshoe frame into shape; Manouane, Quebec 1979; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe ”, photo Henri Vaillancourt

Elizabeth working on painted snowshoe

The decorative double selvage cords in the mid-section of an old pair of fancy snowshoes,;circa early 1900′s . Double selvage cords were once a fairly common feature of the more highly finished Attikamek snowshoes ; they create distinctive bands of separation between the actual woven part of the mesh and the snowshoe frame….when combined with the double space at the rear crossbar , the woven mesh appears to float in the frame , giving the snowshoes a light and delicate appearence; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe”, photo courtesy of lower Ft. Garry National Historic Park

Installing the double selvage cords in a pair of fancy snowshoes; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe”, sketch Henri Vaillancourt

Moise Flamand splitting a yellow birch log with wooden wedges for making snowshoe frames; Manouane, Quebec 1979; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe ”; photo, Henri Vaillancourt

Moise Flamand tying the tails of a newly bent snowshoe frame, Manouane ,Quebec 1979 ; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe” ; photo Henri Vaillancourt

The start of weaving the toe of a ‘square-toe’ snowshoe. The weaving pattern is essentially the same in all parts of the snowshoe, but is modified to fit different configurations of space ; here it is modified to fill the wider square-toe section of the frame [ as compared to the more triangular tail section].From ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe”, sketch Henri Vaillancourt

An exceptionally finely woven snowshoe, circa pre-1926, McCord Museum collection, Montreal. The pattern is unusually complex, but might be typical of snowshoes made in earlier times: from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe”, photo Henri Vaillancourt

Judith Quitich and a newly woven snowshoe with geometric patterns in the toe and tail sections ; Manouane , Quebec, 1979 ; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe” photo Henri Vaillancourt

The tail weave of an old pair of highly finished Attikamek snowshoes.The woven designs have been traced over with black paint to highlight them , a technique used by other tribes as well; often the woven designs are left unpainted.Note also the double space in the midsection weave at the tail crossbar , a technique peculiar to the Attikamek; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe”, photo courtesy of the Lower Ft. Garry National Historic Park

Cree Indian lacing up a winter moccasin ; the strings are wound around the cloth top flaps to close them. The bottoms are made of moose or caribou skin. Warm and light , moccasins are the best footgear for use with snowshoes, allowing for a control of the snowshoe impossible with stiffer foot coverings ; Assinica Lake,Quebec 1980 ; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe” photo Henri Vaillancourt

The typical Attikamek snowshoe harness. Ordinarily made of tanned mooseskin, the harness is sometimes fashioned of lampwick, canvas strips, or cord. The same type of harness is used by the Algonquin, Ojibway and Cree Indians; from ”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe”. sketch Henri Vaillancourt

The moccasined foot in place within the snowshoe harness ; with a simple twist of the foot , the snowshoes can be easily put on or taken off. The soft pliable leather or fabric straps , in combination with the soft leather moccasins, allow for a ‘feel’ and control of the snowshoe impossible with modern footgear and harnessing systems ; from”Making the Attikamek Snowshoe”, sketch Henri Vaillancourt

Because winter appears to be just starting, I thought it was worth while posting this article on a very unique snowshoe….hope you enjoyed.

Paddles up until later then….and here’s to beautiful Native snowshoes too.

If you take a single stick and bend it it will likely snap into two. If you take a bundle of sticks and tie them together then they become almost impossible to break.

We must be like a bundle of sticks tied together – virtually unbreakable… now is the time to put aside our differences and meet within UNITY!

….the canoe is not a lifeless, inanimate object; it feels very much alive, alive with the life of the river. – Bill Mason, Path of the Paddle

There is nothing that is so aesthetically pleasing and yet so functional and versatile as the canoe. – Bill Mason

Today, most Canadian canoeing is recreational. Many of us would assert that it is usually meaningful, aesthetically fulfilling and ecologically sensitive recreational canoeing. Admittedly, these modifiers are not present in the highly competitive, highly structured and technically oriented canoe racing sports which tend not to take place in a wilderness environment. But with these large exceptions, canoeing, certainly canoe tripping and lake water canoe crusising, tends to involve in varying degrees a quest for wilderness or at least semi-wilderness. It also involves a search for high adventure or natural tranquility or both. These activities are an integral part of Canadian culture. Bill Mason asserts that the canoe is “the most beautiful work of human beings, the most functional yet aesthetically pleasing object ever created,” and that paddling a canoe is “an art” not a technical achievement. That certainly means culture. - Bruce Hodgins, from Canexus, p.46

On her Dad’s art: “Like him, I find that paddling can take you on a voyage of creativity where you store up experiences in you memory to treasure for a lifetime.” – Becky Mason

The canoe has appeared in many forms of art….in paintings by artists such as Tom Thomson….and Bill Mason certainly comes to mind….and many many others….then there’s great photography such as that by Jim Davis or Mike Monaghan….not to mention great films by Bill Mason or Justine Curgenven….even the act of paddling a canoe is seen as art (especially if you’ve seen Free-style paddling by the likes of Karen Knight or even a display of Canadian style paddling by Becky Mason….truly canoe ballet)….but the canoe is also found in other forms of art too.

On Facebook, Fiona of Badger Paddles posted on a sculpture/installation in Lewiston, Idaho called Canoe Wave….Lewiston, Idaho is where Lewis and Clark met the Nez Perce tribe….Christopher Fennell created Canoe Wave, a 23-foot-tall colorful wave of canoes welded together on the bank of the Snake River. From his website Making of the Canoe Wave, http://cfennell.com/pages/lc.html, comes this description:

For him, each canoe stands for a person, and here is a wave of them. Visually, it’s a storm of canoes. It’s a monument to Lewis and Clark who used the canoe, but also to the life of the rivers that flow through the valley. It will take 50 or more canoes to create the wave. The canoes are all aluminum, a material that will withstand the storms of ages. He discovered fiberglass would disintegrate. While 10 canoes came from the Boise area, most are from Chattanooga, Tenn., where Fennell once created a giant doorway from trees. People familiar with his work there sold him their canoes after learning of his Idaho project in local newspapers. In the process they shared stories of rapids, frostbite and other adventures in their boats, which were like old friends. “I wanted canoes that had a history to them,” Fennell says. “They wanted to retire their friend into something that would last forever.” Like most of his work, the $100,000 art piece is made from 80 percent recycled materials. As an avid outdoorsman, natural forms like waves, flora and fauna are prevalent in Fennell’s work. “It’s totally where I’m inspired. The engineer in me still looks at how nature puts things together and how man puts things together and I’m mixing the two.” Another way to put it, he says, is a beehive and a skyscraper are basically the same. “I always like to think there’s nature and civilization. If you stand off a bit, we’re all nature.”

Canoe Wave, from http://cfennell.com/pages/lc.html.

This got me to thinking about various sculptures based on the canoe….especially large installations….not public (or even private) exhibits of actual canoes….so I thought I’d post a few examples.

Bill Reid, a famous Haida artist and carver, created several such works. He even helped renew the tradition of building traditional canoes. From The Raven’s Call, http://theravenscall.ca/en/art, a publication on Bill Reid’s art comes this by Dr. Martine Reid (an independent scholar, author, and curator):

In 1991, after five years of work, Reid and his crew of assistants completed the large bronze “The Spirit of Haida Gwaii” (“The Black Canoe”) and installed it in a reflecting pool at the Canadian Chancery in Washington D.C. Its black patina represents the black argillite slate carved by the Haida people. A second casting with a green patina (“The Jade Canoe”) is installed at the Vancouver International Airport. An image of “The Spirit of Haida Gwaii” was chosen to represent Canadian art and culture on the Canadian twenty-dollar banknote.

Bill Reid
“The Spirit of Haida Gwaii” (“The Black Canoe”)
1991
Bronze with black patina 
3.89 m H x 3.48 m W x 6.05 m L
Collection of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT)
Catalogue number 994.98.1
Gift of Nabisco Brands Limited, Toronto, Ontario
Photo: Glen Bullard, DFAIT

Bill Reid
“The Spirit of Haida Gwaii” (“The Jade Canoe”)
1996 
Bronze with jade patina, the second and final bronze casting
3.89 m H x 3.48 m W x 6.05 m L
Collection of the Vancouver International Airport Authority
Photo: Kenji Nagai

Both photos from http://theravenscall.ca/en/art.

The canoe as an image is often used….frequently to tie in with a historical event. In Huntsville is a sculpture to Tom Thomson that Murat V. of the Paddle Making blog wrote about in this post, Tom ThomsonCanoe & Paddle Sculpture,http://paddlemaking.blogspot.com/2010/02/tom-thomson-canoe-paddle-sculpture.html:

In front of the historic town hall in downtown Huntsville is a statue of legendary Canadian artist, Tom Thomson whose raw impressionist style marked the beginning a new era in Canadian wilderness art. His suspicious death in 1917 while paddling on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park served to increase his fame and elevated him to a sort of legendary status.

The statue was sculpted and cast by local a artist, Brenda Wainman-Goulet. It features Thomson in his characteristic wool cap painting a sketch while sitting on a tree stump. Next to him rests an overturned 12 foot canoe and a paddle…..made in ’08. The canoe was sculpted in wax, cut into sections, cast and reassembled in bronze. The total weight of the bronze canoe is 900 lbs (portage that!) and is apparently the first bronze canoe of its kind in Canada.

THEMUSEUM in Kitchener will have an installation based on the Tom Thomson story by Professor Marcel O’Gorman, PhD (Director, Critical Media Lab, Department of English, University of Waterloo), as part of the art exhibition, SEARCHING FOR TOM | Tom Thomson: Man, Myth and Masterworks. For more on this see my blog post, http://reflectionsoutdoors.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/myth-of-the-steersman-more-on-tom-thomsons-canoe/ or Marcel’s blog, http://blog.steersman.ca/.

Artist John McEwen has created several canoe related projects (in these two cases in collaboration with Steve Killing, well known boat designer, including designs of canoes and kayaks….as Steve states on his website,http://stevekilling.com/specialart.htm, regarding such work: I feel honoured to work with these artists. My task is to computer model, render, and sometimes engineer the shapes that they imagine).

A Bronze Canoe Sculpture installed in the Canadian Embassy in Berlin
Artist: John McEwen, photo from http://stevekilling.com/specialart.htm.

From http://torontohistory.org/Pages_ABC/Canoe_and_Calipers.html, Canoe And Calipers.

Photos and transcription by contributor Wayne Adam – June, 2009, from http://torontohistory.org/Pages_ABC/Canoe_and_Calipers.html.

Here is more, from http://torontohistory.org/Pages_ABC/Canoe_and_Calipers.html:

Located on the southeast corner of The Queensway and Windermere Avenue is this public art for Windemere by the Lake. The accompanying plaque has this to say:

This sculpture of Canoe and Calipers, marks the meeting of two technologies: the calipers a symbol of the old world and the canoe a gift of the First Nations. Both were instrumental in shaping Canada and on a smaller scale both refer to the history of the area — First Nations peoples and early explorers canoed Lake Ontario to the south and the Humber River to the west. Most recently the Stelco/Swansea Iron Works Factory which made nuts and bolts occupied this site.

Also in Toronto is a sculpture most know simply as The Big Red Canoe. It can be seen from the Gardiner Expressway….or travelling by GO train. Here are some photos:

Photo from http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/04/30/after-months-of-hurdles-canoe-landing-park-opens/.

Photo from http://mute.rigent.com/index.php?ladat=2009-09-29 , which is described by the photographer as: A new park in downtown Toronto situated on a large condo development. The 8 acre park was designed around the vision of author Douglas Coupland and features this over-sized red canoe pointing out over the Gardiner Expressway – Toronto’s busiest ‘river’.

Photo from Eye Weekly, http://www.eyeweekly.com/city/details/article/71921. This is the description from this website:

Canadian author and designer Douglas Coupland was in Toronto last week to launch his latest project: a park between Spadina and Bathurst among the CityPlace condos. The new as-yet-unnamed park continues Coupland’s Canadiana theme with giant fishing lures, a pathway named after Terry Fox and what will likely become a Toronto landmark: a big red canoe on a hill that points directly at the Gardiner.

Since these articles the park has been named Canoe Landing Park. That is a truly appropriate name….not only for the Big Red Canoe that is part of it….but also for the fact that Toronto began as a First Nations village, then later a fur trading post….and this is close to the access (in Toronto any way) of the portage many knew as the Toronto Carrying Place. ( NOTE: Apparently up to 10 people can fit into the Big Red Canoe….that is a lot of potential paddlers LOL LOL.)

Photo of Nuu-Chah-Nulth Whaling Canoe sculpture in Port Alberni, BC, front view, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nuu-Chah-Nulth_Whaling_Canoe_sculpture_in_Port_Alberni_front.JPG.

Photo of Nuu-Chah-Nulth Whaling Canoe sculpture in Port Alberni, BC, back view, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nuu-Chah-Nulth_Whaling_Canoe_sculpture_in_Port_Alberni_back.JPG.

This sculpture was originally housed in the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria.

Another Canadian canoe art piece is described by Nova Craft Canoes, http://www.novacraft.com/inline_whatsup.htm:

Canadian History Up in the Air

Along with 23 Nova Craft Canoes

Our canoes can be spotted in some unusual places these days.  Two London art galleries are displaying our canoes in an exploration of Canadian history from an alternative perspective.

Underway in London is a research project entitled ‘Mapping Medievalism at the Canadian Frontier’.  Led by UWO art history professor Kathryn Brush, the project aims to introduce Canadian history to the definition of ‘medievalism’.  In the exhibition, artifacts from the European Middle Ages are mixed with Native North American objects from the same era.  The effect is to visually define the ‘Canadian Middle Ages’.

Among the Native North American objects on display is our authentic birch-bark canoe.  Normally housed in London’s Paddle Shop showroom, the canoe is now a spectacle at UWO’s McIntosh Gallery – one of three exhibition sites for Brush’s project.  Together with pre-1550 Native artifacts and other historical objects, the 16-foot replica carries the Native North American side of the visual dialogue.

Our canoes also appear in a related installation, across campus in the Visual Arts Department.  Assigned to respond to Brush’s exhibition, third-year sculpture students have begun their own exhibition, called ‘Medievaled Sculpture’.  The show takes place in the department’s ArtLAB gallery.

Inspired by our birch-bark canoe, the sculpture class decided to use canoes as the backdrop for their show.  Not just one or two, however, but 23 of our Royalex Lites are being installed in the 1600-square-foot space! Moreover, most of the canoes will be hung from the gallery ceiling.  Three people are required to hang each canoe: one to ride a Skylift up and tie ropes to steel girders 30-feet high, and two on the ground to hoist the canoe using pulleys.  The canoes are being arranged in a Gothic pattern reminiscent of medieval architecture.

Underneath the Gothic canoe ceiling, the gallery floor is covered in a collaborative drawing project.  The space in between contains the students’ sculptures, involving all sorts of materials such as clay, glass, wood, metal, feathers, lights, video, and found objects.

The reaction to ‘Medievaled Sculpture’ is that of “surprise”, says Kelly Jazvac, the class’s professor.  The exhibit is a show-in-progress; the ArtLAB gallery is open during the installation.  Closing night is Dec. 2, at which time installation will be complete.  Jazvac anticipates a large closing night crowd.

We are pleased to support the university’s research on expanding the current perception of Canadian history.  In addition to its longstanding reputation as an “icon of the Canadian wilderness”, the canoe can now be considered a symbol of the Canadian Middle Ages.

Outside of Canada are other canoe related sculptures….as I noted in the opening of this post on Christopher Fennel’s Canoe Wave. Here are some other examples:

Photo of Basalt Canoes, Smith Lake, Oregon, fromhttp://www.columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/smith_bybee_lakes.html.

In Las Vegas another example of an installation of canoes was erected in front of the Aria Hotel….from http://motiongroove.com/2009/12/11/not-much-to-update/, comes these photos with the following descriptions:

this a crazy sculpture at the Aria Hotel, if you look closely you will see these are all canoes, probably over 100 canoes were used for this art piece.

closer look at the canoe art piece.

In San Francisco, from http://www.artbusiness.com/1open/021210.html, comes this photo of a canoe sculpture:

From New Zealand, from a blog called Gorgeous With Attitude (a blog by a couple of Kiwi, stay-at-home mums – femivores if you like – living on opposite sides of the world….who get excited about all kinds of things from slow-food,permaculture gardening, farming and pets to art (especially public sculpture and Maori art), local history,trains, fabulous walks, nature, beautiful things in general…), http://gorgeouswithattitude.blogspot.com/2009/11/waka-sculpture.html, comes this description and photos of a very interesting sculpture:

Waka Sculpture

Miranda (NZ)

Here are some thoughts for a New Year….using Native quotes….just some things to think of as we begin the New Year 2014….whether it is thinking about First Nations issues….or Native thoughts on the environment:

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money. – Cree Indian Proverb

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. – Native American Proverb

Is not the sky a father and the earth a mother, and are not all living things with feet or wings or roots their children? – Black Elk (Medicine man of the Lakota (Sioux)

Give me the strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is! – Black Elk (Medicine man of the Lakota (Sioux)

Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy… – Black Elk (Medicine man of the Lakota (Sioux)

The Circle of Life

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days, when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished.

The flowering tree was the living centre of the hoop and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The East gave peace and light, the South gave warmth, The West gave rain and the North, with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion. Everything the Power of the World does, is done in a circle. The sky is round and I have heard the earth is round like a ball and so are the stars. The Wind, in its greatest power whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were. The life of man is a circle from childhood to childhood and so it is in everything where power moves. Our Teepees were round like the nests of birds and these were always set in a circle, the nation ‘s hoop, a nest of many nests where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children. ” – (Black Elk Speaks, pp. 198-200) Spiritual Advisor to the Oglala Sioux in 1930.

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the Sunset. – Crowfoot

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our childresn–that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

This we know. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself… — Chief Seattle

The old Lakota was wise, He knew that man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans too. — Luther Standing Bear (Native American author)

The old people came literally to love the soil and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power. It was good for the skin to touch the earth and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with bare feet on the sacred Earth. Their tipis were built upon the earth and their altars were made of earth. The birds that flew into the air came to rest upon the earth and it was the final abiding place of all things that lived and grew. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing. – Luther Standing Bear (Native American author), from Land of the Spotted Eagle

We did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills, and winding streams with tangled growth, as “wild.” Only to the white man was nature a “wilderness” and only to him was the land “infested” with “wild” animals and “savage” people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery. Not until the hairy man from the east came and with brutal frenzy heaped injustices upon us and the families we loved was it “wild” for us. When the very animals of the forest began fleeing from his approach, then it was that for us the “Wild West” began. — Luther Standing Bear (Native American author)

We have to have one mind for the Four Directions. Until we reach that one mind, we cannot be filled with understanding…. The Creator will not answer until you have just one mind, just like if you have one person. – Grandfather William Commanda, Algonquin Elder

It’s all spirit and it’s all connected. – Grandfather William Commanda, Algonquin Elder

And there are Four Corners of the Earth that we talk about, the Four Colors of people, and the Four Winds. You see the winds-they are spirits. – Grandfather William Commanda, Algonquin Elder

Traditional people of Indian nations have interpreted the two roads that face the light-skinned race as the road to technology and the road to spirituality. We feel that the road to technology…. has led modern society to a damaged and seared earth. Could it be that the road to technology represents a rush to destruction, and that the road to spirituality represents the slower path that the traditional native people have traveled and are now seeking again? The earth is not scorched on this trail. The grass is still growing there. – William Commanda, Mamiwinini, Canada, 1991

Central to all of Elder Commanda’s teachings are the fundamental concepts of equality, as well as respect for Mother Earth, for all life and for people of all racial and cultural backgrounds…Chief Commanda is convinced that the future of life on the planet depends on our learning to live together in harmony with nature upon the land… – Remarks of Robert Chiarelli, Mayor of Ottawa upon presenting Grandfather Commanda with the Key to the City in 2006.

As William Commanda, Elder from the Algonquian Nation and keeper of the sacred wampum belts, said in the opening of his June 10, 2010 message to the Algonquins of the Ottawa River Watershed:

I have been blessed by the guidance and strength of the Sacred Wampum Belts of our Anisninabe ancestors to assert their presence over the past forty years, and many, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, have been awakened to our history, wisdom and relevance in these times of unprecedented global uncertainty and chaos. But in our traditional way of thinking, the individual is only a cornerstone of a community, and we must bring our individual strengths together to recreate the strong communities we developed in the past. I have often said that Indigenous Peoples are the only ones who have never gone elsewhere to make new homes, we are at home here; we maintain the sacred unbreakable connections with Mother Earth, and we have to assert this reality with even greater vigour and perseverance in these times of war and strife, climate change and environmental crisis. Without doubt, Mother Earth’s voice is loud now, and she is calling urgently to draw us back to her. We have a crucial role to play in restoring balance on Earth, and our Earth based and cyclical ways of thinking have a vitally important role to play in human evolution and growth. We can all see the huge deficit and spiritually bankrupt legacy looming in the global landscape.

Or these words of William Commanda: “we need this old knowledge in our teachings to get through this new age”.

When Christ said that man does not live by bread alone, he spoke of a hunger. This hunger was not the hunger of the body. It was not the hunger for bread. He spoke of a hunger that begins deep down in the very depths of our being. He spoke of a need as vital as breath. He spoke of our hunger for love.

Love is something you and I must have. We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it. We must have it because without it we become weak and faint. Without love our self-esteem weakens. Without it our courage fails. Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world…

But with love, we are creative. With it, we march tirelessly. With it, and with it alone, we are able to sacrifice for others. – Chief Dan George

The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air, the fragrance of the grass, speaks to me.

The summit of the mountain, the thunder of the sky, the rhythm of the sea, speaks to me.

The strength of the fire, the taste of salmon, the trail of the sun, and the life that never goes away, they speak to me. And my heart soars. – Chief Dan George

May the stars carry your sadness away, May the flowers fill your heart with beauty, May hope forever wipe away your tears, And, above all, may silence make you strong. – Chief Dan George

Grandfather,

Look at our brokenness.

We know that in all creation

Only the human family

Has strayed from the Sacred Way.

We know that we are the ones

Who are divided

And we are the ones

Who must come back together

To walk in the Sacred Way.

Grandfather,

Sacred One,

Teach us love, compassion, and honor

That we may heal the earth

And heal each other. – Native Prayer

Ojibway Prayer

Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds

And whose breath gives life to everyone,

Hear me.

I come to you as one of your many children;

I am weak …. I am small … I need your wisdom

and your strength.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever

behold the red and purple sunsets

Make my hands respect the things you have made.

And make my ears sharp so I may hear your voice.

Make me wise, so that I may understand what you

have taught my people and

The lessons you have hidden in each leaf

and each rock.

I ask for wisdom and strength

Not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able

to fight my greatest enemy, myself.

Make me ever ready to come before you with

clean hands and a straight eye.

So as life fades away as a fading sunset.

My spirit may come to you without shame

“The traditional way of education was by example, experience, and storytelling. The first principle involved was total respect and acceptance of the one to be taught, and that learning was a continuous process from birth to death. It was total continuity without interruption. Its nature was like a fountain that gives many colours and flavours of water and that whoever chose could drink as much or as little as they wanted to whenever they wished. The teaching strictly adhered to the sacredness of life whether of humans, animals or plants.” – Art Solomon, Anishinaabe Elder

“There comes a time when we must stop crying and wringing our hands and get on with the healing that we are so much in need of” – Art Solomon, Anishinaabe Elder

Grandfather, Look at our brokenness. We know that in all creation only the human family has strayed from the sacred way. We know that we are the ones who are divided and we are the one who must come back together to walk in the sacred way. Grandfather, Sacred One, Teach us love, compassion and honor that we may heal the Earth and each other. – Art Solomon, Anishinaabe Elder

In other words of Art Solomon, an Anishinaabe elder: “To heal a nation, we must first heal the individuals, the families and the communities.”

This bright new year is given me…
To live each day with zest eloped in winter; the fleshy, in summer. I should say winter had given the bone and sinew to literature, summer the tissues and the blood. - John Burroughs

Life is like a flowing river of opportunities..
It’s up to you to stand up with a bucket or with a spoon. – Unknown

Go find yourself, by yourself. 
Do not let others make your path for you. Is your path, and yours alone. 
Others may walk with you, but nobody can make your way. - Unknown

The first morning of a new year….I think these speak to much we seek: the zest in winter, more of the fleshy part in summer….as the Burroughs says: “winter had given the bone and sinew to literature, summer the tissues and the blood”….plus the opportunities a new year bring….as well as finding ourselves.

Just something to think over on the first morning of 2014….paddles up until later then.

Of course New Year’s Day is today….and I hope to spend a few hours walking around (mainly to get some fresh air….and escape this computer for a while….or endless marathons of TV shows or college football bowls). I would love to venture out into the woods and fields of my youth (what are left of them any way….there has been a fair bit of development….especially the building of subdivisions….new homes for the lucky few who can afford an escape to the country….even one within an hour of a major city). My home town hasn’t changed that much….yet it is very different from what it was when my family first moved up here over 40 years ago. The tobogganing hill is  gone….most of the fields are gone….many being bulldozed to create building lots for houses that literally seem to be stacked side by side.

Even the access to the woods that I roamed as a kid is restricted….there are signs posted indicating ‘No Trespassing’ or ‘No Admittance’ or ‘Private Property’. Maybe there was a similar situation when I wandered through the same bushlot as a youngster….it was ‘private property’ after all….but never posted. Then again it was ‘private property’….the private refuge for myself and a few other neighbourhood kids….our personal ‘private’ place….a place where dreams could be made….where we could be explorers or fur traders braving the harsh winter of a vast land….where we could search out the wildlife….looking for tracks in the snow….or other animal signs….especially those easily seen in the winter such as bird nests on the bare limbs of trees.

The winter months were very much the time of being in the bush. There was no problem with pesty mosquitoes. We could hike across the snowy fields….even snowshoe or ski (especially on old wood skis with a bearpaw binding….that attached our rubber boots to the ski) at times. The swampy areas were frozen over….and venturing through that part of the woods was a real adventure. There were a few trees that had fallen over in the swamp….lying a cross the frozen ground with exposed roots. Some such trees became hollowed out logs with time….but even the dirt covered masses of roots, twice the height of any child….some with intricate ‘caves’….any of these creating what we were sure were perfect dens for all sorts of creatures (even bears or wolves in our earlier childhood imaginations….as we became older….and ‘wiser’ we realized they might house the odd raccoon family). There was the bramble patches that housed small animals such as rabbits….which we caught glimpses of now and then….but more often saw the distinct tracks of a rabbit in the snow:

From http://www.old-weston-past-and-present.com/animal-tracks.html.

Sometimes these tracks told a story in themselves:

A photo from http://alistairpott.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/rabbit-owl.jpg, that  as it describes: “….shows the tracks of a rabbit moving across some snow when BAM an owl nails it. You can see the wings of the attacking bird imprinted in the snow – and no more rabbit tracks…’”.

There were a number of birds seen….flocks of crows….woodpeckers tapping on dead trees, looking for a morsel of food (their location given up by the drumming of their beaks on the tree)….common winter birds such as chickadees, blue jays or even grosbeaks….even the odd ring-necked pheasant or ruffed grouse flushed out….and of course an owl or a hawk now and then seen perched in a tree or on a fence post bordering one of the many fields, just waiting for a small rodent to scurry out. One winter we even had a visitor from the Far North….a snowy owl perched on the hydro pole in our backyard….and later I found out that snowy owls came south in years when their usual food source, the lemming, had a crash in numbers.

There was also the tracks of small animals such as mice or red squirrels….even larger ones such as a fox or a deer….or what we were sure was a larger canine such as a wolf….but was more likely a neighbourhood dog….or even possibly a coyote (since they frequent the area around here….and I can hear them howl sometimes at night).

I remember seeing several animals….not just their tracks….raccoons sunning themselves in the winter daylight, high up in a tree….digging under the snow and finding the nest of dead grass that housed mice (that would live warm and snug buried under the snow)….and of course red squirrels scolding from a pine tree.

But because I was limited in time….just out for a short walk before dinner….and any way to that woodlot and fields was blocked by the restrictive signage….and chain link fences….I didn’t head out onto once familiar trails or paths. Maybe that was a good thing….because my memories of those places might not live up to what I could find. If nothing more though, just thinking of what was once ‘our place’, I remembered how fortunate I was growing up where I did. How fortunate were others who had their secret places….a local creek….a ravine….an old orchard….a pond….or woodlot. And why maybe some of today’s kids don’t have it as ‘good’ as we did at the same age.

I have often quoted Sigurd Olson here…..I find much in his thoughts and reflections that just ‘fit’ with my own. Here is Sigurd’s observations of New Year’s,http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/research/sigurd_olson/articles/columns/new_years_and_the_river–jan02.htm:

New Year’s and the River

It was ten below on New Year’s Day and I had gone to the country of my boyhood to get acquainted and to renew old associations. One of the things I knew I must see at once was the river, and though I knew it was frozen throughout most of its course, I also knew that where it ran beneath the old iron bridge, it was free. More than anything else, I wanted to see its n, the bottom with its familiar stones, to listen to the gurgle as it rippled its way over them. Even though it would be sheathed in ice and the open water shrouded with mist, though there were no birds, no humming hatch of flies, no chance of sky reflections, I still wanted to see it, for the little river meant many things to me.

I hurried along the winter road and the road was beautiful with new snow and the pines along the borders of the fields were laden with it. Even the jack pines looked strange that morning beneath their heavy load, more like spruce trees than pines, but the grandest of all were the white pines with their branches drooping close to the snow, near to breaking with the weight of it.

In a few minutes I was at the bridge, and to my joy for a hundred yards the river was open, though crowded by ice above and below. Underneath me, the water was clear and transparent, more crystalline it seemed than ever. Bronze golden nuggets of gravel moved slowly in the sunlight and in between them danced tiny irridescent bits of shell, whirling in the swift undertow, settling for a moment, only to dance again. To one side was a large unbroken clam shell, the polished mother-of-pearl flashing as it also weaved in the current. The larger rocks held their position though the sands eddied impatiently around them. I could hear the soft rippling clearly now, but as an undertone was the constant swish of ice and slush drifting continually from the solid mass above to that below trying, it seemed, to close completely what open water remained.

How alive the river was in this last open space beneath the bridge. Elsewhere it was dead, but here it was as alive as an open wound, alive and full of sound and movement, and I thought as I stood there and watched it that someday I would fulfill my dream and build a house where I could always be near it, close enough so that I could make that perennial aliveness a part of myself, so that when my mind was weary with thinking and my body of work, I could come down to the rapids and watch it and absorb some of its virility and joy.

As I walked away from the river and the swishing of the ice blended at last with the sound of the drifting snow beside the road, I was glad I came, for it did me good to know that it was free beneath the bridge. Somehow, it made me feel that the year was getting off to a good start, that there was much to look forward to, that simple things which had given happiness in the past were unchangeable and true. I went back to the farm house, back to the snow laden pines and the windswept fields I had left.

Just a few thoughts for  New Year’s Day….

“There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude, and peace. The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness and of a freedom almost forgotten. It is an antidote to insecurity, the open door to waterways of ages past and a way of life with profound and abiding satisfactions. When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known.”

Sigurd F. Olson
The Singing Wilderness

A great video….especially for today:

Snowshoe Weaver’s Blues:

“Remember, you belong to Nature, not it to you.” – Archibald Belaney, aka Grey Owl

“Give me a good canoe, a pair of Jibway snowshoes, my beaver, my family and 10,000 square miles of wilderness and I am happy” – Archibald Belaney, aka Grey Owl

I thought it was appropriate to post information on Archie Belaney, the Englishman better known as Grey Owl, and a bit about his canoes and canoeing. Grey Owl wrote several books including Men of the Last Frontier,Pilgrims of the Wild, and Tales of an Empty Cabin, and gave a series of public lectures, all expounding the need for wilderness.

Despite Archie’s fraudulent persona as a Native, he was at least responsible for bringing attention to the need to conserve the Canadian wilderness, first through his writing and then in public appearances. While Archie Belaney has been ridiculed as “a fraud, a bigamist, a drunk, a scoundrel and a liar” (as Dave Yanko starts out his article, Grey Owl’s Cabin on Virtual Saskatchewan, http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grey_owl.html),  other writers see him as a champion of conservation, to the point that “some believe he should rank with John Muir and Rachel Carson in the environmentalists’ pantheon” (as described by Kenneth Brower in his article Grey Owl in The Atlantic Online, January 1990, http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/90jan/greyowl.htm).

For those of you who may not be aware of him, I’ll post this brief overview of Grey Owl from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Owl:

Grey Owl (or Wa-sha-quon-asin, from the Ojibway wenjiganoozhiinh, meaning “great horned owl” or “great grey owl”) was the name Archibald Belaney (September 18, 1888 – April 13, 1938) adopted when he took on a First Nations identity as an adult. A British native, he became a writer and one of Canada’s first conservationists. Revelation of his origins after his death adversely affected his reputation for some time. Since the 1970s and at the centennial of his birth, there has been renewed public appreciation for his conservation efforts. Recognition has included biographies, a historic plaque at his birthplace, a 1999 film by Richard Attenborough (starring Pierce Brosnan), and a 2005 TV special about him.

This website gives a more in-depth biography of Grey Owl.

As well as the previous links noted, for more information on Grey Owl or Archie Belaney see the following links:

http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grey_owl_bio.html

http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grey_owl.html

http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/nlc-bnc/heroes_lore_yore_can_hero-ef/2001/h6-230-e.html

http://www.econet.sk.ca/sk_enviro_champions/grey_owl.html

http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10191

http://www.pastforward.ca/perspectives/august_112000.htm

http://www.1066.net/greyowl/index.htm

http://archives.cbc.ca/environment/environmental_protection/clips/12551/(Note: Contains video of Grey Owl and a CBC report on him…..including the recollections of John Diefenbaker.)

http://hpcanpub.mcmaster.ca/node/176500

Some photos related to Grey Owl:

Portrait of Grey Owl (1936), by Yousif Karsh, from Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Owl.

Photos and signature of Grey Owl from http://www.waskesiu.org/things_to_do/grey_owls_wake.shtml.

Grey Owl, courtesy of Parks Canada, from Virtual Saskatchewan, http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grey_owl.html.

Archie Belaney a.k.a. Grey Owl, courtesy of Parks Canada, from Virtual Saskatchewan, http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grey_owl_bio.html

The affection was real. But the images were carefully constructed to elicit a sympathetic reaction. Image courtesy of Parks Canada, from Virtual Saskatchewan, http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grey_owl.html.

Grey Owl at the time he visited Hastings in 1935, from http://www.1066.net/greyowl/.

Grey Owl courtesy of Tourism Saskatchewan, from http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/grey_owl_archibald_stansfield_belaney.html.

Image of Grey Owl from http://www.historycomesalive.ca/canadians/images/belaney.jpg

Grey Owl is shown here with a beaver pup in Riding Mountain Park (courtesy Archives of Ontario/P-150), from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=ArchivedFeatures&Params=A2132.

Image of Grey Owl from http://www.historycomesalive.ca/canadians/images/greyowl.jpg.

Picture of what is reported to be Archie Belaney’s cabin, from Mr. Canoehead,http://www.mistercanoehead.com/mississagi07.html, from the trip report on a July 2007 Mississagi River trip.

Picture of one of the walls on what is reported to be Archie Belaney’s cabin, from Mr. Canoehead, http://www.mistercanoehead.com/mississagi07.html, from the trip report on a July 2007 Mississagi River trip.

This report from Mr. Canoehead states the following on this cabin that Archie Belaney puportedly lived in at one time:

The legendary Grey Owl (Archie Belaney) lived in this cabin. Although he was not a native, he lived as one and wrote about his wilderness life. It is unfortunate that his dwelling has been defaced by hundreds of people over the years….The current owner could do more than put up ‘private property’ signs. A carving board, for those who must, could be erected away from the cabin. As well, Grey Owl is an icon of our wilderness heritage and as such should be better honoured….

The clean-cut fellow on the right is Archie Belaney, who would later become known as Grey Owl. Archives of Ontario, Duvall photo.  (C273-1-0-46-23), from http://pastforward.ca/perspectives/sep_2002.htm.

From the Chapleau Library’s Vince Crichton Collection, http://www.canadianfishing.com/crichton/vc/vc1.htm, Grey Owl (Archie Belaney) and Anahero, 1920s.

Archie Belaney (Grey Owl) & Gertrude Bernard (Anahareo)’s cabin in Quebec, from http://www.pastforward.ca/perspectives/December_232005.htm.

Grey Owl’s cabin on Ajawaan Lake, from Virtual Saskatchewan, http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grey_owl.html.

An empty cabin a long way from Sussex. But in the wilderness – still, Grey Owl’s cabin on Ajawaan Lake, from Virtual Saskatchewan, http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grey_owl.html.

Ajawaan lake, Saskatchewan, Canada, Grey Owl’s cabin “Beaverlodge”, from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Greyowls_cabin_ajawaan_lake.jpg.

From http://www.waskesiu.org/things_to_do/grey_owls_wake.shtml:

Displayed at Beaver Lodge:

I hope you understand me. I am not particularly anxoius to be known at all, but my place is back in the woods, there is my home and there I stay.
But is this country of Canada, to which i am intensely loyal, and and whose natural heritage I am trying to interpret so that it mabe better understod and appreciated here, at least , i want to be known for what I am

Graves of Grey Owl, Anahareo, Shirley Dawn (daughter), Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Graves_go_an_sd.jpg.

Grey Owl or Archie Belaney have been viewed by many as an icon of the Canadian wilderness, even perhaps of the canoe and canoeing.

In the article Grey Owl: Voice for Canada’s Wilderness by Matthew Jackson, from Paddler Magazine Online, http://www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/2000_3/article_45.shtml, comes this:

An excellent canoeist, Archie’s skills as a paddler are what likely saved him from self-destruction as a bingeing alcoholic, helping him to find work as a ranger in anOntario forest reserve. Paddling a canoe, Archie was at his best, and he spent two summers traveling between ranger stations throughout the remote park. On his canoe outings he began to notice the effects timber barons were having on the northern forests, and angrily composed on birch bark his first statements as a conservationist: “God made this country for the trees—Don’t burn it up and make it look like hell!”

In The Canoe In Canadian Cultures, edited by John Jennings, Bruce W. Hodgins, and Doreen Small, in the chapter Being There: Bill Mason And The Canadian Canoeing Tradition, James Raffan compares Bill Mason to previous personalities (starting with Tom Thomson) associated with canoeing:

….though there are other people since Thomson who have come to be identified with the canoe – Grey Owl, Sigurd Olson, Eric Morse, Omer Stringer, Kirk Wipper, Dan Gibson, and a host of Liberal politicians – none have captured the essence of canoeing in the Canadian imagination like Bill Mason. (p. 24)

So maybe Grey Owl wasn’t quite in Bill’s league but he’s up there LOL LOL.

In Bark, Skin and Cedar: Exploring the Canoe in Canadian Experience, James Raffan states:

…in the more southerly reaches of the country, the great imposter Archie (Grey Owl) Belaney’s conservation efforts on behalf of the beleagured Canadian beaver were similarly secured and authenticated by the canoe-tripping experience. (p.184)

As to how he viewed the wilderness and various means of travel through it, including the canoe, Grey Owl (Archie Belaney) said it best when he wrote:

The trail, then is not merely a connecting link between widely distant points, it becomes an idea, a symbol of self-sacrifice, and deathless determination, an ideal to be lived up to, a creed from which none may falter…. Stars paling in the East, breath that whistles through the nostrils like steam. Tug of the tump line, swing of the snowshoes; tracks in the snow, every one a story; hissing, slanting sheets of snow; swift rattle of snowshoes over an unseen trail in the dark. A strip of canvas, a long fire, and a roof of smoke. Silence.

Canoes gliding between palisades of rock. Teepees, smoke-dyed, on a smooth point amongst the red pines; inscrutable faces peering out. Two wooden crosses at a rapids. Dim trails. Tug of the tump line again; always. Old tea pails, worn snowshoes, hanging on limbs, their work well done; throw them not down on the ground. Little fires by darkling streams. Slow wind of evening hovering in the tree tops, passing on to nowhere. Gay, caparisoned clouds moving in review, under the setting sun. Fading day. Pictures forming and fading in glowing embers. Voices in the running waters, calling, calling. The lone cry of a loon from an unseen lake. Peace, contentment. This is the trail.

(From Men of the Last Frontier, pp. 78-79….also quoted in Bark, Skin and Cedar: Exploring the Canoe in Canadian Experience by James Raffan, p.15.)

From Grey Owl: The Curious Life of Archie Belaney by Irene Ternier Gordon, it is in Grey Owls’ own words that a better side of his character emerges as in his description of canoeing with his fellow rangers:

The canoes seem to leap suddenly ahead, and one after another, with a wild howling hurrah, we are into the thick of it. Huge combers [waves], any one of which would swamp a canoe, stand terrifically beside us there is a thunderous roar which envelopes us like a tunnel, a last flying leap and we are in the still pool below thrilled to the bone. (pp. 35-6)

So what about Grey Owl’s canoe. On the Grey Owl’s Hastings message board, http://www.1066.net/greyowl/visitors.htm,  comes this:

27 Jun 2000

Hi there! Great Bio on Grey Owl! I am actually looking fo some information about Grey Owl’s Peterborough Canoe. Does anyone know what colour it was? Most photographs of him in it are black and white. Thanks for the help,

Sarah Ferguson, Interpretive staff

Assuming this must be someone from the Canadian Canoe Museum (the email address shown on the message indicated as coming from the Canadian Canoe Museum), I contacted John Summers (General Manager of the Museum….who happens to be a great fan of Archie Belaney/Grey Owl….he even had a sailing canoe named Jelly Roll in honour of one of Grey Owl’s beavers) who has passed it on to Jeremy Ward (the Museum’s Curator). I’ll update this entry when I hear back from Jeremy with more info on this.

On researching the WCHA forum on the Peterborough Minetta wood canvas canoe (I have a “new” old 1950s Minetta so I was looking for info on that model), I found the following, http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=1326&highlight=Archie+Belaney+Grey+Owl, which was a post sometime back about a Peterborough Minetta that was supposedly used by Archie Belaney or Grey Owl ….of course as was pointed out in the posts to the WCHA forum this canoe couldn’t have been a Peterborough Minetta as Archie Belaney died in the 1930s and the Minetta wasn’t out as a model until the 1950s. But this thread did contain some interesting comments from various WCHA members (as always quite knowledgeable).

Starting the thread, Dave Lanthier (from Kamloops, BC) wrote enquiring about a Peterborough Minetta Model #1815, S # G4628:

I have it from a good source that this canoe was originally used by the park wardens of Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan. The story has it that to prevent adverse publicity it was not unusual for a park warden to assist the famous yet very inebriated “Grey Owl” [Archie Belaney] back to his ” Beaver Lodge” cabin. What I would like to do is try too prove or disprove that this canoe was used by these park wardens and that Archie Belaney might have spent time in it. Firstly, what years was the 15′ Peterborough Minetta produced? Second, does any one have pictures or any history of Prince Albert wardens and their canoes? Thirdly, what other information might help solve this puzzle? Thanks.

It was pointed out by several others that the canoe couldn’t be a Minetta because it was not introduced until the 1950s. Dick Persson (also of Headwater Boat Restorations) replied with the following:

Below attached picture is one of many of Archie Belaney in Prince Albert National Park. That canoe looks more like a Chestnut “Bob’s” than a Peterborough Minetta.

Picture from WCHA forum, http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=1326&highlight=Archie+Belaney+Grey+Owl.

So while there seems some question as to whether Archie (Grey Owl) Belaney’s canoe was a Peterborough or a Chestnut, since this was after the merger of the two companies under the auspices of  Canadian Watercraft Limited in 1923, it was very likely a wood-canvas canoe made in New Brunswick’s Chestnut Co. plant regardless of what name was on the decal on the deck….as  most of the wood-canvas canoes of both companies were made at the Chestnut factory.

The Beaver People, http://www.nfb.ca/film/Beaver_People/, a short silent film that was made about the famous conservationist, Grey Owl (born Archibald Belaney), and his wife, Angele Egwuna, who had a special talent for interacting with beavers, was made in 1928. Note: The beavers in the film may be Grey Owl’s pets, Jellyroll and Rawhide. If you watch closely, there are several scenes of Grey Owl paddling a wood-canvas canoe….first appearing alone paddling along a stream or beaver “canal” at approximately 2:18….then slapping the paddle on the water to get the beavers’ attention before he is seen to be calling the beavers (roughly2:28 to 2:38)….later he seen getting one of the beavers to come into the canoe (at 2:47 to 3:05). The canoe used seems to be an earlier Chestnut model with similar “closed” gunwales as the Morris canoes. It also looks like the beavers might have been snacking on the canoe based on the damage just below one gunwale at the centre thwart LOL LOL. Grey Owl is seen from 3:43 to 3:58 again “playing” with the beavers in the canoe….which does seem to have the lines of an early Chestnut (very similar to a Morris)….these had more recurve and higher ends than later Chestnuts.

The Beaver People

In 1929, The Beaver Family was made, http://www.nfb.ca/film/Beaver_Family/. This was a short silent film portraying Grey Owl and a family of beavers who would come when he called and take food from his hand without the slightest fear. The film is set in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba. The first few minutes of this film show Grey Owl again with a wood-canvas canoe. At approximately 1:20, he is seen portaging a canoe….this canoe appears to be a Chestnut, possibly a Bob’s Special with a wider beam….and appears to be the same as the canoe in the picture Dick Persson posted on the WCHA forum. At about 2:25, Grey Owl is seen paddling the canoe from a standing position; then at approximately 2:40, he is seen paddling, very much in what we know as the Canadian style today.

The Beaver Family

Here are some other picures of Archie Belaney (Grey Owl) in a canoe:

Grey Owl on one of his canoeing excursions. From a copy of an old postcard, http://www.pastforward.ca/perspectives/august_112000.htm.

Photo of Grey Owl from http://www.econet.sk.ca/sk_enviro_champions/grey_owl.html.

Grey Owl at Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba, circa. 1931, photographer: Oliver, W.J., Calgary, Alberta, also from http://paddlemaking.blogspot.com/2010/01/grey-owls-canoe-paddles.html.

For more on Grey Owl and stories related to him and paddling….including canoe trips see the following (I have repeated some previous links):

http://pastforward.ca/perspectives/sep_2002.htm

http://www.mistercanoehead.com/mississagi07.html

http://www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/2000_3/article_45.shtml

http://www.bearlair.ca/greyowl.htm

http://www.mcclelland.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780771055379

http://www.travelarticles.co.uk/Features/greyowl.htm

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/04/greyowlchristmas.shtml

http://wildernesscanoe.ca/article.htm

http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/grey_owl.html

As an aside, the Paddle Making blog has a post on Grey Owl’s canoe paddles, http://paddlemaking.blogspot.com/2010/01/grey-owls-canoe-paddles.html, that was also posted today….great info….and I really do think that great minds must think alike LOL LOL (I had no idea that this info on Grey Owl’s paddles had been posted until I checked the Paddle Making blog….after I’d posted this blog entry originally)….I have to admit that there were some great additional pictures from Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan, from a link to Tom Buttle’s travel blog, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html, on the post on Paddle Making blog….I’ve included some of them here:

Trail sign, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html#_.

Trail sign, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html#_.

Trail sign, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html#_.

Grey Owl’s cabin, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html#_.

Grey Owl plaque, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html#_.

Cabin stove, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html#_.

Beaver lodge, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html#_.

Grey Owl tribute, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html#_.

Grey Owl signed paddle, http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/tombuttle/10/1246029958/tpod.html#_.

Of course there is also Grey Owl Paddles, http://www.greyowlpaddles.com/, a world renowned Canadian paddle company.

Check out this interesting video from YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhRuWMDR4Bw&feature=related, entitled Wa-Sha-Quon-Asin Grey Owl.

One final sidebar: In Kevin Callan’s book A Paddler’s Guide To Algonquin Park, there is an interesting tale involving Archie Belaney. Kevin writes:

Many historical figures have made use of the Smoke Lake/Ragged Lake portage….rangers continuously used the trail while out on patrol in search of poachers.

One of the most noteworthy poachers in Algonquin was Archie Belaney (Grey Owl). In the winter of 1909, Belaney boasted to another trapper that he could head clear across Algonquin Park undetected by park rangers. It  didn’t take long for the rangers to get wind of the bet, and they quickly set out in search of the skilled woodsman, with Mark Robinson and Zeph Naden patrolling from McCraney Lake to the Oxtongue River and Bud Callighen and Albert Ranger patrolling from Cache Lake through Bonnechere Lake to Big Porcupine.

There are several reports of Belaney’s capture, but the one that seems to ring most true is that of Bud Callighen. In his diary, Callighen writes that long after dark Belaney stumbled into his and Albert’s camp. His feet nearly lost to frostbite after falling through thin ice earlier in the night, he asked the rangers for help. Belaney was escorted by all four rangers to park headquarters and was then taken to have his feet treated at Mark Robinson’s Canoe Lake shelter hut. (pp.31-32)

Much has been written about Chief Joseph….from PBS,  http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/chiefjoseph.htm:

“Chief Joseph”

Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt (1840-1904)

The man who became a national celebrity with the name “Chief Joseph” was born in the Wallowa Valley in what is now northeastern Oregon in 1840. He was given the name Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, or Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain, but was widely known as Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, because his father had taken the Christian name Joseph when he was baptized at the Lapwai mission by Henry Spalding in 1838.

Joseph the Elder was one of the first Nez Percé converts to Christianity and an active supporter of the tribe’s longstanding peace with whites. In 1855 he even helped Washington’s territorial governor set up a Nez Percé reservation that stretched from Oregon into Idaho. But in 1863, following a gold rush into Nez Percé territory, the federal government took back almost six million acres of this land, restricting the Nez Percé to a reservation in Idaho that was only one tenth its prior size. Feeling himself betrayed, Joseph the Elder denounced the United States, destroyed his American flag and his Bible, and refused to move his band from the Wallowa Valley or sign the treaty that would make the new reservation boundaries official.

When his father died in 1871, Joseph was elected to succeed him. (NOTE: Joseph the Younger succeeded his father as leader of the Wallowa band in 1871. Before his death, the latter counseled his son: “My son, my body is returning to my mother earth, and my spirit is going very soon to see the Great Spirit Chief. When I am gone, think of your country. You are the chief of these people. They look to you to guide them. Always remember that your father never sold his country. You must stop your ears whenever you are asked to sign a treaty selling your home. A few years more and white men will be all around you. They have their eyes on this land. My son, never forget my dying words. This country holds your father’s body. Never sell the bones of your father and your mother.”Joseph commented “I clasped my father’s hand and promised to do as he asked. A man who would not defend his father’s grave is worse than a wild beast.”) He inherited not only a name but a situation made increasingly volatile as white settlers continued to arrive in the Wallowa Valley. Joseph staunchly resisted all efforts to force his band onto the small Idaho reservation, and in 1873 a federal order to remove white settlers and let his people remain in the Wallowa Valley made it appear that he might be successful. But the federal government soon reversed itself, and in 1877 General Oliver Otis Howard threatened a cavalry attack to force Joseph’s band and other hold-outs onto the reservation. Believing military resistance futile, Joseph reluctantly led his people toward Idaho.

Unfortunately, they never got there. About twenty young Nez Percé warriors, enraged at the loss of their homeland, staged a raid on nearby settlements and killed several whites. Immediately, the army began to pursue Joseph’s band and the others who had not moved onto the reservation. Although he had opposed war, Joseph cast his lot with the war leaders.

What followed was one of the most brilliant military retreats in American history. Even the unsympathetic General William Tecumseh Sherman could not help but be impressed with the 1,400 mile march, stating that “the Indians throughout displayed a courage and skill that elicited universal praise… [they] fought with almost scientific skill, using advance and rear guards, skirmish lines, and field fortifications.” In over three months, the band of about 700, fewer than 200 of whom were warriors, fought 2,000 U.S. soldiers and Indian auxiliaries in four major battles and numerous skirmishes.

By the time he formally surrendered on October 5, 1877, Joseph was widely referred to in the American press as “the Red Napoleon.” It is unlikely, however, that he played as critical a role in the Nez Percé’s military feat as his legend suggests. He was never considered a war chief by his people, and even within the Wallowa band, it was Joseph’s younger brother, Olikut, who led the warriors, while Joseph was responsible for guarding the camp. It appears, in fact, that Joseph opposed the decision to flee into Montana and seek aid from the Crows and that other chiefs — Looking Glass and some who had been killed before the surrender — were the true strategists of the campaign. Nevertheless, Joseph’s widely reprinted surrender speech has immortalized him as a military leader in American popular culture:

“I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohoolhoolzote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say, “Yes” or “No.” He who led the young men [Olikut] is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are — perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”

Joseph’s fame did him little good. Although he had surrendered with the understanding that he would be allowed to return home, Joseph and his people were instead taken first to eastern Kansas and then to a reservation in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) where many of them died of epidemic diseases. Although he was allowed to visit Washington, D.C., in 1879 to plead his case to U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, it was not until 1885 that Joseph and the other refugees were returned to the Pacific Northwest. Even then, half, including Joseph, were taken to a non-Nez Percé reservation in northern Washington, separated from the rest of their people in Idaho and their homeland in the Wallowa Valley.

In his last years, Joseph spoke eloquently against the injustice of United States policy toward his people and held out the hope that America’s promise of freedom and equality might one day be fulfilled for Native Americans as well. An indomitable voice of conscience for the West, he died in 1904, still in exile from his homeland, according to his doctor “of a broken heart.”

I found this quote from Chief Joseph online and thought I would share it:

You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be contented to be penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases. We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything…and that he never forgets, that hereafter he will give every man a spirit home according to his deserts; If he has been a good man, he will have a good home; if he has been a bad man, he will have a bad home. This I believe, and all my people believe the same. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. It does not require many words to speak the truth. If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. Treat all men alike.Give them all the same law.Give them all an even chance to live and grow.All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. Let me be a free man,free to travel, free to stop,free to work,free to trade where I choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers,free to think and talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.” ~ Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

A few years ago,   CBC TV showed The Return Of The Jets about the Winnipeg Jets and the second coming of the NHL to Winnipeg. When they were discussing the Jets’ new logo, it was mentioned that the idea for the logo came from Winnipeg’s close ties to the Royal Canadian Air Force….in particular the 17 Wing Squadron….in fact the new team sweaters were premiered at the 17 Wing Winnipeg base. But something caught my eye other than just the story of Winnipeg’s new NHL team….it was the 17 Wing Badge:

From Royal Canadian Air Force: 17 Wing Squadron.

Yes, of course I would have to notice the canoe….but why a canoe on a Royal Canadian Air Force Wing Badge????? Well I did an online survey of various resources….but could find nothing definitive….

Since 17 Wing  is based in Winnipeg, could it be something to do with Winnipeg’s ties to the fur trade????

I would love to find out if anyone reading this might know….

The RCAF and canoes???? Canoes and aircraft???? Flying canoes?!?!?

Of course there is the story of the La Chasse-galerie also known as “The Bewitched Canoe” or “The Flying Canoe”….this is a popular French- Canadian tale of voyageurs who make a deal with the devil (as described in Wikipedia: Chasse-galerie).

La Chasse-galerie de Henri Julien (1852-1908), from Wikipedia: Chasse-galerie.

There are several versions of this tale….as Wikipedia: Chasse-galerie adds:

After a night of heavy drinking on New Year’s Eve, a group of voyageurs working at a remote timber camp want to visit their sweethearts some 100 leagues away (300 miles). The only way to make such a long journey and be back in time for work the next morning is to run the chasse-galerie. Running the chasse-galerie means making a pact with the devil so that their canoe can fly through the air to their destination with great speed. However, the travellers must not mention God’s name or touch the cross of any church steeple as they whisk by in the flying canoe. If either of these rules are broken during the voyage, then the devil will have their souls. To be safe, the men promise not to touch another drop of rum to keep their heads clear. The crew take their places in the canoe which then rises off the ground, and they start to paddle. Far below they see the frozen Gatineau River, many villages, shiny church steeples and then the lights of Montreal. The bewitched canoe eventually touches down near a house where New Year’s Eve festivities are in full swing. No one wonders at the trappers’/loggers’ sudden arrival. They are embraced with open arms and soon are dancing and celebrating as merrily as everyone else. Soon it is late and the men must leave if they are to get back to camp in time for work. As they fly through the moonless night, it becomes apparent that their navigator had been drinking as he steers the canoe on a dangerously unsteady course. While passing over Montreal they just miss running into a church steeple, and soon after the canoe end up stuck in a deep snowdrift. At this point the drunken navigator begins swearing and taking the Lord’s name in vain. Terrified the devil will take their souls, the men bind and gag their friend and elect another to steer. The navigator soon breaks his bonds and begins swearing again. The crew become more and more shaken at the possibility of losing their souls, and they eventually steer the bewitched canoe right into a tall pine. The men spill out and are knocked unconscious (or pass out). Notably the ending of the story changes from version to version. Sometimes the men are condemned to fly the canoe through hell and appear in the sky every New Year’s Eve, but in other versions all, or all but one, escape the terms the devil made.

One variation has the devil himself steering and deliberately trying to break the rules on the return journey, at which point they threw him out of the canoe to save themselves.

Here are a few videos from YouTube about the ‘Flying Canoe’:

On Daily Motion, check out this telling of the tale:  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zjwf_felix-leclerc-la-chasse-galerie_music.

So several versions of the tale have been told….through songs sung….even animation. The ‘Flying Canoe’ has been depicted on  amazing art work….on postage stamps….even on beer labels….even through amusement rides….and all based on this legend.

During the Opening Ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, a canoe containing a fiddler was lowered from the ceiling in an allusion to the legend.

Of course, some folks have taken the idea of the ‘flying canoe’ to extremes….well maybe even past extreme….check out this YouTube video at your discretion (please be advised that the humour attempted….or even the rap music played…. may not be everyone’s taste….personally I found the idea of the TV ad for a flying canoe ‘for only 27 payments of $19.95′ amusing at least….but I think these guys need to take paddling instruction so they don’t have to keep switching sides just to keep from ‘popping a donut’ LOL LOL):

Paddles up until later then….even if you’re up flying in the air….just watch out for the Devil….

Revisting the wolf as a teacher….for my favourite Ma’iingan (wolf) kwe who has taught me much already….and has more yet to teach….

“Perhaps it was the eyes of the wolf, measured, calm, knowing. Perhaps it was the intense sense of family. After all, wolves mate for life, are loyal partners, create hunting communities and demonstrate affectionate patience in pup rearing. Perhaps it was the rigid heirarchy of the packs. Each wolf had a place in the whole and yet retained his individual personality. Perhaps it was their great, romping, ridiculous sense of fun. Perhaps it was some celestial link with thw winter night skies that prompted the wolf to lay his song on the icy air. For the Native people who lived with the wolves, and the wolves once ranged from the Arctic to the sub-tropics, there was much to learn from them. Is it any wonder that the myths of many tribes characterise the wolves not as killers but as teachers?” -  Unknown

“To look into the eyes of a wolf is to see your own soul” – Native proverb.

This is the description of David Beaucage Johnson‘s painting ‘Song For The Night Sun’:

“People often wonder why wolves howl at the moon. In this painting, the wolves are shown embracing the moon and offering song to it. The songs are in gratitude for providing light for their night hunts. The white at the bottom is the Teaching Rock, a sacred place north of Stoney Lake in the Kawartha Lakes region of central Ontario. At this sacred place, there are images carved onto a gleaming white rock. Contained in the symbols on the rock are the teachings of the Medicine Wheel and the Spirit World. Night Sun is the English translation for the Ojibwe word for moon. To the Ojibway, the wolf is known as the teacher and it is said that we can learn much by watching the wolf.” (From Whetung Ojibwa Crafts and Art Gallery: David Beaucage Johnson)

It is said that the First Nations and the wolf have come to be alike….both mate for life….both have a clan system and a tribe….both had their land taken from them….both were hunted for their hair…..and both were pushed close to destruction….perhaps Native people can look to the wolf for their future as a people….the wolf is beginning to return to this land….perhaps First Nations will also cease to be seen as a “Vanishing Peoples”….and maybe emerge to lead the way back to natural living and respect for our Mother Earth….

Miigwech.

Nothing feels like a cedar-strip canvas canoe – Omer Stringer, a confirmed traditionalist

Beautiful things made by hand carry within them the seeds of their survival. They generate a spark of affection. For some it’s sentimental, for some it’s the art of the craftsmanship, for some the beauty of the finished boat. People love these things and try hard to ensure they endure.

The survival of the wood-canvas canoe (to paraphrase John McPhee) is certainly a matter of the heart; a romantic affair. The economics are unfavorable. In fact, the wood-canvas canoe’s most conspicuous asset and advantage is that it’s a beautiful piece of art. It’s the Shaker rocking chair of outdoor sport – handcrafted, simple, clean, and functional. There’s nothing in it that doesn’t have to be there, but all of the pieces add up to more than the parts. It works well and looks wonderful doing it.- From Honeymoon With A Prospector by Lawrence Meyer

Going down a river or crossing a lake in anything but wood-canvas is like floating on a linoleum rug. That’s just how it looks when you glance inside one of those types of canoes and watch the bottom flex and shimmer with the water. Whereas, in any wood-canvas canoe you have all these beautiful rich colors of the cedar planking and ribs, hardwood gunwales and decks, and caned seats. Even the smells are nice and directly relate to the environment you are traveling through. - Jack Hurley, canoebuilder

I suppose there would always be an argument for the different types of materials and canoe designs, but the wood-canvas canoe is one generation away from the birchbark canoe and was made for working and transporting people through the wilderness. It was designed and made out of materials that would stand up to miles and miles of flatwater and whitewater and portaging through very rugged and unexplored terrain. As a trip leader with kids and adults, I have safely traveled across many lakes in a wood-canvas canoe in conditions where other experienced paddlers in the new-design boats were either windbound or took on water during the crossings. - Jim Spencer, canoebuilder.

A Recipe For Success:

STEAMED CEDAR WITH CANVAS

An elegant accompaniment to fish.

Make ahead of time for relaxed visit with friends.

51 board feet of peeled and deveined eastern white cedar

10 board feet of combined ash, black cherry, and maple

2600 brass tacks

18 feet of 10 weight canvas

¾ gallon of oil base filler

3 quarts of varnish

2 quarts of paint

Assortment of beer to taste (chilled if possible)

Using a large shop, prepare all ingredients the night before. Early the next day preheat element to high heat. Bring an adequate quantity of water in a large pot to a tumbling boil. Steam ribs until al dente (flexible) and bend immediately while still tender. Let stand at room temperature to blend flavors until cool. Chop cleaned white parts of planking into long thin slices, (smaller pieces will fall to ground). Add bulk of brass tacks and planks at random until ribs disappear (careful not to tenderize planking with pounding of tacks). When ingredients become solid remove from mold and set aside. Prepare gunwales and decks by chopping fresh hardwoods. Snip to length and desired shape, introducing slowly for best results. Wrap with canvas skin; skewer with tacks along edges, leave middle open. Add both caned seats and center thwart until balanced. Inlay decks for garnish.

Use the same basic recipe for fifteen and seventeen footers. Quantities will vary including concentration of beer.

Well before serving time, press filler firmly onto bottom side of prepared carcass to seal in natural juices and let marinate. Heat entire hull at medium to high sun for about three weeks, covering occasionally, until fully baked.  From a separate pot, baste inside with all-purpose varnish to glaze ribs, careful not to drip, and let harden. Repeat occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk and and gently combine, until mixed but not runny, an assortment of fresh paint to color, stirring occasionally as you serve, and dressing the outside lightly from end to end. The condiments blend even better if allowed to stand for several hours until sticky topping hardens. (Careful not to undercook, but do not let baking temperature bubble surface.) Repeat spreading of additional layers on outer crust and again set aside and let stand until hard. Cover and store in a safe spot until needed. Present whole at room temperature, arranged attractively on an adequate bed of water. If desired, garnish with cherry paddles as a starter. Bon voyage. Serves 2 to 3. (Note: Depending on degree of festivities, presentation may be turned into a dip.)  – Don Standfield, fromStories From The Bow Seat: The Wisdom & Waggery of Canoe Tripping by Don Standfield and Liz Lundell.

My two old canoes are works of art, embodying the feeling of all canoemen for rivers and lakes and the wild country they were meant to traverse. They were made in the old tradition when there was time and the love of the work itself. I have two canvas-covered canoes, both old and beautifully made. They came from the Penobscot River in Maine long ago, and I treasure them for the tradition of craftsmanship in their construction, a pride not only of form and line but of everything that went into their building. When l look at modern canoes, of metal or fiberglass stamped out like so many identical coins. l cherish mine even more …Sixteen feet in length, it has graceful lines with a tumble home or curve from the gunwales inward …No other canoe I’ve ever used paddles as easily … The gunwales and decks are of mahogany, the ribs and planking of carefully selected spruce and cedar… - Sigurd Olson, Tradition

The canoes rode well, not too high in the bows, but just enough. Peterborough Prospectors were made for the bush and for roaring rapids and waves. They embodies the best features of all canoes in the north. They were wide of beam with sufficient depth to take rough water, and their lines gave them maneuverability and grace. In them was the lore of centuries, of Indian craftsman who had dreamed and perfected the beauty of the birchbark, and of French voyageurs who also loved the feel of the paddle and the smooth glide of the canoe through the water. All this was taken by modern craftsman who – with glues , waterproof fillers and canvas, together with the accuracy of machine tooled ribs and thwarts , planking and gunwales – made a canoe of which Northmen might be well proud. - Sigurd Olson

Wood and canvas canoes are strong, seaworthy, exceptionally responsive to the paddle and soothing to the human spirit – Hugh Stewart, master canoe builder, Headwater Canoes

I have no interest in building a plastic canoe – Bill Miller, master canoe builder, Miller Canoes, Nova Scotia

I’ve got 36 more years before I retire. I will gladly build my last canoe on my 100th birthday – Bill Miller, master canoe builder, Miller Canoes, Nova Scotia

My hands are on every stage of production. If you spend two or three months making something, it becomes a chunk of you, like for a painter.- Will Ruch, Ruch Canoes, Bancroft, Ont.

As someone said, canoeing is a fringe activity and wood canoes are the fringest of the fringe - Doug Ingram, Red River Canoes, Lorette, Man.

No one gets rich making canoes - Larry Bowers, West Country Canoes, Eckville, Alta.

I wrote a blog post sometime ago entitled Reflections On the Outdoors Naturally: A Thoreau Tuesday: A Few Quotes….And A Green Wood Canvas Canoe Business. In that article, I wrote about Mike Elliott of Kettle River Canoes:

Mike Elliott of Kettle River Canoes, in his Canoeguy’s Blog, wrote a great postCanoe Guy’s Blog: Wood-Canvas Canoes In A Green Economy, which describes the basis behind Mike’s canoe restoration business. I love Mike’s opening statement:

An environmentally friendly approach to the world is based on the “Three R’s”: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  However, there are more: Repair, Restore and Reclaim.

Mike developed a Green business model from the start….and his success comes by reducing, reusing, recycling, repairing, restoring and reclaiming. He provides an example of this in his use of planking from an old salvaged telephone pole or use of hardwood paneling recycled from a  house demolition. Mike’s canoe business focuses exclusively on restoration instead of building. Mike realized that he couldn’t make enough from building new canoes, but he could from restoring older still usable canoes. I also like his “adoption” approach where an old canoe is “adopted” by a new owner who pays for the restoration.

I like Mike’s idea of restoring older still usable canoes….however I might disagree with him about new canoes….I think that in this day and age the wood canvas canoe, new or old (and restored) is more than just a viable alternative….on the website for Timberline Canoes, the home page has the following:

Wood Canvas Canoes: Eco-friendly watercraft constructed of renewable, natural resources

Benefits of Ownership

• Gentle on the environment
• No fossil fuels required
• No water pollution
• Quiet – no noise pollution
• Easy to maneuver
• Easy to transport
• Renewable construction
• Good for your body
• Great for your soul

Now I have expounded on this blog at great length on wood canvas canoes….on why wood canvas canoes should be used….why folks trip with them….why wood canvas canoes are not just “museum pieces”….even about youth canoe building programs involving wood canvas canoes….obviously I love wood canvas canoes….but not just their history or tradition….I even think there’s a future for wood canvas canoes….and maybe even a real need.

I have mentioned the Wooden Canoe Builders Guild (WCBG), Home Page, here before as well….but what exactly is the Guild???….here is how the WCBG describes themselves from their Who We Are page, Who We Are:

The Wooden Canoe Builders’ Guild was formed in 1997 to serve the collective needs and interests of builders and restorers of cedar canvas and woodstrip epoxy watercraft and to foster public interest in and knowledge of such watercraft. The Guild provides a forum for co-operation and communication among wooden canoe and kayak builders and facilitates the co-operative bulk purchasing of the specialised products and materials used in the construction of these vessels.

Guild members are producing, today, those canoes and kayaks which will become the heritage watercraft of future decades. It is the goal of the Guild to preserve and pass on the skills required to build and reconstruct these watercraft, which are so connected with the history and traditions of North America.

Every member of the Guild is indebted to people whom we have never met, but who led the way in developing the techniques which most of us follow today. The names of the old companies such as Henry Rushton, Chestnut, Old Town and Peterborough, to name a few, represent the heritage which we strive to preserve and continue through our work.

Today’s wooden canoe builders operate, predominantly, in small scale enterprises in widely scattered areas of North America. Few workshops have more than two or three employees which is why these builders are truly individual entrepreneurs with a strong sense of responsibility to produce quality watercraft for truly discriminating owners.

The Wooden Canoe Builders’ Guild seeks to have its members maintain high standards as they produce watercraft for those customers who will appreciate the time and care invested in the canoes and kayaks coming from their shops. They also strive to return to active use those craft that have suffered the ravages of time so that they may, once again, connect mankind with the natural elements. For those members who build wood & canvas canoes, one of the conditions of membership in the Guild is agreement to a set of construction standards set down by the Guild. The onus is on each builder to meet or exceed these standards without any formal policing by the Guild.

Further according to WCBG website, the Missions Of The Wooden Canoe Builders Guild are:

• to preserve the art and craft of wooden canoe building
• to promote high quality workmanship by its members
• to pass on the skills of wooden canoe building through workshops, courses and apprenticeship programs
• to preserve the heritage and history of wooden canoes through education and restoration
• to support and serve its members by providing forums for mutual assistance and collective action

So what is exactly involved in the construction of a wood canvas canoe????….again from the WCBG website, Canoe Constructionl:

Canoe Construction

The cedar canvas canoe represents the European adaptation of the bark canoe built and used by the native people. As suitable bark became more difficult to obtain and to facilitate industrial production, canvas was substituted for the bark and rendered waterproof by the application of oil, tar or paint.

Cedar canvas canoes have a long and romantic history in Canada and the north-eastern United States where they have been built in small shops and large factories for about 125 years. Many people think of them as ‘old fashioned’ canoes and are surprised to learn that they are still being built today. In fact the methods of manufacture have changed little in the past 125 years, ensuring the same high aesthetic qualities and superior handling characteristics of the classic canvas covered canoes.

Before a cedar canvas canoe can be built, a form has to be constructed. The canoes are built directly onto this form so that it determines the shape of the canoe hull. Building the form is an exacting and lengthy process that can take 200 – 300 hours. However, once the form is complete, a large number of canoes can be built on it, one at a time.

The first step in the construction of a new canoe is to clamp the inwales and the stem pieces to the form. Next the cedar ribs are steamed and bent, one at a time, over the form and nailed to the inwales. This forms the skeletal shape of the canoe. The red or white cedar planking is then applied over the ribs and secured to each rib with 3 or 4 brass tacks. Metal bands on the form clinch each tack into the inside surface of the ribs to create a secure connection between the planks and the ribs. Approximately 2000 tacks are used in a typical 16 foot canoe.

When the planking is substantially complete, the canoe is removed from the form. The shear planking is then completed and the ends of the canoe are closed up.The canoe is then sanded and cleaned inside and given at least 4 coats of marine spar varnish. Decks, seats and thwarts are added and the canoe is ready for canvassing.

The canvas is folded lengthwise to form a trough and then stretched until taut. The canoe is placed into the trough and the canvas is attached at the top of each rib with brass tacks or stainless steel staples. At the ends of the canoe the canvas is carefully slit and pulled, one side at a time, around the stem and fastened. The canvas is then ‘filled’ with a product that fills the weave and makes a smooth, solid base for the finishing paint.

After the filler has cured, the outwales are added and the canoe is then given at least three coats of marine enamel. Finally, the ends of the canoe are finished off with the installation of brass stem bands. The time required to build a canoe varies with the size and the degree of finish and can range from about 80 to 200 hours.

Also these drawings from the old WCBG site:

*Drawings by Sam Manning for the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y., U.S.A.

Also this from McCurdy and Reed Canoes: Construction:

I really liked the FAQ section of the WCBG, FAQ:

Q:What are the advantages of a wooden canoe?

A: The primary advantages of a wooden canoe are its appearance and its handling characteristics. Quite simply, no other material can match wood in these two respects. From an appearance perspective, the beauty of wood can’t be matched by any other material. As for handling, a wooden canoe is quieter, warmer and more responsive to the water than any other material. The flexing of a wooden canoe, which is made of many pieces, allows it to respond to the water it floats in as well as the paddler it carries as no moulded material can.

An additional feature of cedar canvas canoes, which is not shared by canoes of other materials, is that, if required, any part of the canoe can be repaired or replaced – no matter how old the canoe – thus restoring the canoe to as-new condition.

Q: Does a wooden canoe require a lot of maintenance?

A: Being made of natural materials it is true that, on average, a wooden canoe will require more care than some other materials such as fibreglass, aluminum and plastic. To put it another way, wood will suffer more from neglect than these materials. However, the actual upkeep required by a wooden canoe depends on how it is used and stored and can be surprisingly low if a bit of common sense care is taken. For example, the paint and varnish on a wooden canoe, which represent the first line of defence for the wood, can provide many years of service before requiring attention if care is taken in the use and storage of the canoe.

Q: Can I use a wooden canoe for whitewater?

A: The short answer is yes. Until the advent of synthetic canoe materials, wooden canoes (specifically cedar canvas canoes) were used for all purposes including whitewater. However, today some other materials are more appropriate for this use in the sense that they are more impact resistant and suffer fewer consequences from striking a rock.

Q: How long does it take to build a cedar canvas canoe?

A: The length of time a builder spends to build a cedar canvas canoe will vary primarily with the emphasis placed on fit and finish details and can be anywhere between approximately 80 and 200 hours.

Q: What do you do if you get a tear in the canvas?

A: A small tear in the canvas can be patched and, when repainted, rendered almost invisible. A tear which is too large to patch will require replacement of the canvas. However, the canvas on a canoe is really quite rugged and would require impact with a fairly sharp object to cause even a small tear.

Q: Why not use fibreglass instead of canvas on a canoe?

A: As previously mentioned, one of the advantages of a cedar canvas canoe is the ability to repair or replace any component. Because fibreglass is not readily removable, this advantage would be lost if it was used in place of canvas.

The  Wooden Canoe Heritage Association is a non-profit membership organization devoted to preserving, studying, building, restoring, and using wooden and bark canoes, and to disseminating information about canoeing heritage throughout the world. This is a great group of wood canoe fanatics….the WCHA has a great online forum,  on all things dealing with wooden canoes.

Filler was mentioned in the section on wood canvas canoe construction above from the WCBG. Fillers are used in to treat the canvas….as the WCBG section describes the canvas is ‘filled’ with a product that fills the weave and makes a smooth, solid base for the finishing paint. Many canoe builders have their own “secret” fomulas for this filler. The WCHA has a great deal of info on past and present filler formulas, Canvas Filler Formulas:

Canvas filler formulas have been guarded for decades by wood canvas canoe builders all over the world. The formulas below have been published or made available in a legal manner and not “stolen” or otherwise “borrowed” without permission….

One note about filler formulas. The materials that were used in the early 1900′s may not be the same as materials with the same names today. In addition, canvas is certainly different today than it was in 1900, so some of these formulas may not provide the best coverage for your money.

Reprinted from Wooden Canoe #16 (no lead)

• 43 ounces boiled linseed oil
• 21 ounces mineral spirits
• 34 ounces enamel paint
• 2 ounces Japan drier
• 6 1/4 pounds 300 grit silica
• 2 ounces spar varnish

“Rushton’s Filler” – Reprinted from Wooden Canoe #20

• 5 pounds silica
• 1 1/2 quarts turpentine
• 1 quart boiled linseed oil
• 1 pint Japan drier
• 2 pounds white lead

Reprinted from Wooden Canoe #31

• 1 quart boiled linseed oil
• 4 pounds silica
• 7 ounces Japan drier
• 3 quarts turpentine
• 4 pounds white lead

From Scott E. Marks, picked off the USENET group rec.boats.building by Phil Gingrow.

I can suggest a recipe, the best I remember it from 20 years ago. It was based on glaziers putty and floor varnish – we used Hippo Oil brand at the time. Glaziers putty is basically clay and linseed oil. We warmed the varnish and mixed (kneaded) the putty into it by hand. I honestly don’t remember the proportions, but we ended up with something like a thick pancake batter. To this we would add some japan drier to accelerate drying. This mixture was worked into the nap of the canvas by hand, in thin coats. If allowed to dry between coats, it wouldn’t build up into a single soft thick layer. It would remain flexible, and as many layers were applied as were required to fill the canvas. Two coats of orange shellac with light sanding between were applied over it prior to painting with enamel paint. This recipe originated from someone in the Dwight, Ontario area, who was generous enough to teach a few of us to repair and re-canvas the fleet of Chestnut canoes we battered on the rocks of Algonquin park.

More from Dom Williams: I used your site to prepare a filler based on the floor varnish/glaziers putty/indian dryers mixture listed in the site; the author could not remember proportions. 0thers using this formulation may be surprised to find how much putty is required versus varnish. I wound up with a mix of 1cup varnish/ 2 1/2 lb putty and 1 tablespoon of dryers and probably would have been better to increase the putty to 3lb. To refinish a 16 ft canoe with the existing filler largely worn away by use and/or paintstripping I used 4 batches ie 1 quart of varnish and 10lb of putty; the final batch was not all used. I found it applied best using a cheap 8 inch plastic drywall knife (the more flexible the better) and applied it from the gunwales up and then from the centerline to meet the “upstroke”. I “spot-primed ” the areas where the old filler had largely washed out of the canvas by hand rubbing glops into the weave before doing the overall trowelling.

Notes

1. Silica can be purchased at pottery supplies under the brand name Silex. Silex dust can cause breathing problems, so please always use a respirator when sanding filler.
2. Lead is known to cause brain damage when absorbed through the skin or inhaled as dust. Be very cautious using and disposing of white lead in your filler.

Wood canvas canoes, to reiterate the Timberline Canoe home page, are eco-friendly watercraft constructed of renewable, natural resources….despite the fact that certain chemicals might be used in their construction….such as in the filler, paint, or even varnish….but personally I believe that the “carbon footprint” involved in the construction of wood canvas canoes is much less than that involved in building fiberglas or Kevlar canoes. So I think it’s safe to say that are more “eco-friendly” than other types of canoes on the market….not only are they constructed from renewable and natural resources….but they instill a closeness to the natural environment….especially in a spiritual sense….just check out the quotes from various folks at the outset of this post, especially from the canoe builders.

On her website for Bourquin Boats (Bourquin Boats), Jeanne Bourquin answers Why Wood? :

Almost everyone interested in a wood canoe at some point asks me “Why wood?” “Why paddle something so beautiful?” “It should be on a wall somewhere.” “They’re so heavy… they require so much upkeep and work…”

The camp where I learned to travel by canoe uses wood canoes because they believe that by learning to respect and care for one’s equipment, we learn to take care of the environment, and we learn to take care of and respect each other. The material, the care required, the natural beauty of a wood canoe all fit into the experience of wilderness travel. A wood canoe is more of a friend (or a pet) than a piece of recreational equipment (most people name their canoes), and the purchase of a wood canoe should be approached the same way. “Am I willing to take the extra care loading and unloading?” “Will I want to get my feet wet?” “Where am I going to store my canoe?” “Will I enjoy the cleaning and sanding and touchups required each fall?”

Asked why we use wood/canvas canoes, those of us who have paddled them for years can mostly only shrug and smile. Maybe its love… cupid’s arrow… pure foolishness. Maybe its all appearance… maybe its how quiet they are on the water… maybe its how you can forget the mosquitoes as you admire for the 10,000 time the graceful curve of rib and plank disappear into the bow. Or, maybe its the history and memories we see reflected in each dent and scratch – while imagining our children and grandchildren off on some adventure of their own in the same canoe. For most people the love for wooden canoes starts the first time they actually get in one and paddle. They are beautiful to look at – but they are much more beautiful on the water – clear skies and Fall leaves, or grey skies and pouring rain, another friend to share it all with.

As John Hupfield states on his Lost In The Woods Boatworks website:

Why wood? Besides being beautiful, wood is a renewable resource that we think is more in keeping with our enjoyment of the environment, and is a non-toxic alternative to the increasing use of toxic chemicals in recreational watercraft. It’s warmer and stiffer than synthetics, smells nice, is pleasant to work with, and is quieter on the water too. And by using modern building methods, hulls are extremely light, durable and easy to care for. It’s a myth that wooden boats are high maintenance!

Or as Paul Roddick states on his website for Roddick Canoes:

Canadian adventure canoes and rowboats, built the traditional way with wood and canvas, and a whole lot of Canadian know how. Our great country of lakes, rivers and ancient waterways is the birthplace of the canoe. Long before the white man ever set foot on this land the great native people built the canoe to travel and explore the wilderness. Today we build these great canoes in the same way,ready to take you on a wilderness adventure, or an eary morning paddle on your favourite lake, with the mist rising off the water as your quiet wooden canoe glides effortlessly with hardly a ripple, as they have done for thousands of years and will continue to, as long as individual craftsmen, dedicated to preseving this great Canadian tradition, culture and life style, persevere.

I am not defending the wood canvas canoe, because they need no defense, they speak for themselves, they whisper “Canada, wilderness,water, adventure, lakes , streams, rivers, sun on the rocks, wind on the water, trout in the clear crystal pools, an early morning moose feeding at the the waters edge, or you and your companion, pushing off your loaded canoe, into another day of being one with with nature.

Our models never change from year to year, they are the same today as they were a hundred years ago. It’s hard to improve on perfection, we don’t worry about the newest tecnology, or the competition. Why?, because we don’t have any, all we have is our timeless wooden canoes and boats, each one hand built, one at a time, slowly, carefully, soulfully, each one a bit of Canada, each one cherished for what they are, a thing of timeless beauty, function and grace, the wood canvas canoe. forever.

Maine Canoe Journeys adds:

Wood/Canvas canoes have enjoyed a remarkable revival since the early 1980s for more than nostalgic reasons. A fine wood/canvas canoe offers not just aesthetic beauty, but also superior handling in the water, craftsmanlike construction of largely organic materials, and infinite repairability.

Finally as Pam Wedd  says on the Bearwood Canoes website:

The experience of paddling a traditional wood and canvas canoe is like no other in this high-tech world of ours. Being a part of our surroundings in a watercraft built from natural materials returns us to our roots. It is a link to our past and our soul.

I don’t think I can add much more to any of that….certainly nothing I haven’t added before here….so next time you’re thinking of buying a new canoe (or even an “old” new canoe), think of a wood canvas canoe….and if you are worried about the weight then remember it’s really not too heavy….and even if it is more than that featherweight Kevlar, it will let you know you’re still alive….as for maintenance that’s part of the charm too. And nothing like taking a wood canvas canoe on a northern lake, especially in traditional canoe country like Algonquin, Killarney or Temagami.

Paddles up until later then….and may you have a green canoe (if you don’t already have one)….a green wood canvas canoe….truly “green”.

A photo found on Facebook.

The Eagle (Migizi in Ojibway) holds a very special place for Native peoples.  The Eagle soared so high in the heavens that Native peoples held it in high esteem since it was so much closer to the Creator. The Eagle became a power of vision, strength and courage. There are many special meanings and special uses for the Eagle.

Many Native teachings explain that Eagle is the Principle Messenger of Creator. Eagle flies the closest to Creator and, therefore, can see the past, present and future at a glance. Eagle sees the flow of change. Eagle alerts us to the changes so that we can respond appropriately. Eagle is the great illuminator and soars above us all, sometimes out of sight to us, but never out of its own sight. Eagle sees and hears all and sits in the east on the Medicine Wheel with the direction of leadership and courage.

In other words, Eagle is connected both to the spirit of Great Mystery and to the Earth and does both with ease. Eagle, therefore, is a powerful symbol of courage; that is why its feathers are such powerful tools for healing, and why there are special ceremonies for Eagle feathers. Eagle teaches us that it is okay to combine wisdom and courage — it is okay to be wise enough to know that a change needs to be made in one’s life and then finding the courage to execute the change.

A gift of an Eagle Feather is a great honor. It is a mark of distinction, one that could indicate that a rite of passage has been earned. The Eagle Feather represents the norms, responsibilities and behaviors that are all a part of the conditioning, learning and commitment to a spirit. It is in this way that life is honored and becomes whole.

The quill of an Eagle Feather represents stability, strength and foundation. In the Cycle of Life or wheel of life, it represents the spirituality of the people. This is where the beginning and ending meet. The quill represents the beginning and ending in the spiritual journey of life. Birth and death are represented here as rites of passage from and to the spiritual world. Conception, the nine month journey and childbirth are sacred and begin here. Traditionally, there were ceremonies or celebrations for the beginning of life.

The plume of an Eagle Feather or fluff is white, billowy and soft. It represents the purity, lightness and gentleness of a child full of the spirit and so new to the cycle of life. The plume is distinctive and usually a token of honor.

The plume in the Cycle of Life is the beginning of the formative years, childhood. It is the age of innocence, pride and dreams – a time for bonding and attachment to relationships, values, attitudes, behaviors, personalities, character and to the environment. It is a time for security and integration.

The vane of an Eagle Feather represents flexibility and adaptability with gentleness and firmness. The vane has a unique design as each feather is unique. Each individual is also unique. This is the expanded part of the feather just as youth are now expanding into the world and each is responsible for themselves.

In the Cycle of Life, the vane is the continuation of the formative years. The children have achieved their rights of passage, a boy becomes a hunter or warrior and a girl has reached womanhood. During this phase, there is learning and guidance. The mind, the mouth, heart and hand (avenues for the spirit) are being nurtured. Example and reinforcement are given in the proper direction to strengthen their spiritual well being and identity. It is a time of enrichment, logic and proof.

The entire feather is straight, strong, firm and gentle. The top portion represents the peak of life. The conduct of adulthood is to bring out the best in beauty and goodness. Men have achieved bravery, skill or character and have been renamed accordingly. Women have achieved a level of knowledge basic to the survival of the people. Self-discipline, survival skills, loyalty, solidarity, and respect within family are above all individual interests. The foundation laid for them is intact. Interdependence, empathy, insight and foresight enables them to be keepers and protectors of the culture. It is at this phase that marriage and child-bearing are foremost.

The opposite vane continues to represent flexibility and adaptability with gentleness and firmness. In the Cycle of Life, a level of seniority is established. Conduct of parenthood has been proven and movement into grand parenthood is inevitable. Relationships, community and nationhood are important. Responsibility for the welfare of others, young and old is the purpose of guidance. To encourage and support others is to give back what was given and to give more of one’s self.

As in the opposite, the plume of the Eagle Feather represents purity, lightness and gentleness. Purity in mind, body and spirit is achieved in old age. Elders become frail and weak like children. It is a very honorable age that speaks no arrogance or greed but the fulfillment of life to the best of one’s ability. They become the keepers of the wisdom with peaceful energy, authority and purpose. Elders are as highly esteemed as the Eagle.

Once again the quill represents the beginning and ending in the spiritual journey of life. Death is at the end of the Cycle of Life and is also a rite of passage into the spiritual world. The spirit lives on in the hearts and minds of loved ones into eternity. One has known his natural space, only once does he pass this way, he has made his journey. To honor death is to honor life as both are important in the spirit world.

One First Nations story is also about the eagle feather:

In the beginning, the Great Spirit above gave to the animals and birds wisdom and knowledge and the power to talk to men. He sent these creatures to tell man that he showed himself through them. They would teach a chosen man sacred songs and dance, as well as much ritual and lore.

The creature most loved by the Great Spirit was the eagle, for he tells the story of life. The Eagle, as you know, has only two eggs, and all living things in the world are divided into two. Here is man and woman, male and female and this is true with animals, birds, trees, flowers and so on. All things have children of two kinds so that life may continue. Man has two eyes, two hands, two feet and he has a body and soul, substance and shadow.

Through his eyes, he sees pleasant and unpleasant scenes, through his nostrils he smells good and bad odors, with his ears he hears joyful news and words that make him sad. His mind is divided between good and evil. His right hand he may often use for evil, such as war or striking a person in anger. But his left hand, which is near his heart, is always full of kindness. His right foot may lead him in the wrong path, but his left foot always leads him the right way, and so it goes; he has daylight and darkness, summer and winter, peace and war, and life and death.

In order to remember this lesson of life, look to the great eagle, the favorite bird of the Great Spirit. The eagle feather is divided into two parts, part light, and part dark. This represents daylight and darkness, summer and winter, peace and war, and life and death. So that you may remember what I have told you, look well on the eagle, for his feathers, too, tell the story of life.

Look at the feathers I wear upon my hand, the one on the right is large and perfect and is decorated; this represents man. The one on my left is small and plain; this represents woman. The eagle feather is divided into two parts, dark and white. This represents daylight and darkness, summer and winter. For the white tells of summer, when all is bright and the dark represents the dark days of winter.

My children, remember what I tell you. For it is YOU who will choose the path in life you will follow — the good way, or the wrong way.

Another First Nations teaching:

When the world was new, the Creator made all the birds. He colored their feathers like a bouquet of flowers. The Creator then gave each a distinct song to sing. The Creator instructed the birds to greet each new day with a chorus of their songs. Of all the birds, our Creator chose the Eagle to be the leader. The Eagle flies the highest and sees the furthest of all creatures. The Eagle is a messenger to the Creator. To wear or to hold the Eagle Feather causes our Creator to take immediate notice. With the Eagle Feather the Creator is honored in the highest.

When one receives an Eagle Feather that person is being acknowledged with gratitude, with love, and with ultimate respect. That feather must have sacred tobacco burnt for it. In this way the Eagle and the Creator are notified of the name of the new Eagle Feather Holder. The holder of the Eagle Feather must ensure that anything that changes the natural state of ones mind (such as alcohol and drugs) must never come in contact with the sacred Eagle Feather. The keeper of the feather will make a little home where the feather will be kept. The Eagle feather must be fed. You feed the Eagle Feather by holding or wearing the feather at sacred ceremonies. By doing this the Eagle Feather is recharged with sacred energy. Never abuse, never disrespect, and never contaminate your Eagle Feather.

Photos by yours truly.

Just some thoughts on the eagle….and eagle feathers….