Mi'kmaw craftsman brings back stories and keeps traditions alive while building birch-bark canoes
For thousands of years, birch-bark canoes were a vital part of Mi'kmaw life, but these days, it's a dying art -- one that Todd Labrador refuses to let go of.
The Mi'kmaw craftsman has kept the tradition alive in front of appreciative audiences at Kejimkujik National Park.
Labrador started working there in 1982 and was training to be a carpenter.
"I kept thinking 'I want to do Mi'kmaw cultural things,'" Labrador said. "I kept saying 'let's build a canoe' and in the first few years I was here, that wasn't something that they wanted to do. They had never seen me build a canoe, and I had never built a canoe -- so I can understand why."
But year after year of people saying "no" didn't discourage Labrador.
"It made me more determined," Labrador says.
Ashley Moffatt is a Parks Canada staffer at Kejimkujik National Park. She recalls a conversation she had with Labrador in 2014 during which he mentioned his idea of building a birch-bark canoe.
"I was like, 'alright, let's do it,'" Moffatt said. "I didn't know how we were gonna do it, and it was pretty makeshift the first couple years, but we made it happen."
Labrador says building a birch-bark canoe would take a couple of weeks if he focused only on the building part, but there's a lot of talking, too – and teaching.
As Labrador's helper Rosie Meuse says, it's not just building a canoe.
"It's bringing back the stories," Todd Labrador says. "We believe that elders are people who have been here many, many times. That's where the wisdom comes from. When an elder comes here, everything stops; that's like a walking book of knowledge just walked in, and so, we're so thankful to have that."
"It's bringing back the stories," Labrador said. "We believe that elders are people who have been here many, many times. That's where the wisdom comes from. When an elder comes here, everything stops; that's like a walking book of knowledge just walked in, and so, we're so thankful to have that."
Moffatt said the national park and its visitors are fortunate to have someone like Labrador doing what he does – in the way that he does it.
"What I find so special about Todd is, he's not the type of artist or craftsman that likes to work alone in a shop, doors closed," Moffatt says. "He wants to work -- and share his craft."
Labrador says he wouldn't have it any other way, though.
"When I was in my shop in the back of the house, with nobody to come visit, there wouldn't be any fun for me," Labrador says. "Being here, we meet people from all over the world, and they share their stories and we share ours. We work a little bit every now and then, and we build a canoe. But you know, canoe building is so much more than just canoe building, it's community building."
Videography and interviews by Cristian Monetta. Story written by Ryan Van Horne.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.