Marcel Labelle has extensive experience building canoes by hand.
The Mattawa resident is in the midst of building a 20-foot birch bark canoe outside the Mattawa Museum, using skills passed down from his ancestors.
Labelle has used those same skills to build canoes at the McEwen School of Architecture in Sudbury..
“After I built a canoe called Hope, with eight Master's students at the school, COVID started. So everything was put on hold,” explained Labelle.
“During that pause, my grandson built a canoe when he turned 14 and I helped him. In talking, I told him ‘I am going to build one more big canoe and it is going to be about a 20-footer.’”
When Labelle’s grandson finished building his canoe, the pair went to the museum for an event that would ultimately take the pair on an incredible journey.
“Alexandre announced to the curator that he had built his own canoe and that I was going to build a 20-footer at home just south of here,” said Labelle
“So Judy the curator asked me if I would consider building it here at the museum, so I said yeah,” the older Labelle grinned.
“For me, it is about giving back to Mattawa. I have harvested materials for over 35-40 canoes from the area, and it is time to give back.”
This canoe will be making its way to a significant national event next month.
“This leg of the journey, we’re going to paddle the Gift, that is the name of this canoe, to Ottawa. And in talking to people it was decided the date we should arrive in Ottawa is September 30th for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation."
An added measure of pride for Labelle.
“Because I do presentations throughout elementary schools, high schools, and universities all across Canada. And in my presentations, I share that I am Metis of Algonquin ancestry, and when my French ancestors came here over 400 years ago, they met my Anishinaabe ancestors, and the canoe is the gift that they shared together,” explained Labelle.
“And if not for the birch bark canoe, Canada wouldn’t be what it is today. So that shows that for many hundreds of years, we worked well together. It is only around Confederation that things started going not so well. We want to bring the Gift back to Ottawa to remind people that we have worked well together with people in the past, and we can do it again. It is not something new, we just need to remember the Gift. ”
Some of the materials used to build the canoe were harvested by Labelle from the Mattawa area last winter.
"I harvested the cedar tree which took about a month because I do everything by hand, buck saw and axe. When it was small enough to put on my shoulder, I walked it home and worked on it,“ Labelle explained.
A number of other natural materials have gone into the canoe in addition to the birch bark including cedar, ashes, spruce roots, and spruce gum to seal the seams.
Nothing is wasted.
“Unfortunately the gum cracks in cold water, so we use bear fat to soften the gum so it doesn’t fall in the river. More importantly, the bear is a powerful protector spirit, so when we’re paddling, we have the bear spirit with us,” Labelle shared.
“The final result is like how my ancestors built canoes, but instead of copper tools, I use metal tools. I don’t use any power tools. You’ll see here and there I use string to hold things together temporarily.”
Rocks are also visible inside the canoe.
"My ancestors used to do that also because the rocks to us not only weigh everything in place as we’re building, but they are our grandparents. So I have asked my grandparents, my ancestors, to guide me while we’re building.”
The canoe builder calls working alongside his teenage grandson, Alexandre Labelle, who started calling the conversation at the museum, “a highlight.”
Alexandre who is now 17 years old, and he continues to learn important lessons from his grandfather.
“I learned patience is very important in life and using materials correctly and not wasting them is definitely the biggest lesson I’ve learned.”
Labelle began assembling the canoe on May 18th.
The launch date is scheduled for Saturday, August 27 at noon in Matttawa.
Once complete, the Gift will be presented to Mother Earth.
“Usually in a launching ceremony, we give birth to the canoe. We put it in the water, we drum, we sing, and a fiddler is going to come. It is going to be a real celebration.”
After that, the focus will be on arriving in Ottawa on September 30th.
“That is the day I want to arrive. We’ll make it happen. It is more important to arrive that day than it is to do all the inches on the Ottawa River,” explained Labelle.
There may be a point where the canoe will be trailered to get to Ottawa on time.
“And that’s okay. It’s not about re-enactment.," said the canoe builder.
“It is about bringing people together, to illustrate that we can work together. That word is not so popular right now, but the meaning behind it is important."
The museum has hosted visitors from around the world since work on the canoe began. Labelle is using it as an opportunity to educate people about canoe building and his culture.
