‘Draw! Draw! Forward hard! Hard! Hard!” Taku has never been on a canoe trip before so I call out his strokes like a coxswain. He reacts instantly and the canoe slips around a pillow- ing rock the size of a Smart car before we bash through a series of waves that high-five Taku’s face. With his hair slicked back into a pompadour care of the Alba-
ny River, Taku looks like an Elvis impersonator from Tokyo as we spin into the eddy. Born in Japan and raised in the dirty streets of Chicago before becoming a West Coast boy, Taku had been slow to try out the oldest North American pastime. From backcountry skiing with him in B.C.’s Coast Mountains I knew he had the tem- perament required for an extended wilderness trip so I asked him along on my 75-day paddle through the boreal forest—there’d be plenty of time to teach him about canoeing along the way.
)) (( TEMAGAMI’S STURGEON RIVER.
FIVE SEVEN FIVE. Every evening by the water Taku writes haiku in Japanese and Chinese characters using a brush dipped in a well of black ink. We’re 25 days in at the base of Kagiami Falls on the Albany River. Taku sits and writes. His newness to tripping is refreshing— every day he learns something, sees it in a different way than I do. I want to learn more from him so I press him on his ritual. Looking up from his script to the setting sun, the words come calmly. “Your daily existence in the boreal is simple—it consists of mov-
ing forward and doing what’s necessary for survival and comfort. In the city, all the annoying details of life are a distraction. The iso- lation of the wilderness removes the clutter and makes me more reflective and meditative.” He glances at Kagiami Falls then returns to his haiku. In a few
words, he has captured this place. Five seven five. )) ((
LAUREEN NASSAYKEESIC: “WE ARE PREPARED TO FIGHT.” PHOTO: TAKU HOKOYAMA
OUR 3,100-KILOMETRE TRIP began in downtown Winnipeg. Car- rying our gear down the aptly named Portage Avenue, we parted gawking lunchtime crowds and put in at the Red River. Our route would take us to Parry Sound on Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay via Lake Winnipeg, the Bird River, Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, Lac Seul, Lake St. Joseph, and the Albany, Kenogami, Kabina, Piv- abiska, Missinaibi, Mattagami, Grassy, Sturgeon and French rivers. The route dances above and below the 51st parallel, the parti- tion that separates pristine boreal forest in the north from the industrialized south. It’s a line on the map you might be hearing more about soon. A globally significant swath of green, the boreal is like a giant
carbon bank, holding 67 billion tonnes of the element in deposit. In summertime, worldwide carbon levels measurably drop as this great lung of our planet takes in a deep breath for us all. Due to its remoteness, the zone north of this latitude remains the greatest area of undisturbed boreal forest in Canada. The First Nations of this region called for a moratorium on development in 2005 as forestry, mining, and hydro interests began creeping north. On day 21 we pick up our food parcel from the post office in the Mishkeegogamang First Nation at the head of the Albany River.
FIFTY DAYS IN. TWENTY POUNDS DOWN. 26 n C ANOE ROOT S fall 2008
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