La Loche teen wins gold in Indigenous paddle making at Skills Canada competition

“To make a paddle and to dip in the water and do something for myself in a good way, it was very healing.”

Fast forward two years, the now 17-year-old from La Loche recently became a gold medal winner for the Indigenous Paddle she made for the Skills Canada Provincial competition in March.

How Indigenous paddle making became a category in the competition that would lead Hynes to her goal, began with Brien Morgan, practical and applied arts teacher for Clearwater River Dene School.

Having moved to Saskatchewan over 20 years ago from Ontario, he said he heard about the program through carpentry challenges and got involved with his students. As the challenges expanded and more students got involved, he noticed something living in a First Nations community: there wasn’t much in the way of Indigenous content.

Claire Haynes works on a new paddle. (Submitted/Brien Morgan)

“I always, always wanted to make a paddle on my own, so I started doing paddles on my own as a challenge and students started noticing that in my shop,” he said.

“In doing that, I saw how much they enjoyed that and then from there, I threw it out there to Skills Canada,” Morgan added of the suggestion for the regional version of the competition.

After finding success at that level, the organization asked them to bring it to provincials. This year was the first time the competition was held and in May, they will be holding a showcase at nationals in Regina.

“That’s sort of the story of where paddle making went from in my little shop in northern Saskatchewan to where we’re at right now,” Morgan said.

“It’s so awesome being a practical and applied arts teacher because there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a student walk out the door with something that they’re proud of,” he said.

“When you see a student make a paddle, that’s a significant project, the of time and effort that goes into it.”

Haynes said in the years since she started competing in paddle making, there has never been more than two students competing.

“Paddle making is an Indigenous dying art, but the satisfaction of making your own Indigenous paddle to use, it’s so hard to put into words,” said the La Loche teen, who is not a member of the Clearwater River Dene Nation.

Haynes said her favourite types of paddles to make are laminate, which involves putting different pieces of wood together rather than working on one large piece.

“You’ll cut out your pieces of wood and you’ll glue them all together,” she said.

From there, she works to create the shape of the paddle by first cutting it and shaving it down.

“What I like to do is I like to paint my paddles. So, I do a whole bunch of different Indigenous designs,” added Haynes, who at this point is now working on her ninth and Morgan said she’s surpassed him with that number.

The teacher said designing the competition was a challenge in itself because competitors only have a day to build one.

“What do you do so kids can show up there and show how well they can work on a paddle in [a] matter of six hours,” he said.

Haynes said the first paddle she made took two weeks, but in competition, she can whip one up in less than six hours – due in part because it’s set up in two parts. For the first part, students are allowed to show up with a show piece paddle that they made at their own pace in their shop.

“I wanted that because I wanted…them to show up with something they were so proud of, they were allowed to take all the time in the world to just make and shape and just really, really work as hard as they want without being under the gun,” Morgan said.

“I also wanted people to be able to walk by the paddle making and see these wonderful pieces of artwork that these students and competitors did – I thought that’s super important.”

As for the second part, it is for the competition day paddle in which students work on pre-made semi-made blanks, that were donated by Ontario-based Badger Paddles.

Claire Haynes with some of her paddles. (Submitted/Brien Morgan)

“The idea there is, I wanted something that if you got six hours, you should have a pretty good chance of getting to a finished paddle at the end,” said Morgan.

One of the important aspects the teacher wanted to make clear about the program is that he isn’t a CRDN member. He said he grew up in Sault Ste. Marie and is a member of the Metis Nation of Ontario.

“This is Indigenous paddle making. I’ve started this because of the community I live in, but this is our home,” he said, noting their school has a “significant land-based program” and that includes language and culture.

“This is who we are, we represent this community…these students, I love them and I love my community and that’s why we’re doing this.”

As for seeing a student make the first stroke of their paddle in the water?

“That is like ultimate level of satisfaction, not only as a teacher but when you see that student do it in front of you, it’s hard to put that into words,” said Morgan.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: juleslovett.bsky.social

by Julia Lovett-Squires

La Loche teen wins gold in Indigenous paddle making at Skills Canada competition

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