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César's Bark Canoe

This documentary shows how a canoe is built the old way. César Newashish, a 67-year-old Atikamekw of the Manawan Reserve north of Montreal, uses only birchbark, cedar splints, spruce roots and gum. Building a canoe solely from the materials that the forest provides may become a lost art, even among the Indigenous peoples whose traditional craft it is. The film is without commentary but text frames appear on the screen in Cree, French and English.
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This documentary shows how a canoe is built the old way. César Newashish, a 67-year-old Atikamekw of the Manawan Reserve north of Montreal, uses only birchbark, cedar splints, spruce roots and gum. Building a canoe solely from the materials that the forest provides may become a lost art, even among the Indigenous peoples whose traditional craft it is. The film is without commentary but text frames appear on the screen in Cree, French and English.

Crafts Indigenous Peoples in Canada (First Nations and Métis) All subjects
  • director
    Bernard Gosselin
  • photography
    Bernard Gosselin
  • producer
    Paul Larose
  • sound
    Serge Beauchemin
  • editing
    Monique Fortier
  • music
    Maurice Blackburn
  • re-recording
    Roger Lamoureux
  • participant
    Cesar Newashish

Education

Ages 11 to 17
School subjects
Arts Education - Visual Arts Diversity - Identity Geography - Territory: Indigenous History - Early Colonization/Settlement History and Citizenship Education - First Occupants (to 1500) Indigenous Studies - Arts Indigenous Studies - Identity/Society Indigenous Studies - Issues and Contemporary Challenges
In Aboriginal culture, the making of the canoe is more than a means of transportation. What does it signify? Compare and contrast this canoe and one bought at Canadian Tire. Why go through all the time and effort to build one? What values are represented in the film? What are some other ways in which traditions are passed down in Aboriginal culture? In our culture?

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César's Bark Canoe
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