Nations Paddling

Project Information and Description

An important aim of the Nations Paddling as One Canoe Project is to tap into the traditional knowledge while it still lives in the memories and stories of Tsimshian Elders and transfer this knowledge to a new generation, a generation that is searching for its place in the world.

By reviving the knowledge and practice of traditional ways that includes protocol surrounding the giving of names and titles, teachings through the Elders, to learn the Tsimshian names of sacred and common items, the true meaning of dances and songs, and an understanding of the significance of ceremonial objects, and imparting this knowledge to our youth, we will ensure that the unique Tsimshian culture will be strong for generations to come.

A Community based project that allows artist, craftspeople, boat builders, shipwrights and Elders to share craftsmanship and techniques, skills and knowledge, traditional and contemporary with youth. To learn construction of a Northwest Style Canoe.

The main reasons we decided to use the cedar strip method was the difficulty in securing logs of proper size, dimension, quality for a dug out canoe, and the constraints of skill levels and time lines to execute a hand carved canoe and the amount of continuous maintenance required. A dug out canoe of 44 feet with 4 skilled and trained people would take approximately 6 months which includes painting and designing the canoe and painting and carving the paddles.

The cedar strip method allows for ease of access, with entry level skills and ongoing training and mentorship makes this a project that students can grasp and develop necessary skills in a relatively short period of time, which will develop confidence, pride and enable continuous, inspired, participation in this eventful project.

A young man of the Tlinqit Wolf phratry went, one day, down the beach for octopus and saw the head of one between the rocks. He reached down to drag it out, but when he touched it, he was seized just above the wrist and drawn in. It was not a common octopus as he thought, but a shellfish known as “Kal’hon”. As his hand was held tight by this brute, and he did not know what else to do, he squeezed and twisted the beak of the Kal’hon until it died and loosened it’s grip. He then went back to the house where his brother-in-law asked him “Are there any octopus under those rocks?” He replied, “ Yes, but they are all stuck fast to the rock. I cannot pull them out.”

The next morning the brother-in-law went hunting for octopus. He saw what appeared to be head of one among the rocks and thrust his hand in to drag it out. The Kal’hon closed its jaws and seized his hand. Unable to move, he shouted. “The Kal’hon has bitten my hand!”. As he shouted for some time, the people came down with some poles and tried to pry him loose, but could not because the rock was too large and heavy. Then they tried pushed the rock but to no avail. The tide was now rising and the people had failed in their efforts to get him loose. Slowly the water rose until it covered the whole body of the young man. The men and women now sat in their canoes over the rock to which he was fastened and sang dirge songs (limk’oi). When the Kal’hon felt his victim was drowned, it opened its jaws and released him. He floated up and his body was pulled into a canoe.

This happened, in “Lax’sai’l” Alaska, before the people had taken flight and migrated southwards (Gwenhoot). That is why the families of Gulraerh and Sgagwait of the Gitando tribe use the Kal’hon as a crest on their poles and headdress and robes.