Students paddle into past

Bradley Beecken says building a birch-bark canoe in class this year has taught him an important lesson: kids of his generation have it a heck of a lot easier than the kids of two or three centuries ago.

“It makes you realize back then life was a whole lot easier than it is compared to now,” the 13-year-old Algonquin Avenue Public School Grade 8 student said on Thursday afternoon, as he and classmate Tamara Albanese showcased the miniature canoe for Fort William Historical Park staff. The park sponsored the program and helped them create podcasts that will document their efforts in years to come.

“Now we have cars. Back then they had canoes,” he said, acknowledging that his parents aren’t building their cars like aboriginal parents built their modes of transportation in earlier times.

The process also taught the students about the importance of aboriginal culture and their ways of life, sending them out into the bush to collect the resources they need and encouraged them to read about the role the canoe, one of the seven wonders of Canada, played in the country’s foundation.
 “We actually went out into the bush and picked spruce roots from black spruce trees,” said Tamara, Bradley’s 13-year-old classmate.

“Basically we watched movies on how (the canoes) were built. That’s how we learned how to build a birch-bark canoe,” Bradley said, forgetting to mention a field trip to the park where they got first-hand experience from a canoe builder himself. 

Darren Lentz, a vice-principal and Grade 7 and 8 teacher at the school, said FWHP approached Algonquin officials to see if they might be interested in the unique educational endeavour.

“We thought it was a perfect fit for our students,” he said.

Sheena Albanese is the co-ordinator of education and lifelong learning at FWHP, said Lentz wanted to bring value to the classroom experience and make the connection between the process of building a canoe and the culture and expertise available at the park.

The lessons learned are invaluable, Albanese said.

“Learning about aboriginal culture in Thunder Bay is essential, because it’s our history, it’s our region. We live in the boreal forest. We’re on the Canadian shield. This is our environmental and cultural history that we’re engaging with,” she said. “It’s a rare skill and the process of learning a rare skill that’s particular to your area brings a lot of cultural value and pride in the kinds of things that you’re doing. And it makes some good ambassadors for the region as well.”

The canoe will be officially launched in June during National Canoe Day, and will then be donated to the park where it will be used for educational purposes.