Share your paddling lore!

Decked Canoes, Open Canoes, as long as they're canoes!

Moderators: kenneth, sbroam, TheKrikkitWars, Mike W., Sir Adam, KNeal, PAC, adamin

Post Reply
MikeB
c
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:27 pm

Share your paddling lore!

Post by MikeB »

Hello all!

I am working on an integrated unit of study (language, science, math) for my students and would love some help.

I am looking for any and all canoe related music, poetry, legend, myth, essay, visual art, canoe building site, etc. that you can think of that would help me to enrich my students' understanding of the impact our most loved craft - the canoe - has had on settlement, culture, and, of course, recreation.

My plan is to cover some science and math topics – structures, fluids, density, gravity and balance, etc. and overlay the oral and written language/cultural aspects of canoeing heritage as we explore/experiment with canoe design and mass to volume ratios. I’m thinking the culminating task will be something like student written folk songs or legends along with sustainable canoe design and build competition. The focus of the design and build competition will be on innovation with the reclamation and use of non-recyclable materials.

Thoughts and resources are welcome.

Come on high water! :wink:

Bibbs
Last edited by MikeB on Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Top
jottsee
Pain Boater
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:23 pm
Location: Milwaukee, WI

Post by jottsee »

A Classic Canadian canoe anthem is Land of the silver birch.

here is a link to a version

http://www.wtv-zone.com/phyrst/audio/nf ... rbirch.htm

I still use this anthem to time my strokes when I am tripping, despite learning it 20 years ago in elementary school

jc
Top
MikeB
c
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:27 pm

Post by MikeB »

Thanks JC,

I have sung this classic around many a campfire!

A great suggestion!

Bibb
Top
cheajack
CBoats Addict
Posts: 941
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 2:43 am

Post by cheajack »

I just finished reading Fatal Passage by Ken McGoogan which chronicles John Rae's career as an Arctic explorer who searched for the lost ship of Sir John Franklin and arguably discovered the Northwest Passage. While it is mostly about 19th century Arctic exploration and history, there is quite some detail given over to describing Rae's light and fast form of travel which was by small boat, canoe and snow shoe living off the land as they went. The hardships endured by Rae and his men and the amazing distances they covered should inspire your students.
Top
Gary B
Pain Boater
Posts: 53
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:10 pm
Location: Kingston, On

Post by Gary B »

There is a Canadian writer "James Raffan" that has witten a number of books on the subject.
Top
cheajack
CBoats Addict
Posts: 941
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 2:43 am

Post by cheajack »

The Univ of BC in Vancouver in their Anthropology Museum has a nice display on making the dugout. Might have more info too.
Top
ezwater
C Maven
Posts: 1652
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2003 12:43 am
Location: Decatur, GA

Post by ezwater »

Note that James Dickey wrote a tryptich (sp?) of poems about a tandem canoe trip through Ellijay and down the Coosawattee, where they foundered on a rock and were rescued by a mountain man. Obviously related to his novel Deliverance.
Top
old and in the way
C Guru
Posts: 209
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2003 2:45 am

Post by old and in the way »

How about this?

http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/research/sig ... ntents.htm
"As long as there are young men with the light of adventure in their eyes or a touch of wildness in their souls, rapids will be run." -Sigurd Olson
Top
MikeB
c
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:27 pm

Lore

Post by MikeB »

Thanks everyone!

A great list of resources so far. Keep em' coming.

Much to enjoy! :)

Mike
Top
icyone
C Guru
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 4:38 pm
Location: Middle States Division

Canoe heritage

Post by icyone »

Just about anything about Bill Mason....

Check out the website still maintained by family
Top
User avatar
marclamenace
CBoats Addict
Posts: 711
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 5:28 pm
Location: Quebec, Canada

Re: Canoe heritage

Post by marclamenace »

icyone wrote:Just about anything about Bill Mason....

Check out the website still maintained by family
You can also check out the Canada's NFB web site, which has most of Bill's movies online for free viewing since about a year now.

Waterwalker, for instance:

http://www.nfb.ca/film/waterwalker/

Cheers!
Watch out; that river has rocks on the bottom. :o
Top
User avatar
sbroam
CBoats.net Staff
Posts: 3969
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2002 2:12 am
Location: Lexington, SC
Contact:
Contact sbroam

Post by sbroam »

I really enjoyed "Dangerous River: Adventure on the Nahanni" by R. M. Patterson - canoes figured large in that. "Trail To the Interior" was good, too.

Just realized that my wife has been singing frgaments "Land of the Silver Birch" for years. I'll teach the kids the complete form...
Top
watrwzrd
Pain Boater
Posts: 67
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 12:02 pm
Location: Greensboro NC

Post by watrwzrd »

Here is one I thought would be interesting for you http://www.greatdreams.com/canoe2.htm
Top
Paddle Power
C Maven
Posts: 1041
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 2:18 am
Location: Manitoba, Canada
Contact:
Contact Paddle Power

Post by Paddle Power »

someone mentioned James Raffan,

Bob Henderson is another main man on the Canadian side,
[/url]http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/kinesiol ... n.html[url][/url]
Brian
http://www.JohnstonPursuits.ca" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Top
Paddle Power
C Maven
Posts: 1041
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 2:18 am
Location: Manitoba, Canada
Contact:
Contact Paddle Power

Post by Paddle Power »

Some other ideas

Of course, Bill Mason

Also books:
Canexus: the canoe in Canadian culture / edited by James Raffan & Bert Horwood ; with illustrations by Bill Mason. Toronto: Betelgeuse Books, c1988.

The canoe: a living tradition / conceived by John Jennings ; with contributions from Eugene Arima ... [et al.]. Toronto: Firefly Books, 2002.

The canoe in Canadian cultures / foreword, Kirk Wipper; preface, John
Jenings and Bruce W. Hodgins ; editors, John Jennings, Bruce W. Hodgins, Doreen Small. Toronto: Natural Heritage/Natural History, c1999.

Benidickson, Jamie. Title: Idleness, water, and a canoe : reflections on paddling for pleasure/ Jamie Benidickson. Published: Toronto ; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, c1997.

Gibbon, John Murray, 1875-1952. Title: The romance of the Canadian canoe / John Murray Gibbon. --Published: Toronto : Ryerson Press, 1951.

Paulk, Keith Edward. Title: The effects of canoe tripping on the self-concepts of campers in a long-term therapeutic wilderness camp [microform] / by Keith Edward Paulk. --Published: [S.l. : s.n.], 1982.
Brian
http://www.JohnstonPursuits.ca" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Top
Post Reply

Return to “CBoat C Forum”