The Story Behind The Canoe

The Design

The design has been created to captivate emotion and curiosity. The canoe represents that we are all on this journey together; we are moving forward to see a better tomorrow. There is a moon on the tip of the canoe to represent change.

The canoe has 7 stripes on the side of it to represent the 7 sacred teachings of reconciliation. There are 4 people in the canoe. They have been designed to appear as a man, woman or both to amplify acceptance and that we are together as one. There are 4 of them to represent the 4 directions of which we all come from. They have their hands up to give thanks to the Creator for us to be here today.

They are all wearing cedar headbands to signify culture and our traditions and the beam of light on the end of the canoe represents our ancestors guiding us as we go through these changing times. We must always be mindful of what we have been taught in order to teach the next generation.

I chose blue as the main colour to represent the power we get from the water. The trees represent the land of which we learn and play on. We must be mindful to protect our land and teach the future generations to look after it.

Each competency has a paddle dedicated to it, but it can also be viewed as a feather. The intention of the paddles/feathers is to resemble flight. We must be prepared to take flight and spread our wings to see the world from a new angle. We must be able to see the whole picture in order to make systematic change for our people and build better relationships.

Competency Paddles

Purple Butterfly Paddle - Stewardship for the Future of All Children
The butterfly represents the final form of transformation. It has beauty and grace as it flies and spreads its beauty into the world. It embraces a sense of belonging and care not only for self and others, but the land and the environment.

Green Heron Paddle - Contextual Literacy
The heron is a bird that has a massive wing span that swoops the wind to gain flight. It has a perfect balance of itself while walking in the pond. Sometimes it can be so still that there isn’t even a ripple in the water, and other times it can shake up the water to make the creatures in the water move.

Orange Eagle Paddle - Aligning Structures with Vision for Learning
The eagle is a bird of power and resilience. It circles above to look at the full picture of what is below. They are the wisest of birds and most respected in the animal kingdom. I felt this one had to be the eagle for its vision.

Red Owl Paddle - Fostering a Culture of Curiosity and Inquiry
The owl is a creature of the night. It is the only bird on this list that hunts during the night. It sees the world for what it is and adapts to change.

Blue Hummingbird Paddle - Growing the Capacity of Self and Others
The hummingbird is always exploring its capacity. As it is the smallest bird, it has more work to do in order to survive. It is unique as it is the only bird in the world that can fly backwards. It is a leader on its own because of its resilience.