About
Tribal Canoe
“My objective is not to teach people about native culture, but to make beautiful useful items so that the recipient will display the item(s), which creates interest, the interest creates a story for that person to tell, which in turn causes the recipient to learn and teach.”
The Journey
When I look back at when the idea of making smudge kits started, I have to say it started a couple of years ago, when my dad received a smudge kit from his band, during Covid. It was beautiful and he showed it off as he was very proud that during these trying times, his band had sent him such a meaningful gift.
A few years went by and my fathers’ health slowly deteriorated, so he decided to sell his house and move into a retirement home. This was great that he wanted to move but I knew it was going to be challenging when it came to the cleaning and sorted of all the stuff accumulated over the past 35 years. While cleaning his office I noticed the box that he had received his smudging kit within, and I gladly said I would take it and look after it, as he had just packed it away.
When I took the kit home I was very impressed with the quality of the kit, but it got me thinking about why, why didn’t my father use or display the kit. – the contents in the box were very beautiful, but I figured there was no easy way to display all the parts, except in the box it came in. I came up with a proper way to display a smudge kit, if you used it or not, and then gave the smudge kit back to my dad on Father’s Day, which he now displays his Smudge Kit proudly, even though he doesn’t smudge,
The Logo and Concept
The Tribal Canoe logo is made of two parts, the medicine wheel within the sun and the bear canoeing. Each part has many meanings.
While the medicine wheel centered within the icon of the sun represents warmth, light, life, the four directions, health, and the cycles of life. The meanings and use of the medicine wheel vary from tribe to tribe, as do many teachings and traditions. This is where I get the word “Tribal”.
The bear canoeing represents me, I’m bear clan, and the love to trade or sell, while the canoe is an early form of transportation mainly used for trading between tribes. As for the word “Canoe”.
Tribal Canoe’s mission is to trade (sell) all natural and handmade products. A couple of examples start with our Deluxe Smudge Kit, all the items right down to the packaging are natural, and even the shipping tape is biodegradable. Our Medicine Bags are hand stitched with cotton thread and beeswax (not polyester like others), while the contents of our medicine bags are bagged in natural biodegradable baggies.
While using natural materials such as cotton thread, beeswax, and wheat glue to complete our items, it is more time-consuming but it does make our items more authentic.
About Me
Hello and welcome to Tribal Canoe. As you may have read above, the concept for the Tribal Canoe business model sort of fell into place, which is completely opposite from my lifelong journey.
I am a member of the Oneida of the Thames, while my adoptive father is a member of the Caldwell First Nations. I was adopted when I was 10 and was not brought up traditionally. With this being said, throughout the years I have had constant contact with my original family who followed and passed on some traditional teachings.
Later in life when my kids became of age to be on their own, they went off to post-secondary school, and they started to teach me the traditional ways, as did all my nieces and nephews, and this is what I believe to be true for all my brothers, sisters and cousins.
Chris H.
“Learn from the past, prepare for the future, live in the present”
~ Thomas S. Monson
Testimonials
“Beautiful kits. I bought one for myself and the other will make a great gift for my daughter. – the bundles are large or the perfect size for the kit. The buffalo leather tray is a beautiful addition.”
“Beautiful presentation and included everything I was looking for. The kit comes with sweetgrass which is definitely unique compared to others. The kits are a great gift idea for that person or couple that is hard to buy for. I display it proudly and use it often.”
“My order came nicely packaged and secure. Fast shipping. All the items are of very nice quality! Watch for the video for unpacking. I will definitely be purchasing more items from them.”
Contact Us
Address
294 Talbot Street
St Thomas ON
Hours
Mon-Friday
9 am to 5 pm
Chris@TribalCanoe.ca
Phone
548-489-0212