How to plan a Chimeda-style trip
We're sharing some what we've learned from four years' experience doing trips that bring Indigenous and settler communities together, so that you might be able to try the same thing and have fun doing it. We've done two types of canoe trips: overnight with youth, and day-trips with adults and youth.
We can't teach you how to organize a canoe trip on a website. Any canoe trip involves skills - paddling, water safety, and first aid - that mean they shouldn't be done without people with experience. But here are the elements - along with our principles - that we've found work well.
How to plan your trip
We've tried to make the trips inspiring, fun and feasible for all participants. That has meant:
We can't teach you how to organize a canoe trip on a website. Any canoe trip involves skills - paddling, water safety, and first aid - that mean they shouldn't be done without people with experience. But here are the elements - along with our principles - that we've found work well.
How to plan your trip
We've tried to make the trips inspiring, fun and feasible for all participants. That has meant:
- Choose routes that are fun, safe and meaningful for participants. On our day-trips, we've paddled from Wakefield, QC to Victoria Island in Ottawa, ON - a put-in and a destination that mean a lot to the paddlers. On our overnight trip, we paddled from the community of Kitigan Zibi, through Wakefield and Chelsea, to Ottawa. That way participants from Kitigan Zibi got to share their community with youth from Wakefield and Chelsea, and vice versa. It was about 100 km, so we took five days so we'd be able to enjoy ourselves along the way.
- Consider paddling a shared watershed. This was a key aspect of our trip. Across Canada rivers and lakes have been highways for indigenous communities and for early settlers for ages. If you live in Exshaw or Calgary - that means the Bow River. If you live in The Pas or Opaskwayak, that means the Saskatchewan. If you live in Radisson or Chisasibi, that means La Grande. If you live in St-John or Oromocto, that means the St John River. If you live in Sea Island or Vancouver, that means the Fraser River.
- Make sure your logistics are planned out in advance. Safety first! We paddle in areas that are appropriate for all participants (for example, no white water, put-ins and take-outs that are safe and big enough for vehicles and trailers if needed)
- Ensure that the route has been well planned out in advance. We have studied maps, found put-in and take-out points, and spoken to locals about tricky spots. Because the Gatineau River isn't a popular canoe tripping route, special attention needed to be paid to finding good spots to camp.
- Listen to members of the communities involved to make sure everyone is comfortable. This has meant keeping things simple and safe. Parents want to be sure their kids are safe, and this means listening and planning accordingly.
- Have guides who are experienced on the water and at camp. They may need to be guides certified by organizations such as Canoe and Kayak Canada for insurance purposes.
- Raise money to cover basic expenses such as transportation, food and equipment, and cultural educators. Having money to pay for cultural educators. We aimed to make sure no one took on a financial burden of their own (including participants, drivers and so on). We have also tried not putting so much effort into fund-raising that it takes away from the independent, community-based approach.
- Meetings and planning
Start planning at least 6 months ahead
Have a lead organizer from each community
Divide tasks so that no one is overburdened
Involve the communities - reach out, ask for support and guidance from elders and community leaders.