Frank Marchand wants to pass on the history of his people and unite nations throughout the Interior.

And he is doing it one canoe at a time.

Marchand learned from his father and a friend how to build a canoe out of a cottonwood tree. While the construction method is not exactly like it was hundreds of years ago – stone tools have been replaced my more modern tools – the idea is still the same.

Recently, Marchand worked with a group of youths at Quaaout Lodge and on Oct. 8 he will be heading to Kamloops to work with youth at that nation building a canoe.

He has been asked by a nation near Barrierre to teach several men how to build a canoe.

“For me, it's a cultural revitalization,” he said. “The more people we get on the water for our nations the more connected our nations are going to be. I'm trying to bring the nations together because we are all the same people, we're just different nations. I'm trying to bring them together as best I can because their blood and our blood mix quite a bit.”

Marchand admits it has been difficult at times to get the younger generation interested in making canoes, but if anyone wants to learn, they can contact him through Facebook.