Byers built his first birch bark canoe in 1994. This latest canoe is the 86th birch bark canoe Byers has constructed. Every single one of them by his own two hands and keen eyes and steadfast dedication to the ancient craft which has served First Nations people for centuries.
“I feel really lucky to have the chance to build these canoes,” Byers said. “Most of the people who buy the canoes have a role in building them and we become friends through the process. I have friends all over the world now because of building birch bark canoes. I know that is the most important thing.”
Byers, 64, grew up on a farm North of Cardinal, Ontario. Byers is Metis and Irish. On the farm, Byers built rafts as a youngster and guided them down a creek. The family didn’t have a lot of money, but Byers and his younger brother and two sisters would make the most of their days on the farm by having adventures of all kinds.
“We were feral,” Byers said with a hearty laugh.
Building the rafts planted the seeds for his eventual passion for birch bark canoes essentially were planted. Byers grew up paddling rafts and then canoes. He studied music at Cambrian College in the early 80s and dreamed of being a musician. Through the 80s, Byers worked in several different industries, including planting trees. He then became a drywaller and house painter. As the years went by, Byers never waned from his roots of building rafts. In the late 80s, Byers walked into a store in Greater Sudbury that had a birch bark canoe hanging from the rafters. The moment changed him and put him on course to become one of the most respected and genuine birch bark canoe builders in modern times.
“The spirit of that canoe spoke to me,” Byers said. “I wasn’t high or drunk. It sounds crazy. The spirit said: ‘The spirit of the forest and the spirit of man are one in a birch bark canoe. This is what can be accomplished by man when he works with nature instead of against it.’ I was in shock over the experience. It was hard for me to believe. It was one of the coolest things that ever to happen to me. I was in a daze for days. I knew what I had to do.”
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