Canoe Carving at St’a7mes School

February 2026: On February 11, during their board meeting day, members of the Sea to Sky Board of Education made a special trip to St’a7mes School. Instead of gathering around a boardroom table, they gathered around a cedar canoe.

Since early January, Squamish Nation canoe carver and builder Watiya Barret Martin has been working alongside St'a7mes students to shape, design, and carve a cedar dugout race canoe. These modernized war canoes are built for the Coast Salish canoe racing tradition - a vibrant and powerful cultural practice that continues to bring communities together on the water.

Inside the carving space, the scent of cedar fills the air. The canoe has now been roughed out, and students are preparing to enter the next phase: shaping. Barret explained to the Board that the next steps involve carefully cutting away the corners to create a gateway into routing the hollow. From there, he will transition from electric tools to hand tools, slowly and intentionally rounding the form until the canoe takes on its smooth shape.

Students are active participants in the process. During the visit, they confidently shared their knowledge with guests and even prepared to teach them how to try their hand at carving smaller practice pieces.  And this project is about much more than carving. Through this work, students are reconnecting with canoeing as a living practice. In the fall, classes were able to walk down through the St'a7mes village and canoe up the Blind Channel — an experience that blended physical activity, land-based learning, and cultural knowledge. Access to canoes at the school has opened doors, allowing students to build on knowledge many already carry while introducing others to canoeing for the first time.

We are deeply honoured to have Barret with us. His guidance represents a powerful cultural and learning opportunity for our students, families, and the broader community.