Afton M.

Carlow, New Brunswick

Anglophone East Regional Heritage Fair (Hopewell Cape)

Chemin du Canoe - Path of the Canoe

My project is about how canoes have changed our world over quite a few centuries. We may not realize it but canoeing really opens a door to the beautiful nature all around us. Canoes helped found Canada and are very important to our culture even if we don't know it.

 

 

 

What was the most interesting thing you learned about your topic?

I learned lots during this project but I think the most interesting thing was the crazy long canoe routes that the voyageurs did while helping to found Canada. The video will show some of these trips and the amazing things that these Canadian men did.

What important lessons have you learned that you want to share with other Canadians?

Some of the important lessons that we can learn from this video is that even though it seems like Canada is just full of clear-cuts, factories, roads and rocks, if we can just dig a bit deeper into our country we can find the true beauty. The voyageurs were living right in nature. Going down crazy rapids, seeing amazing things and we think that we can not find these things in our world today. But we can.

How would you compare your life today to the lives of those studied in your project?

I think my life was a lot easier than the Indigenous peoples and voyageurs. These people made canoes and had to work hard during the Canadian fur trade. They had to travel down the rivers in their huge canoes and come all the way up against the current carrying 3 TONS of cargo! That's a lot!!! We certainly do not have to do that now. We can go right to the store and buy clothes and rugs and we certainly don't have to carry three 90 pound packs on our backs over hard terrain!