Build a Birchbark Canoe for my business. 20 years waiting!

Hi. My name is Pierre Blin, and I'm fundraising to build a birchbark canoe that has been waiting for me for over 20 years.

From the moment I first heard about birchbark canoes, I was enthralled. In 2003 I searched the internet for anyone that was teaching this specialized skill, and found John Lindman who was teaching in Florida of all places! I eagerly went to join him and built my first canoe. I soon built two more with the idea of running a small ecotourism company featuring birchbark canoes. Somehow it all went wrong, as one got destroyed in an accident, one got ruined from bad storage, and one I sold in a weak moment for a ridiculously low price.

Over the years as I worked as a nature educator and raised a family, I always thought I'd find a bit of time to build another one, a day here and a day there. I even gathered the wood, roots, bark and spruce pitch, but it just sits in a shed, year after year, waiting.

The past year has been one of reckoning, as my marriage failed, I lost the land behind my house where I have been running nature programs, and have been put in a very challenging financial position. As I have been scrambling to reinvent myself, the dream of the birchbark canoe keeps calling back to me. My nature education business, Rivers and Roots, has been on pause for almost 10 months, and as I start to relaunch it, I remember the canoe was always supposed to be part of it, and even the name "Rivers and Roots" is a nod to the birchbark canoe.

Were I to finish building even one canoe, it would immediately be incorporated into my business, as a flagship nature connection experience, exploring the possibility of direct connection to the Earth and water, and a celebration of the brilliance of First Nations culture and technology. (In thanks and acknowledgement to Algonquin teachers of this skill, I will offer the use of the canoe for free to any local First Nations)

I am humbly requesting donors to support me in living expenses while I take some time to build the canoe. It is about a five week project, and I need about $1000 per week to keep going. I will only go ahead if at least $3000 is raised, as at the 3 week point in the build, the canoe can be safely packed up and put in storage for future completion. Each donation wil be acknowledged, and the money put aside to be refunded if the build doesn't go ahead. Weekly progress reports and pictures will be posted. Also, If you would like a small birchbark basket or a cattail figurine as a reward please let me know and I'll mail one to you!

I've been thinking about this for so many years, and I realize it will probably never happen without some help. It is the magic item missing in my life and work. This is my "build it and they will come" moment.

Thank you so much if you have read this and would consider a donation!