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Seven Wonders of Canada
The Canoe, Ontario
Photo Courtesy Mike Grandmaison
My paddle clean and bright,
Flashing with silver.
Follow the wild goose flight,
Dip, dip and swing.
This is the familiar refrain of an old canoeing song, and what better than the canoe to stand for everything Canadian? The canoe has slipped quietly into the stream of the nation’s common parlance. Whether you’re practicing your J-Stroke out on the lake, rooting for your favourite professional soccer team in the national Voyageurs Cup, or simply standing at the corner of Portage and Main in Winnipeg, you are reflecting a bit of Canadian canoeing history. Canoes take many forms: from the slick lines of a racing canoe, to the ruggedness of a seagoing cedar canoe, from cleverly assembled birch bark, to the shiny fiberglass, or the comfy inflatable. Early explorers and voyageurs took their cue from the Aboriginal peoples of Canada, utilizing the canoe as the most versatile and reliable mode of transportation. We received many nominations making this important historical link between the establishment of European culture and industry in Canada, and the canoe. Furthermore, if it weren’t for the humble canoe, half the wonders on this list would be inaccessible!
Judges' Comments
Judges' Comments (0:46)
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Audio Nominations
Timothy Denley (1:38)
Anne Pamely (0:29)
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Email Nominations
Mary Lofthouse
The Canadian Canoe Museum celebrates one of the most elegant modes of transportation ever designed. The canoe! By means of economy of design and use of simple materials, the canoe became and remains one of the most efficient means of moving humans in harmony with the natural environment. A microcosm of our early history, the Canadian Canoe Museum illustrates how exploration and trade were made possible in this vast county by means of this craft. It celebrates:
- the ingenuity of its designers from aboriginal craft to the legendary 19th century Peterborough fabricators.
- the romance of canoeing with beautiful examples of the craft built in the Peterborough area in the 19th and 20th century
- Canadians who have shaped contemporary canoeing, like Bill Mason.
- It has Pierre Elliot Trudeau's buckskin jacket!
- You can often see a birch bark canoe under construction, or participate in a hands-on workshop
Rick Zroback
Without the canoe, Canada would not have been explored and developed. It was the perfect transportation method to move across the country through the numerous lakes and river systems. This superb vessel allowed the first nations people to coexist in their natural environment and the European fur traders to enjoy the other six wonders of Canada.
It still provides a perfect way to explore Canada and marvel at the natural wonders that still exist off the beaten path.
Robert Thompson Boyd
I've travelled somewhat and lived in different countries, which has reinforced and strengthened my pride as a Canadian. When I was a teenager I was lucky enough to go to a French immersion summer camp, where I learned French. I still have vivid memories of how surprised I was on 3 and 4-day canoe trips through Algonquin Park that our camp counsellors continued to speak French long after they NEEDED to! As with most summer camps, we learned to canoe, but we also learned to sing the songs the voyageurs sang to keep the rhythm of their paddling together, and a bit about the history of how the English, French, and Native cultures connected (well, and fought). Of course it's my own nostalgic memories of summer camp, but I think I am not the only person for whom a canoe is evocative of exploration, solitude, and a wonderful way to see every part of Canada (well, maybe not Niagara Falls).
PS. I read that Prince Andrew will be visiting the Canoe Museum in Peterborough.
Doug Barnes
Constructed with locally available materials, able to glide down the shallowest streams, light enough to be carried (portaged) overland to the next river, the canoe was the perfect vehicle to travel the North American interior. A vital part of the exploration of Canada, and the fur trade which followed. The large trader canoes were sufficiently seaworthy to travel the north shore of Lake Superior. The construction materials have changed, but the design of the canoe has remained unaltered for the last four hundred years. Our computer-assisted experts of the 21st century cannot improve it, The two things that make me feel the most Canadian are playing/watching hockey, and exploring the local waters in my canoe. There would still be a Canada without the CN Tower or Niagara Falls, but without the canoe, there wouldn't even be a Canada.
Canoeing today
The canoe continues to play a vital role, allowing access to pristine wilderness areas, and uniting people all over Canada who have a penchant for clear water, dark forest, aching shoulders, cozy sleeping bags, and freeze-dried food.
Did You Know?
The Peterborough Canoe Museum (www.canoemuseum.net ) is a great rallying point for this ubiquitous wonder of Canada. This unique national heritage centre displays all sorts of canoes, big and small, young and old, in an effort to explore the canoe's enduring significance to the people of Canada.
Mary Lofthouse
The Canadian Canoe Museum celebrates one of the most elegant modes of transportation ever designed. The canoe! By means of economy of design and use of simple materials, the canoe became and remains one of the most efficient means of moving humans in harmony with the natural environment. A microcosm of our early history, the Canadian Canoe Museum illustrates how exploration and trade were made possible in this vast county by means of this craft.
Famous Canadian Painter Tom Thomson (a contemporary of the Group of Seven) died under vaguely mysterious conditions, on July 8, 1917, in Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario. It was a place he had often returned to on canoeing and sketching expeditions. He was initially buried overlooking the lake, though he was later re-interred in the family plot beside the Leith Presbyterian Church on July 21.
“the best I can do does not do the place much justice in the way of beauty.”
- Tom Thomson, letter to Dr. James MacCallum, Oct. 6, 1914, from Canoe Lake Station
(MacCallum Papers, National Gallery of Canada Archives).
For information on some famous Canadian canoeing routes, check out the Canadian Canoe Routes website – www.myccr.com