Paddle for Peace Equinox Celebration at Victoria Island

Paddle for Peace Equinox Celebration at Victoria Island

Join us on the United Nations International Day of Peace September 21, 2011 for

Grandfather William Commanda’s Twelfth Annual Peace Event in Ottawa

Animate the quintessential Canadian Spirit of Canoe and build bridges, promote peace and partnerships, and celebrate Sustainable Relationships!

Supporters of Elder Commanda, under the auspices of The Circle of All Nations and The Wolf Project, are organizing a special Paddle for Peace event to ignite a flame for the Canoe as the synergetic symbol for Peace

Join Grandfather William Commanda’s friends and celebrate his legacy, and the spirit of Canoe, with notable canoeists, peace and environmental activists who will share their perspectives on how canoes, water and nature combine to animate deep peace.

Then participate in a Grandfather Commanda Memorial Sharing Circle, a community picnic, art and birch bark canoe demonstrations, a concert and information sharing!



AGENDA

10.00 Elder Peter Decontie Lights Sacred Fire; Ceremony

11.00 Canoes arrive at Victoria Island

Opening Prayer, Welcoming Remarks and Greetings from Officials

A Prayer for Grandfather William Commanda

11.30 Remarks from Special Guests

Heather Sole, Monique Renaud, Francine Payer: Prayer for Water and Drum Song

Ann Wipper/Michael Greco: A Passion for Canoes – Honouring Kirk Wipper

Jay Morrison, Max Finkelstein, and Daniel Beauchamp: Canoe Journeys

Chuck Commanda, Marcel LaBelle: Canoe Making with GWC BE Good Enough for Two

Rebecca Mason and Reid McLachlan: Canoes, Water and Art

Meredith Brown: The Great River Project

Larry McDermott: Rivers, Canoes, Eels, Donald Marshall Jr. – ME Stewardship

Minnie Matoush: The Wolf Project and Racial Harmony

Bryan Bowers: Canoes, Rivers and Healing

Derek James: People of the Americas Forest Scroll

Daniel Bernard: Learning to Embrace Peace through Nature

Douglas Cardinal: Embracing Differing World Views

Patrick Gravel: The Portage of Wisdom

Phil Weir: Place for Peace and Healing

Bill Bhaneja/Peter Stockdale: Overview of City of Ottawa Peace Activities

12.30 Pot Luck Lunch!

Memorial Sharing Circle for Grandfather William Commanda

1.30 Concert with Tito Medina and friends

Information sharing tables : Themes: birch bark canoe making demonstrations and discussions, forest scroll ,

water, creativity, river art, peace and nature and Grandfather’s

Circle of All Nations books and dvds – including the latest

The Portage of Wisdom!

3.00 Closing Prayer

PADDLE FOR PEACE CELEBRATION AT VICTORIA ISLAND

Background

This project has been inspired by the work of William Commanda, the ninety seven year old Algonquin Elder of the Ottawa River Watershed, who left us all to continue his work.

His passions included birch bark canoe-building, peace-building and environmental stewardship. He dedicated over forty years of his life to creating a Circle of All Nations, Culture of Peace. A canoe builder of international renown, over seventy-five of his canoes have taken his energy around the world, including to Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Entirely unsupported by any organization, he has reached the hearts of diverse communities, nationally and internationally, with his love, wisdom and prayer for peace, and recently, his lifetime of efforts has been acknowledged by his Master Canoe Builder and River Conservation recognition, receipt of the Key to the City of Ottawa, appointment as Officer of the Order of Canada, Lifetime Achiever of the 2010 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, and receipt of the Wolf, Harmony and Martin Luther King Dreamkeeper Awards. Already holder of an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of Ottawa, he is now being honoured by University Quebec, drawing the English and French energies together in a common recognition of deep unifying wisdom.

In 2000, Grandfather Commanda organized the Millennium Circle of All Nations Peace Gathering at Nepean Point, and later that year participated in the United Nations Peace Conference in New York; in 2005, Cercle d’Paix and the Mayor of Montreal presented him with the pacifist of the year award in celebration of the September 21 United Nations International Day of Peace, and over the recent years, he supported the City of Ottawa in its peace day celebrations.

In May 2000, the former Governor General, The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, participated in a special circle discussion on peace-building and Grandfather’s vision for a center for healing and reconciliation at the Millennium Circle of All Nations Peace Gathering, (commemorative of the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace); in 2004, Elder Commanda and then Excellency, John Ralston Saul participated in the Boreal Rendezvous canoe launch from Victoria Island. Friends of Grandfather see the proposed Paddle for Peace event as a further step towards the reconciliation of Aboriginal Peoples and Canadians, the celebration of A Circle of All Nation, A Culture of Peace, the advancement of the vision for Indigenous peace-building at Asinabka, on Victoria Island at the Sacred Chaudière Site, and the promotion of Sustainable Relationships. Grandfather has left the work for the Indigenous Centre to us – may this peace event animate the desire for its manifestation in all our hearts.

For countless years, the canoe has been the central symbol to express the magic of the journey of life and discovery across the vast continent of North America. It is the zone where diverse cultures and peoples met and interconnected with the intimate face of Nature. It conveys thoughts about balance, cooperation, harmony and fun, consistent with the joy, flow and challenges of nature. The canoe has captured the imagination of the country so profoundly that it was selected as the winner in the CBC contest to uncover the Canadian Seven Wonders in 2008.

Over the past twenty years native communities and police have developed cross cultural trips to promote camaraderie, peace, racial harmony and relationship building, under such captivating titles as Fast Waters, Fast Friends, Flotilla for Friendship, and Pulling Together, linking Elders and youth, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples, professionals and community voices in the quest for justice. This ancient watercraft of the Indigenous Peoples continues to inspire modern sport enthusiasts, nature lovers and social activists to challenge themselves to build bridges and friendship with Mother Earth and each other.

Join us to celebrate the Spirit of the Canoe and Peace Building at the SOURCE!

GINAWAYDAGANUC: WE ARE ALL CONNECTED

With Nature and Each Other