In the summer of 2022, Author, Storyteller, and Experimental Archaeologist Robin Moore embarked on the adventure of a lifetime when he spent three weeks in the Canadian bush of Northern Ontario learning to build a birchbark from master canoe builder Tom Byers. Tom is of French and Cree heritage and has built 98 birchbark canoes over the last 25 years. Working alongside his mentor and teacher, Robin learned to collect natural materials from the bush and build an Ojibway Longnose canoe using traditional methods.
Robin will bring his 13-foot canoe and samples of Birchbark, Northern White Cedar, and Jack Pine roots from which it was built along with several scale models of traditional tribal styles of birchbark watercraft. Come and hear his tales of this apprenticeship which opened the door to preserving a traditional North American craft that is rapidly vanishing.
Robin Moore has made his living for 40 years as an author, storyteller and teacher of primitive living skills. He has written over twenty books and given more than 5,000 primitive living programs. Come and join us for this hands-on exploration of birchbark watercraft.