History behind the Chief Louie Paddle Company
Working under a research and development grant from the Community Economic Diversification Initiative the Cheslatta Carrier Nation discovered a diverse and vibrant market for unique, hand-crafted paddles using salvaged raw materials. With a dream and a vision to keep the traditions and heritage of their people strong for generations to come, the Cheslatta Carrier Nation began their journey to not only create and market some of the finest premium paddles in the world, but to do it within a company which supports the education of their people and is environmentally sensitive. The product that emerged was a canoe paddle similar to the traditional design used by Carrier Indian people including Chief Louie (Sellsil), the legendary Cheslatta hereditary chief renowned for his long canoe excursions, and with it the creation of the Chief Louie Paddle Company (established 2009).
The patriarch of most all Cheslatta people today, Chief Louie was renowned for his strength, wisdom and prowess. His exploits are still discussed today by the elders of the community. Chief Louie's excursions in his dugout canoes were legendary, travelling from Cheslatta Lake, up Ootsa Lake all the way to Tahtsa Lake in less than 2 days - a distance of nearly 150 miles! The last Hereditary Chief of the Cheslatta people, Chief Louie died in 1951 at age 75. In his last year, he predicted the chaos and tragedy that was to befall the Cheslatta people when the Kemano l Hydro-electric project project flooded their homelands in 1952 and caused the eviction and destruction of their ancestral villages.
"The paddles are of the land and are a very strong symbol of our history. My great, great-grandfather was renowned for his feats of paddling his dugout canoes," says Chief Corrina Leween, "He would be impressed with the strength and style of the paddles that bear his name."
In 2004 Pat Edmund, master carver at Chief Louie Paddle Company, built the first dugout canoe to be produced in the community in over 60 years. The launch was a significant event in the lives of the Cheslatta people as they reclaimed their history and embraced their paddling legacy, it also provided the seed of inspiration that was to become The Chief Louie Paddle Company.
The Significance of “His Mark”
For hundreds of years since the arrival of Europeans, land treaties and other legal documents were drafted by the newcomers that dictated the future of all of the native peoples of the continent. These documents were considered legal and binding with the addition of the mark of the local leaders, even if those individuals had little understanding of spoken or written English/French. The most astute of these leaders refused to place their mark on these documents, understanding the result of doing so may reverberate for generations to come.
During the archiving of Cheslatta documents in the 1980’s it became clear that some of the leaders marks were legitimate but many more were falsified. These falsified marks were present on the Cheslatta surrender documents. Below is the verified Chief Louie Mark and provides a stark visual reminder of the colonisers’ legacy for the native peoples of North America. The Chief Louie Paddle Company intends to use this mark to authenticate Chief Louie products and to remind our employees that the products bearing this mark must reflect the strength, pride and integrity of Chief Louie.
