{"id":5124,"date":"2017-02-16T09:04:16","date_gmt":"2017-02-16T14:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=5124"},"modified":"2025-10-10T11:33:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:33:12","slug":"birchbark-canoe-cu75","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/birchbark-canoe-cu75\/","title":{"rendered":"Iconic Birchbark Canoe Comes to Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Iconic Birchbark Canoe Comes to Life\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

The birchbark canoe<\/a> is an iconic symbol of Algonquin<\/a> culture. It\u2019s also a remarkably effective yet elegantly simple piece of technology. And it looks beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help celebrate Carleton\u2019s 75th<\/sup> anniversary<\/a>, the university\u2019s Centre for Aboriginal Culture and Education (CACE<\/a>) and the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG<\/a>) have decided to collaborate on a project that will bring students together to build a birchbark canoe using traditional materials and methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for cross-cultural and experiential learning,\u201d says Benny Michaud, one of CACE\u2019s three Aboriginal Cultural Liaison Officers, \u201cand it\u2019s another way to acknowledge that Carleton is located upon and within unceded Algonquin territory<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michaud was responsible for recruiting the students who will build the canoe under the direction of Pinock<\/a>, an internationally-renowned Algonquin craftsman from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Nation<\/a>, about two hours north of Ottawa. The group, a mix of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, will assemble the canoe on Wednesday evenings at CUAG until late March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Algonquin craftsman Pinock (centre) is giving Carleton students a hands-on lesson in canoe construction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When it\u2019s finished, the eight- or nine-foot canoe will be tested in the water and, next fall, will be installed in a prominent place on the main floor of the MacOdrum Library<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a lot of interest from students,\u201d says Michaud.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re always keen to be involved in culturally relevant educational opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cExperiential learning is a central part of Indigenous cultures,\u201d she continues. \u201cThat\u2019s how communities passed on traditional knowledge from one generation to the next. There\u2019s not necessarily a lot of instruction, but there\u2019s a lot of demonstration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Indigenous students working on the canoe, says Michaud, this a chance to reconnect with their culture. For the non-Indigenous students, it\u2019s an opportunity to experience a traditional way of sharing knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Indigenous cultures
\nare very much alive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome may think of Indigenous cultures as being part of a distant past with no contemporary presence. But our cultures are alive. These types of projects demonstrate the resilience we have, and our intrinsic and intimate relationship with the land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinock, who also builds toboggans, paddles, drums and snowshoes, made his first birchbark canoe about 25 years ago with help from an uncle who was in his 80s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI learned from the school of life,\u201d says Pinock, who had watched his grandfather and other relatives make canoes when he was a young child. \u201cI\u2019m definitely not self-taught. I learned from the community as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the 1950s, he says, there wasn\u2019t much work in Kitigan Zibi, so people harvested trees from the surrounding forests to make canoes, paddles, toboggans and other objects they needed for their daily lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, a few people still know how to make these things, but not many do it actively,\u201d says Pinock.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cToday, people have the interest, but they don\u2019t have the time to devote to it. People get caught up in the pace of modern life. That\u2019s not just in our culture \u2014 it\u2019s everybody. It\u2019s the times we\u2019re living in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Pinock follows his trapline in R\u00e9serve faunique La V\u00e9rendrye<\/a> northwest of Kitigan Zibi to gather materials for his canoes. He looks for straight, knot-free birch trees about two or three feet in diameter, then removes a small piece of the outer bark to check it for flexibility \u2014 a step that does not harm the trees he leaves standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most difficult part of building a birchbark canoe, he says, is finding good materials. All you need are the bark, cedar and ash wood for the frame, spruce roots to lash the pieces together, and spruce gum to seal it. Once you have these, the canoe comes together fairly easily because the design is so simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRemember, my ancestors did things without metal tools,\u201d says Pinock, \u201cthough they did have virgin forests and healthy trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis type of canoe is something that comes directly from nature. The students who do these things, they really<\/em> get involved. It\u2019s an experience that helps them appreciate native culture, when they see how simple it is. Humans are strange animals. We like complicated things. This is a very simple vessel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinock, who doesn\u2019t consider himself a master canoe builder, describing himself as \u201can Algonquin guy who makes stuff,\u201d hasn\u2019t counted the number of canoes he has built over the years. But he has noticed an increasing interest in traditional practice, and has made canoes with groups of students as far away as New York City, and one that\u2019s installed at the Canada Council for the Arts headquarters in downtown Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHands-on learning is the best way to learn,\u201d he says. \u201cI want the students to do as much as they can. I\u2019m there to show them the basics and how to use the tools. I\u2019m there to help, not to sit around and give orders.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Birchbark canoe project
\ngoes beyond construction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not really the canoe that\u2019s important. It\u2019s learning how<\/em> to build it, and learning how to communicate with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also very important to maintain our traditions. We\u2019ve lost a lot of our culture in the last 50 or 60 years. We need this. Culture is who we are. It helps us appreciate the ingenuity and intelligence of our ancestors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CUAG director Sandra Dyck first met Pinock in fall 2015 when the gallery hosted \u201cWalking With Our Sisters<\/a>,\u201d a memorial installation in honour of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early last year, when a canoe project was discussed as a means of marking Carleton\u2019s 75th anniversary, Dyck thought of Pinock.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s very important for the gallery, and for Carleton, to honour and support diverse forms of knowledge, like that of Pinock, who talks about learning from his elders, his community and the \u2018school of life,\u2019\u201d says Dyck.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe canoe, as a work in progress, will be left on display in the gallery. The public will be able to see this incredible work of art and technology come together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorking with and learning from Pinock to make a canoe is not only a huge honour, it is also a wonderful opportunity for what we call \u2018collaborative co-learning in public.\u2019 We are keen to create spaces of exchange and reflection in the gallery, and to encourage active participation. Everyone brings their own experiences and knowledge to the gallery, and we aspire to learn together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of Pinock\u2019s finished birchbark canoes, on display in the Canada Council for the Arts office in downtown Ottawa. (Photo: Sandra Dyck)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carleton President Roseann O\u2019Reilly Runte has been an enthusiastic supporter of the canoe project since its inception. She strives to bring a new work of art to campus every year, and wanted to do something special for the 75th<\/sup> anniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cArt plays an important role in our lives, transmitting ideas and emotions, culture and knowledge,\u201d says Runte.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIt challenges us to think and helps us transcend the routine and to discover the extraordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArt may bring us beauty and serenity, or jar our senses and disturb our thoughts, making us question the superficial and seek deep meaning. I believe that art should be an important part of our lives and our education, and hope that the members of the Carleton community will share my enthusiasm and agree that these works of art add to our campus and its meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"cu75-footer-plate-700w\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The birchbark canoe is an iconic symbol of Algonquin culture. It\u2019s also a remarkably effective yet elegantly simple piece of technology. And it looks beautiful. To help celebrate Carleton\u2019s 75th anniversary, the university\u2019s Centre for Aboriginal Culture and Education (CACE) and the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) have decided to collaborate on a project that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28],"cu_story_tag":[1927],"class_list":["post-5124","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_tag-indigenous"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/5124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/5124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97657,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/5124\/revisions\/97657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=5124"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=5124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}