The Cheslatta Nation starts paddle business

In an excellent example of refocusing to create jobs and income when times are tough, the Cheslatta Nation in British Columbia has started to manufacture wooden canoe paddles.

The small community of 120 people co-own the Cheslatta Forest Products sawmill. When the demand for lumber crashed last summer, the sawmill temporarily closed, all logging ceased, and they were left with tens of millions of board feet of lumber in the mill's yard.

With people out of work, ingenuity kicked in, and the community created the Chief Louie Paddle Company. 10 people are now employed creating wooden canoe paddles from wood salvaged locally including blue pine from the dead stands of mountain pine beetle timber, local aspen, spruce, fir and Waterwood (wood that has been salvaged from the depths of Ootsa Lake). The paddles range in size from a full size of 60 inches down to a miniature size of 24 inches.

These paddles are seeped in history. The company's name is derived from the renowned Chief Louie, the last Hereditary Chief of Cheslatta, who died in 1951. The Waterwood has special significance because the area was flooded from a hydro-electric project in 1952 that resulted in the sudden and forced eviction of the community from their homelands and villages.

The company is now able to produce 30 paddles a day and utilize the skills of local craftsmen who are equipped to process strips for the lamination process and band sawing blanks.

Source:

Paddling their way out of an economic slump (Omineca Express)