Paddling Forward
The artisanal canoe movement marries historical inspiration with modern creativity
Pam Wedd and Chuck Commanda are creative powerhouses in the canoe-building community. Both look to the Canadian Canoe Museum collection as inspiration, says curator Jeremy Ward. “They can assess everything with a mature eye,” he explains, using historical techniques to evolve the craft into a contemporary artform. As an adolescent, Wedd would pull her own canoe down to the shore and paddle out for moments of solitude “and independence,” she muses. Not much has changed for this artisan canoe builder, who still delights in the serenity of open water. “That’s why a wooden canoe is so special,” she says. “It’s the quietest of all.” Wedd founded her Bearwood Canoe Company in 1989. There, she teaches canoe building and restoration, and sells her own creations. She’s also an annual guest instructor at the ccm, leading its woodand-canvas canoe restoration workshop. She says her students come from all walks of life and that, often, multiple generations of a family will find common ground through building a craft of their own. For Commanda, constructing canoes as a family is what his Algonquin ancestors have always done “to make the family vehicle,” he explains. As a boy, he learned from his grandmother Mary how to prepare roots and split cedar for traditional birchbark canoes. But it wasn’t until 2010 that he built his own, at the request of his grandfather William, a master canoe builder. After months of work, he showed the almost complete canoe to his grandfather, who reviewed it, caught a mistake and insisted that the entire craft be redone. “He looked over at me and said, ‘ You’ll never forget again,’” Commanda recalls. Since then, he’s made many birchbark canoes for local schools and communities. This past September, Commanda showcased his craft at the ccm, where the work of his grandparents is also on display. But it’s the draw of a brand new project that he always looks forward to most: “Every time we make a canoe, this is what happens: it brings people together, and everybody starts sharing,” he says. “I don’t know how to explain it; you just have to experience it for yourself.”