The Canadian Canoe Museum, Sony Canada and the International Sustainability Education Foundation (ISEF) have initiated a series of joint workshops with the mission to build confidence in youth, especially youth that self identify as First Nations, Inuit and Metis, through practical skills and unique experiences. The first of these workshops is already underway in Manitoba! A group of eight students grades 7 to 9 from Lockport School (just north of Winnipeg) will learn the basics of photography with cameras supplied by Sony Canada, and will also each carve, decorate and finish a canoe paddle!
By the end of the week the students from Lockport will have created a photo blog of their experience of the workshop. This photoblog will be hosted on the Tillikum Lens website – www.tillikumlens.com A version of this photoblog will also be on the canoe museum’s website.
In the spring these same students will get their paddles wet on a day trip with the paddle carving and photography instructor.
The Lockport workshop group will be attending our SOLD OUT Silver Canoe Dinner on February 19 at Fort Gibraltar, as part of the Festival du Voyageur. At the dinner the students will display both their finished paddles and a selection of their photography. Through the dinner experience these students will meet people from all walks of life around Winnipeg and it is to be hoped they will feel empowered to tell their story and explore new opportunities and passions.
The programs are coordinated and delivered by ISEF in partnership with Sony Canada. Through programs like these, the Canadian Canoe Museum is connecting with youth and especially with First Nations, Inuit and Metis youth whose heritage is so closely tied to the canoe and paddle heritage in Canada. Both the Tillikum Lens program and the Paddles Across Canada program are programs developed and delivered by the Foundation – www.isef.ca The Canadian Canoe Museum will be hosting many more of these workshops across the country from coast to coast to coast.
Links;
CBC Manitoba story http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/lockport-man-first-stop-for-new-paddle-making-program-1.3422202
CTV video http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/teens-learn-about-their-past-through-paddle-making-1.2755253