César’s Canoe: a reason to live.

Occasionally - but not often enough - I stumble over something that is so aligned with what I love, the way I think, and how I see the world that it dispels any last kernel of doubt that this life might not be worth living. For me those moments came when I discovered (to name a few) the work of Alexey Brodovitch, when I saw my first Eames film, when I watched Dick Proenennke build a log cabin.

I started Best Made Projects just a few months a go with an intentionally open ended notion: to celebrate what it means to make stuff. Since then, and with the help of many others, I’ve been learning how to tell this story and I’ve hit the mark on a few occasions, missed on others, but that’s the fun of anything new (it only gets better). But smack dab out of the blue in walked a movie yesterday that so perfectly hits the nail on the head. This is the one.     

César Newashish, a 67-year-old Attikamek of the Manawan Reserve north of Montreal builds a birch bark canoe. He uses only elements found in the bush, and the most basic set of tools, including his knee. He shows us how versatile an axe can be and in the end proves himself to be the embodiment of patience, grace, and modesty. There are playful children, a dog who climbs a ladder, and no narration. Watching him hew and shape the wood for his canoe for an hour put me in a trance, it gave me lots of hope and inspiration, and I hope it does the same for you. - PBS

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