On a spring morning at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario, Keith Montreuil of Alderville First Nation experienced a deeply personal connection to his family’s heritage when he touched a birchbark canoe believed to have been crafted nearly a century ago by his great-great-grandfather, Zach Smoke. For Montreuil, a teacher, the moment was one of reverence and reflection on a legacy passed down through oral history.
The museum, which celebrated the second anniversary of its relocation to a purpose-built facility on the shores of Little Lake, houses more than 600 canoes and kayaks, each representing a chapter in Canada’s extensive paddling history. Among these vessels is a birchbark canoe estimated to be over 230 years old. The museum’s new home, opened in 2024 near the Trent-Severn Waterway, attracted 116,000 visitors last year and contributed approximately $10 million to the local economy.
Since May 14, the museum has hosted “Canoe Perspectives,” a special exhibition running through April 2027 that showcases over 40 paintings from the private collection of Scott and Grit McCreath of Calgary. The McCreaths’ assemblage is the largest private collection of Canadian art featuring the canoe, spanning works from across all provinces and territories except Yukon. The collection’s origins date back two decades to a single painting purchased by Grit McCreath, a former educator and university chancellor, to commemorate her husband Scott’s passion for canoeing.
The exhibition includes works by noted Canadian artists such as Lucius O’Brien, Cornelius Krieghoff, Frances Anne Hopkins, and Group of Seven member Franz Johnston. Some pieces date back more than two centuries, including John Wedderburn Halkett’s early 19th-century depiction of a Montreal canoe on Lake Superior. The museum acknowledges that certain portrayals and titles in the collection reflect outdated cultural views and has chosen to preserve original names while providing historical context.
Beyond the paintings, the exhibit features museum artifacts tied to the canoe’s cultural significance, including Robert Bateman’s Minto canoe—crafted by renowned builder May Minto—and Bill Mason’s personal paintbox alongside an unfinished sketch of rapids in Quebec. Bill Mason’s own appreciation of the wooden canoe as both a functional craft and an object of beauty is reflected in the exhibition’s curation.
The canoe’s role in shaping Canada’s identity is underscored by historians like John Jennings, who notes that the canoe was pivotal to the country’s development in a way comparable to the horse’s influence in the United States. Indigenous leaders, including former Curve Lake First Nations chief Phyllis Williams, emphasize the museum’s importance in illustrating the shared histories and contributions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
The McCreaths, whose passion for the collection has spanned decades, continue to seek new additions, with their journey recently documented in an upcoming book titled "Canoe: A Collection of Canadian Art" by Anne Ewan and Rod Green. The Canadian Canoe Museum’s ongoing celebration of the canoe through both tangible artifacts and artistic expression highlights the enduring place of this vessel in Canada’s cultural and historical landscape.