Cultural birch bark canoe being built in Mattawa

Working outside the Mattawa Museum, Marcel Labelle is building a 20-foot canoe from scratch, using hand tools only, with birch bark as the main material.

"The first step is to get all the materials, and then I lay the bark down," said Labelle.

Once complete, the homemade canoe will look quite different from other canoes.

"Canoes are all good, I like canoes but they're empty shells," said Labelle.

"This one is your body. All the materials come from the forest. I don't use power tools -- nothing store-bought to build it."

People are drawn to the museum to watch Labelle work.

"Our whole thing is getting people here to the museum to see what we're doing," said museum president Tom Gibson.

"Everyone in town that's here gets to see it be built, which is really good."

Labelle is Métis and is also a trapper. Working outside the museum allows him to not only build the canoe, but also interact with those visiting the museum and teach them about his culture and history.

"The canoe is named the Gift because I'm Métis," he said.

"Four hundred and some years ago when my ancestors came here they met with my Anishinaabe ancestors, and it's the canoe that they shared as a gift and without the canoe, Canada wouldn't be what it is today."

Labelle said once the canoe is complete, he plans on paddling from Mattawa to Ottawa.