Birch Bark Canoes by Mahigan 2.42

Marcel Labelle is proud of his Metis heritage. His mother is Iroquois and French and his father is Algonquin and French. Marcel grew up in Northern Ontario and spent most of his childhood on the trap line. This is where he learned how to live with and from the forest. Today he builds traditional Birch Bark Canoes and demonstrates his craft at many venues. He also instructs a course in the Indigenous Studies field at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. He is supported by the Metis Nation of Ontario through their Training Initiatives Program. He is also the recipient of an 2008 OAC(Ontario Arts Council) Aboriginal Arts Projects grant towards Birch Bark Canoe Building. He received the highest individual amount for an OAC grant recipient Aboriginal Arts Project, 2009.