Native people have used
birch bark canoes to glide
elegantly down rivers and
lakes for thousands of years
and they’ve passed along the
craft of making these canoes
from generation to
generation. But in modern
times this knowledge is
slowly disappearing as a lack

of material, fading interest,
new technologies and new ways
of thinking encroach on the
old way of life.
   This exhibition honours
the birch bark canoe builders
of the Golden Lake community.
It shows the story of the
largest birch bark canoe ever
built, now permanently on

display at the Museum of
Civilization in Ottawa, and
describes the canoe’s one and
only voyage in September
1957. It also examines the
lives of the people involved
in the building of it and
offers a reproduction of the
vessel, built by Matthew
Bernard of Golden Lake.

   In the 1950s, Bernard and
his son Mike were renowned
for their expertise. But
other legendary canoe
builders from the Golden Lake
community also get their due.
   In the 1960s, Dan Sarazin
and his son Stanley were the
pride of the community and to
this day Stanley, his wife