Twelve months, a dozen countries and a nearly lost art learned in each. It was a dream come true for Cincinnati-native WILL MEADOWS. Last year, 23-year-old Meadows finished a yearlong quest to visit indigenous master builders around the world and learn their traditional canoe making techniques.
“Canoes are found across the world. They lie at the intersection of human creativity and place,” he says. “They are vessels for exploration, artistic expression and sustenance.”
Meadows spent this past winter at the end of the world in Tierra del Fuego. There the Yaghan culture has lived for 6000 years, utilizing the bark of beech to craft canoes to hunt seals. Meadows lived with Martin Gonzalez, an elder of the Yaghan and the only man alive with knowledge of how to construct these canoes, for two months.
“I had read that the culture of the Yaghan had gone completely extinct,” says Meadows. “Many Argentinians and Chileans talk as if this people no longer exists. My original intent was to resurrect this canoe but when I got to Chile, I met living descendants of the culture who took me in as family and showed me their passion to regain lost knowledge and rebuild traditions. The Yaghan taught me how resilient traditions are, beyond catastrophes both environmental and social. They showed me as long as there is a person with a bent to learn, there is hope to pass on cultural heritage and sense of place.” Follow his journey at www.humanitysvessel.com…
Discover 49 more of the coolest people, gear and innovations in canoeing this year in the digital edition of Canoeroots and Family Camping, Summer/Fall 2014, on our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it on your desktop here.
