“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

Welcome to the BARK SIDE! May the force of the birch bark canoe be with you! Check out our campaign, Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective Bark Canoe Builds!!!!!

Maawandoon Jiimaan: Maawandoon means ‘bringing us together’. Jiimaan is 'canoe'.

The Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective is a group of Indigenous birch bark canoe builders that seek to teach birch bark canoe building (and other related traditional skills) to Indigenous youth….to work with Indigenous communities and organizations….to help reconnect Indigenous peoples, especially youth, to the land….through their canoe heritage….as well as through culture and traditions….including the language.

The Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective will bring Indigenous people together….learning about their culture and traditions together….altogether in one canoe as it were.  

The Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective is a collective of birch bark canoe builders, with lead builders Richard Bayer and Mike Ormsby. The Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective is currently operating as an ad hoc collective. Eventually we hope to create a more formal collective, possibly as a non-profit foundation or similar organization.

Besides the community members we work with in each First Nation that we do a build in, we also intend to train a couple of young men to continue on this traditional skill of birch bark canoe building, ages 20 to 35, with one or two of these apprentices continuing on the work of the Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective.

Though birch bark canoe building is the prime focus of the Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective, we will be doing other traditional crafts as well, such as making paddles, snow shoes, tikinagans (cradle boards), and toboggans.

Mike Ormsby: Artist Background And Statement

I am an Anishinaabe artist, craftsman, writer, storyteller, outdoor educator, and canoe builder. I build birch bark and wood canvas canoes.

I sign my work as W’ dae b’ wae, the Anishinaabe name given to me by the late Elder Art Solomon. The meaning of w' dae b' wae is “he or she is telling the truth, is right, is correct, is accurate.” I hope my artwork speaks to that same truth. Through my art, I try to share Anishinaabe culture, teachings and traditions.

My family is from Curve Lake First Nation.

I facilitated a canoe building program in Fort Severn on Hudson Bay restoring wood canvas Freighter canoes with local First Nations youth (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/fort-severn-first-nation-rediscovers-lost-art-of-canoe-craftsmanship-1.1241487). This workshop awoke a strong desire to continue contributing my skills to the Indigenous community in a positive way. Since I am of the Bear clan, one could say the bear came out of hibernation.

I found myself further drawn to building birch bark canoes instead of more contemporary wood canoes, such as wood canvas ones.

To develop a better understanding of the craftmanship involved, I examined and studied old birch bark canoes at the Canadian Canoe Museum. I sought out master builders, refining my building techniques, and visited Elders to learn traditional Indigenous teachings about the canoe. Realizing the power of the canoe, I returned to my artistic roots and the canoe became a central focus of my art practice.

I share both my skills and artistry. The canoe is built by hand, using simple tools in the spirit of good intentions. I use traditional tools such as a crooked knife, an axe, and a froe.

Form will follow function, and be linked to available natural materials. From the birch tree will come 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.

I learned about building traditional birch bark canoes. It’s a practice that allows me to continue a Indigenous craft that was nearly lost in modern times. My interest in birch bark canoes began as a young man. As I learned more about Anishinaabe (or Ojibway) culture, I found myself wanting to build birch bark canoes.

There was a slow transition between learning the craft of building birch bark canoes and actually building one of my own. Being Indigenous, I feel a deep responsibility to honor the traditional builders when I build birch bark canoes. To develop as complete an understanding of the craft as possible, I examined old birch bark canoes, visited builders and Elders I knew, and studied those bark canoes at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario.

The canoes are built completely from renewable resources found in the boreal forest. I gather the building materials. I look at many birch trees to find the perfect sheet of bark for the bottom of the canoe. Cedar planks, hard wood pegs, and spruce roots are also used. Spruce resin mixed with charcoal and bear grease forms the pitch, or canoe sealant.

There’s no finish, oil or varnish used. There’s a natural beauty to these canoes. It’s all from the forest, all gathered by hand. The birch bark canoe is the most meaningful way to travel in the wilderness.

The Anishinaabe needed transportation for the waterways which are a large part of their territory. The people realized the Creator had provided the very blueprint for such a watercraft based on their own bodies. Thus the birch bark canoe was created. They turned to Mother Earth for the materials required, offering a prayer and tobacco as a gift each time they harvested these materials.

We ask the birch tree if we can use the birch bark for the skin. We go to the cedar tree and ask if we can use its wood for the inner part of the canoe. The thinner cedar sheathing is like the layer of muscle, beneath the skin. The ribs of the canoe strengthen and support the canoe. The thwarts act as the sternum. The gunnels are the backbone.

Our tendons are flexible and strong, bonding our muscles to our bones. We borrow the pliant roots from the spruce tree to connect the canoe together, by lashing and sewing with the roots. We also use the blood of the spruce tree – the gum or the tree's sap - to seal the canoe. Like our blood, the tree's sap flows. When our skin is punctured, our blood coagulates and it heals, sealing the wound.

The same thing with the canoe; we use the blood of the spruce tree to seal the canoe.

So this is the blue print. We carry it with us. You hear people say ‘the birch bark canoe…oh that’s us.’ It’s who we are. It’s real. It really is us.

The late Anishinaabe Elder Art Solomon once said:

"Native people feel they have lost something and they want it back. It doesn’t necessarily mean that when I talk about going back over there, that we stay over there. You have to get those teachings and pick up those things that we left along the way. The drums, the language, the songs are all scattered around. We need to bring them into this time. You need these things to teach your children today in order to give them that direction and good feelings about who they are. They need to know where they are going. It doesn’t mean we have to go back to living in teepees. You can be a traditionalist and be comfortable wherever you are."

Art also said:

“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.”

I feel it’s important to carry on the tradition of bark canoe building and pass on the skills to the future generation. These vessels are an example of what humans can accomplish when they work with nature rather than against it. About being connected to the earth and nature. It is about working with natural materials and making that connection. They’re made from renewable resources, don’t create pollution when made or used and are completely biodegradable.

Whatever their motivations, artisans across the Great Lakes are sustaining a work of art that is of cultural and historical significance to many in the area. The tradition of birch bark canoebuilding and travel is clearly not invented. It has lived in the hearts and memories of Native peoples throughout the Great Lakes, resting like seeds within the community – waiting to germinate and flourish.

The canoe is formed by hand, using simple tools, with a good heart and mind. A canoe is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. A well built birch bark canoe is a work of art. But you should be able to put the canoe in the water and use it....to paddle it.

When I first laid eyes on a birch bark canoe, it wasn’t what I saw that captivated me most. It was what I heard. I hesitate to say the canoe spoke to me, but that’s what happened. It was almost as if there was a spirit that was communicating telepathically with me from this birch bark canoe that I saw. It was really a powerful experience for me.

I am still learning and improving and believe that if I can’t continue to learn, then I’d better stop making canoes. Each canoe has a different style, a different set of challenges, and the goal is to acquire the skills to meet those new challenges and try to see if you can make that certain canoe just the right way....in as a good a way as possible.

Depending on the materials used, a 14-foot canoe can take between 30 and 50 hours to complete. This time commitment requires dedication.

My first bark canoe:

Eniimtaang-nibi: Waterdancer

Wiigwaas-jiimaan eniitang nibi: Birch bark canoe, Waterdancer

(NOTE: This canoe was donated by myself to the Onaman Collective to raise funds for their Culture Camp Forever, now named Nimkii Aazhibikong.)

Anishinaabemowin for Canoe Building:

Aabadizo wenizhishid giizhik-the fine cedar is used

Aatwaakosijigan(ag)-framing stake(s)

Abwiikewag-they make a paddle

Abwi(in)-paddle(s)

Agowanewaatig(oog)-gunnel cap(s)

Anishinaabe-“original man” also known as the Ojibwe/Ojibway, or Chippewa nation

Anishinaabemowin-language of the Anishinaabe

Apikanikaan(an)-temporary thwart(s)

Apikan(ag)-thwart(s)

Apisidaagan(ag)-slat(s) or sheathing

Apisidaaganike-s/he makes sheathing

Asemaa-tobacco

Asin(iig)-rock(s)

Baashkinede’igan-steamer

Bigiw-spruce pitch

Bigiwikewag-they make pitch

Biindakoojigewin-offering of tobacco

Bikwakokaan(an)-wooden or cedar peg(s)

Bikwakokaanike-s/he makes wooden pegs

Bimikwaan(ag)-gunnel(s)

Bimikwaanike-s/he forms gunnels

Bishagaakobijigewag-they are peeling birch bark

Daashkibijigewin-root splitting

Daashkiga’ige-s/he splits

Gashkigwaaso-s/he sews

Gashkoonowin(an)-lashing

Gawaandag-black spruce

Gezhaagamideg-warm water

Gidinawemaaganinaanig-all our relatives

Giizhik-cedar

Gwayako-didibinan!-Roll it up correctly!

Ishkweyaang-back of the canoe

Jiimaan-canoe

Jiimaanike-wigiwaaming-canoe making house

Maananoons-ironwood/hop hornbeam tree

Maniwiigwaase-s/he gathers birch bark

Mewadishiwejig-visitors

Migoos(an)-awl(s)

Miigwech-thank you

Mookodaaso-s/he carves or whittles

Mookojigan-draw knife

Naajibigiwe-s/he harvests spruce pitch

Nabagisagoonsikewin-board-making

Niigaan-front of the canoe

Obishagaakobidoon Wiigob-s/he peels the inner bark of the basswood

Odoozhi’aawaan apisidaaganag-they make cedar sheathings

Odoozhitoonaawaa Jiimaanike-Wigamig-they build the canoe making house

Ogiishkizhaanaawaan-they cut and trim the roots

Ojiim-to kiss

Onaadinaanaawaan wadabiin -they go get spruce root

Onaakosijigan-forming frame

Onaakosijigewag-they use frame and stakes to bend the canoe into the proper shape

Onaakosijigewin-frame making

Ondewan-the roots are boiling

Ozhiitaawin-getting ready for…

Waagaadoowaatig(oog)-end piece(s) or inner prow piece

Waaginaa(g)-canoe rib(s)

Waawaashkeshi bimide-deer fat

Wiigob(iin)-inner basswood bark string(s)

Wiigwaasi-Gashkigwaasowin-birch bark sewing

Wiigwaasi-Jiimaan-birch bark canoe

Wiiwakwaanens-little cap

Further Project Background

During the summer of 2018. an Ontario First Nations canoe project is envisioned, patterned after Pulling Together ( http://pullingtogether.ca/) or Tribal Journeys ( http://tribaljourneys.wordpress.com/) from the West Coast. This could be called Journey By Canoe, involving a number of canoe trips from various Anishinaabe (Ojibway) communities from around Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, as well as inland from Temagami, North Bay, Lake Simcoe and the Kawarthas, with the trips ending at 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. Opportunities for teachings will be had, through the various aspects of this project, from the building process to the actual canoe trips. As well these trips could bring awareness to First Nations rights; to Mother Earth; to the environment; to water; to the Great Lakes; and wilderness. Such trips would involve birch bark canoes. Built by Anishinaabe youth. Using the most natural materials possible.

But such a project will be a very involved and large undertaking. Sometimes it is better to take small steps (crawl before you walk, and walk before you run). This proposed initiative is one such step. It is hoped that such an annual journey would start in 2018....a beginning for Anishinabek youth.

To do so we want to build two birch bark canoes this autumn and winter (2017-18). As well, we hope to create a non-profit foundation to pursue funding opportunities that would permit growing this idea even further....such as winter camping....maybe even looking at also building snowshoes or toboggans....or even tikinagans. But more than anything else creating ways to get youth back out on the land.

SO with the funding from this campaign, Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective Bark Canoe Builds, we would build two birch bark canoes. These builds would occur at two First Nation communities on Manitoulin Island or along the North Shore of Lake Huron. The exact sites for these builds are yet to be determined. The chosen communities would retain ownership of these canoes. The canoes built would also become part of the envisioned canoe journey.

Two birch bark canoes can be built for $40,000.

SO the total request for this campaign is $40,000. Anything raised beyond and above that would be applied to the overall canoe project....the overall canoe journey.

Cost Breakdown of Each Canoe Build

Production   # of Days     Daily Rate      Total

Builder A             15              $500            $7,500

Builder B             15              $500            $7,500

                                                      Total: $15,000

Gathering/Harvesting & Preparation of Building Materials (By Builder A & B)

Material         # of Days      Daily Rate      Total

Birch Bark             3              $400           $1,200

Spruce Roots       1.5            $400              $600

Spruce Gum         2               $400             $800

Ironwood              1               $400             $400

White Cedar         2               $400             $800

Birch Wood          1               $400             $400

Preparation          2               $400             $800

                                                       Total: $5,000

Overall, we hope to raise enough funding and support to build two birch bark canoes.

NOTE: The two main canoe builders involved in this project are Wayne Bayer and Mike Ormsby. Here is a short bio on Wayne Bayer:

Wayne Bayer is from M’Chigeeng First Nation, but lives with his partner in Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island. Wayne is an accomplished builder, mostly self-taught. He runs Black Wolf Outdoors, and provides training in cultural and traditional activities in the outdoors, especially around canoes. As an example, Wayne runs three week birch bark canoe building courses where one builds a birch bark canoe, under supervision and assistance, that one keeps. This is done in a rough camping situation and requires strenuous work. This course is on a lake in the northern wilderness. Wayne will show one how to harvest the bark, roots, cedar and pitch. Such a course is conducted in June or July since this is the time to harvest bark.

Examples of Wayne's work:

NOTE: Recently the Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective was commissioned to make an art model birch canoe for the North American Indigenous Games Toronto 2017:

The Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective with NAIG 2017 art canoe. Art canoe at NAIG 2017 Closing Ceremony.

Maawandoon Jiimaan Collective booth at NAIG 2017 Cultural Festival at York University.

Link to article on CBC North on us:

Connecting Indigenous Games Through Canoe Heritage,

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/naig/connecting-indigenous-games-through-canoe-heritage-1.4214740