Painting by Leland Bell
First, the canoe connects us to Ma-ka-ina, Mother Earth, from which we came and to which we must all return. Councils of those who were here before us revered the earth and also the wind, the rain, and the sun – all essential to life. It was from that remarkable blending of forces that mankind was allowed to create the canoe and its several kindred forms. From the birch tree, came the bark; from the spruce, pliant roots; from the cedar, the ribs, planking and gunwales; and from a variety of natural sources, the sealing pitch. In other habitats, great trees became dugout canoes while, in treeless areas, skin, bone and sinew were ingeniously fused into kayaks. Form followed function, and manufacture was linked to available materials. Even the modern canoe, although several steps away from the first, is still a product of the earth. We have a great debt to those who experienced the land before us. No wonder that, in many parts of the world, the people thank the land for allowing its spirit to be transferred to the canoe.
Hand-propelled watercraft still allow us to pursue the elemental quest for tranquility, beauty, peace, freedom and cleaness. It is good to be conveyed quietly, gracefully, to natural rhythms….The canoe especially connects us to rivers – timeless pathways of the wilderness. Wave after wave of users have passed by. Gentle rains falling onto a paddler evaporate skyward to form clouds and then to descend on a fellow traveller, perhaps in another era. Like wise, our waterways contain something of the substance of our ancestors. The canoe connects us to the spirit of these people who walk beside us as we glide silently along riverine trails. – Kirk Wipper, in foreword to Canexus.
BACKGROUND:
The canoe of the Aboriginal Peoples is perhaps the ultimate expression of elegance and function in the world of watercraft. All its parts come from nature, and when it is retired, it returns to nature. Except for the tribes of the Plains, the canoe was vital to all Aboriginal cultures of Canada, each tribe being defined by the distinct shape of its canoe or kayak. It was not only the principal means of transportation, but was also critical to almost every facet of life; canoe and kayak builders were revered in their societies.
Even long ago there were some men who could not make all the things that were needed. In each camp there were only a few who could make everything. The hardest thing to build was the canoe. The man who could make a canoe was very happy because the people depended on it so much. – John Kawapit Eastern Cree Great Whale River, Quebec
There have been youth canoe building programs in the past, including for First Nations youth.
Last year, the Fort Severn Canoe Project was undertaken, restoring Freighter canoes with young men from Fort Severn First Nation. Part of the heritage of Fort Severn is the use of the Freighter canoe. Made of wood-canvas construction, these large canoes are literally the workhorses of the North, the pick-up truck as it were. These canoes are used for hunting and fishing. They are used to get out on the land, travelling by various waterways in Fort Severn’s traditional territory. As well, these canoes are used for eco-tourism ventures. There were 22 to 25 canoes within the community, in various states of repair. In April 2012, a month long pilot project was undertaken, during which a canoe shop was built that will allow for the restoration of these canoes. This also involved the purchase of tools and supplies that had to be brought into the community, mostly by ice road. Also involved were three experienced canoe builders who helped set up the shop and begin the restoration process. (see http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/04/27/f-fort-severn-canoe-restoration.html for more on this).This led to an ongoing presence over the summer months with additional training opportunities, during which 14 canoes were restored. In September 2012 these canoes were used for a canoe trip upriver with Elders and youth.
Other examples highlighting canoe journeys include:
A outdoor adventure leadership experience (OALE) for adolescents aged 12-18 from one First Nations community in Ontario has been undertaken, involving ten-day canoe trip. The main goal of the OALE program was to promote resilience and well-being. The OALE was implemented and evaluated with six different groups and a total of 73 adolescent participants (ages 12 to 18) from Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve in northern Ontario.
From August 24 to September 7, 2012 a team of paddlers from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation, ventured 300 km beyond the nearest road to paddle the ancient route from the KI village (Big Trout Lake) to the Hudson’s Bay (at Fort Severn) along the free-flowing Fawn and Severn Rivers.
These are just a few examples of the importance of the canoe in First Nations culture and tradition….especially in the present day. From a personal perspective, especially after the experience of the Fort Severn canoe project that I was part of….working with the community’s youth restoring wood canvas Freighter canoes….and the possibilities of other such projects in other First Nation communities….I know the ‘power of the canoe’.
ORIGINAL PROPOSED JOURNEY:
It was envisioned that a First Nations canoe project be undertaken….patterned after Pulling Together (http://pullingtogether.ca/) or Tribal Journeys (http://tribaljourneys.wordpress.com/) from the West Coast…a number of canoe trips from various Anishinaabe (Ojibway) communities from around Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, plus those near Sault Ste. Marie, as well as from inland such as Temagami, North Bay, Lake Simcoe or even the Kawarthas….ending at Manitoulin Island. These communities would be invited by a yet to be determined host community on Manitoulin Island.
Such trips are thus centered around one of the Great Lakes….the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe people. The Ojibway or Anishinaabe people were canoe people.
These series of canoe trips could bring awareness of Native culture and traditions….as well as engaging Native youth….especially with Elders. As well as bringing awareness to First Nations rights….Mother Earth….the environment….water….the Great Lakes….wilderness. Such trips could involve bark canoes….OR wood canvas canoes….built by First Nations youth….for the trips. Thus the most natural material possible would be used. As life starts by going through the Eastern Doorway….so would a canoe trip beginning in the East….maybe from the Peterborough area (maybe a possible tie in with the National Canoe Day celebration there in late June….certainly involving the Canadian Canoe Museum). Such a trip could involve wood canvas canoes, constructed by youth.
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.
Wood canvas canoe (Mike Ormsby)
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
The concept and the magic of a canvas-covered canoe is that it can have two, three, or even four new outer skins in its lifetime… These canoes are exceptionally recyclable and ultimately, except for screws, tacks and brass, biodegradable. — Hugh Stewart, wood-canvas canoe-builder and owner of Wakefield, Quebec’s Headwater Canoes
Nothing feels like a cedar-strip canvas canoe – Omer Stringer, a confirmed traditionalist
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
Of course it might be possible to include bark canoes too…. this past summer bark canoes were built in Ottawa by Native youth….on Bear Island in Temagami ….and in Oshawa.
A bark canoe was built in Ottawa through Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health.
Or the Metis bark canoe from Oshawa, see http://www.oshawadurhammetis.com/Canoe-Project.html.
In the Temagami area bark canoes were built at Bear Island by Temagami First Nation youth during the workshop conducted by Voyages of Rediscovery (see http://www.canoekayak.com/canoe/birch-bark-heroes/).
Overall this could be a canoe equivalent of the Water Walk conducted by the Anishinaabe women….see http://www.motherearthwaterwalk.com/.
Hopefully such a series of trips would involve the Canadian Canoe Museum, the Canadian Canoe Foundation, the Anishnabek Nation, Union Of Ontario Indians, Chiefs of Ontario. the Federation of Ontario Friendship Centres, as well as the various First Nations….and even the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council. It would be good to see one of each the wood canvas canoes painted by Native artists….possibly the likes of Leland Bell, Jay Bell Redbird, Randy Knott, Robert Solomon, Joseph Sagaj,and others….after the trip ends each of these canoes could be raffled off to further fund canoe projects in First Nation communities….
The idea for this comes from a canoe built and painted by Jerry Stelmok of Island Falls Canoes (see below), but with a Native twist.
Thus there would be canoe trips from various Anishinaabe (Ojibway) communities around Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, plus those near Sault Ste. Marie, as well as from inland such as Temagami, North Bay, Lake Simcoe or even the Kawarthas….ending at Manitoulin Island. Such trips are thus centered around one of the Great Lakes….the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe people.
The final destination of all of these trips could be Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island, in time for the annual Wikwemikong pow wow on the August long weekend (as of yet Wikwemikong has not been approached to host such an event….but it is hoped that the community will be interested in doing so). This idea was previously posted for the Aviva Community Fund, http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf13805.
REVISED IDEA:
This would be a very involved and large undertaking. We must crawl before we walk, and walk before we run. So a scaled down version of Anishinaabe Babamadizwin: A Journey By Canoe could be undertaken out of the Greater Toronto Area.
We could approach Evergreen for work space at Don Valley Brickworks….or possibly use space available at Centennial College….for building as well as art aspect of project….
For canoe building the following builders/support staff could be available: Mike Ormsby (of Wood-N-Canvas Ventures, Wood Canoe Builders Guild), John Hupfield (of Lost In The Woods Boatworks).
We hope to include of 2-4 artists for this…. artists such as Robert Solomon, Jay Bell Redbird and Joseph Sagaj are interested….could get funding (through OAC and/or Canada Council) for building canoe plus artwork on canoe that would build….that would be part of this ‘journey’….each artist does part of canoe….blending in with each other to tell a story….with just 2 for half a canoe each….possibly including others doing artwork on paddles and/or tikinagins….then take this and other canoes on trip.
PROPOSED ROUTE:
Plan is to travel up one of old trails to Lake Simcoe….but likely by vehicle…..then go through Lake Simcoe to Lake Couchiching….through Trent Severn Waterway to Port Severn on Georgian Bay….onto Killbear Provincial Park with stops in Massasauga Provincial Park and Wasauksing First Nation….
Route would be over old Toronto Carrying Place route….up to Georgian Bay….maybe continue up to Killbear Provincial Park for Killbear Paddlers’ Rendezvous in September….bring youth and Elders together at various points along trip….
PROJECT REVIEW/SUMMARY
Project would be done in steps….likely funded separately or if allowed as stages in funding…..finished canoe can be auctioned off to raise funds for program after trip….
Maybe something like the following stages/steps:
Build Canoe….Paddlemaking….Tikinagin making….
Art Work done on canoe….with 2 to 4 artists….plus on paddles and/or tikinagins….
Canoe trip with youth….
There may be funds available for portions of such a venture available through various youth programs within the Native community….funds raised here would specifically be able to purchase building materials, plus pay for builders/support staff time and equipment.
There is a possibility of working with Project CANOE on canoe trip portion plus possibly during canoe construction and/or paddle making (as their website, http://www.canoe.org/, states: “Project Canoe uses the outdoors, including wilderness canoeing, to create a transformative environment in which young people develop life skills, social competencies, and resiliency, thereby fostering their own personal success. We partner with our youth, supporting them as they carry these skills and successes forward to manage the complex challenges of their lives. We approach youth from “where they are” and we gently encourage every individual to challenge themselves.”)
AND/OR
The Toronto Recreational Outtripping Outreach Program (TROOP) (As website, https://www.torontopolice.on.ca/community/troop_general_information.pdf, states: “the program evolved as the result of a unique partnership forged between the Toronto Police Service, Toronto Parks Forestry and Recreation and ProAction Cops and Kids. Youth from across Toronto join with police officers and youth workers to take part in a free, outdoor, experiential learning opportunity that lasts 5 days and includes canoeing, hiking and camping. Every summer TROOP takes over 200 people on canoe trips to the wilderness of Northern Ontario. Youth participants are between the ages of 13 to 19. The program gives youth and police officers an opportunity to learn a little more about each other while experiencing an environment that many of them have never seen before”.)
Project CANOE and T.R.O.O.P. both work with inner city youth….from a variety of cultural backgrounds, so should be a good ‘fit’ for such funding.
TIME LINE:
Build canoe May/June.
Paddle/tikinagin making May/June.
Art work on paddles/tikinagins June.
Art work on canoe June/July.
Canoe trip late August /September.
Opportunities for various forms of teachings throughout various stages of project.
ESTIMATED COSTS:
Canoe Construction (including materials/labour….and paddle/tikinagan making) Phase: $7500.00 to $9000.00
Art Work (canoe….paddles/tikinagans) Phase: $7500.00 to $9000.00
Canoe Trip Phase: $5000.00 to $6000.00 (10 to 14 day trip) > 6 to 8 Native Youth, 2-3 staff; similar number from Project CANOE and/or T.R.O.O.P.
Total Estimated Costs: As much as $24, 000.00
Auction Canoe At End (Unless Bought As Reward In Advance)….Estimated valued: $12,600.00 (Use $12,600.00 towards future such programs.)
See http://www.gofundme.com/2opynw for more details.
