Posted on June 20, 2010

The clear lake beckons. Loons call across it with wild ululating cries. Mountains rise in the distance – wilderness is all around as the canoes set out across the lake.

For three generations, young women on one family have celebrated reaching their 14th year with a wilderness canoe trip. This canoe trip, whether for several days or several weeks, is a rite of passage with many of the key components found in rites of passage in cultures around the world. The goals of the trip, in addition to sharing in adventure and exploration, include: 1) participating with a group of peers facing physical and mental challenges; 2) developing a new sense of leadership and new skills in interaction with others as leaders and team members; 3) learning to take care of themselves and others. They will return more mature, with a stronger sense of themselves and their relationships with others, with recognition that they are becoming young adults.

On this summer’s trip with a member of the third generation, despite the high technology available in the cities, the wilderness of lakes and rivers provides the same challenges as it did sixty years ago. After arriving, the nine girls, all aged 13 or 14, load the canoes into the water, wave goodbye to all adults except the two women leaders, and realize they are setting out into a wild landscape with no cell phones, DVD’s computers or other amenities for many days.

They paddle the loaded canoes, and joke and laugh until arriving at the first portage, where they must carry all the canoes and gear over a rough trail about a half mile until they reach the next lake. After the portage there will be no motor boats, no houses on the shores and except for a rare airplane high overhead, no sounds except for water, wildlife, the sounds of the paddles, and their own voices.

As a group they enter into a liminal state, neither children nor adults, and minimizing the differences between them. All are wearing similar outdoor fleece clothing and life preservers, though a couple of girls have flashy sunglasses. All face the same limits on possessions – only as much as they can carry, and no electronics. They will eat the same food, and carry out the same tasks of making and breaking camp, paddling and portaging every day. Any boundary between haves and have-nots evaporates. They will learn from the two women guides, who would be considered elders in any other culture, but this trip is really about these girls learning their strengths, becoming leaders, learning to take care of themselves, and finding their own way in the wilderness.

Learning their strengths

As they traverse the still lakes and the portage paths ranging from an eighth of a mile to a grueling three-quarter mile portage, the teenage girls learn more than new technical skills such as ways to carry a canoe overhead, lash the packs into the boats, and how to do a strong J-stroke in the stern of the boat. They are learning patience with themselves and each other in the face of stressful tasks, and they are learning a great deal about levels of physical endurance and strength that they didn’t know they had. They learn to take a heavier load on the portage trail, so they don’t have to make too many trips across, while not taking a pack so heavy that they can’t make it to the end of the trail. This knowledge has applications for daily life in the future, when they are adults. At the same time, they learn not to put artificial limits on their expectations of themselves. They are surprised that they can carry canoes on their shoulders. Even while complaining about the portages, they are proud that they can do five portages in a day. They learn that with effective paddling strategies, they can canoe across a lake even in a heavy headwind.

Becoming leaders

At first they are indifferent to the maps, preferring to figure out the lakes and portages by using their eyes, and some guesswork. After losing their way in a long detour down a winding river, however, they are ready to focus on map and compass skills, and pay more attention to shoreline and landforms. The women leaders encourage them to practice their leadership and map reading skills by taking turns finding the portages and deciding the best routes across or around the lakes. They discuss different ways to make group decisions. The girls respond by quickly taking charge, giving directions to the others, and discussing the map reading with their canoe partners. While it had a rocky start, the transition to taking leadership into their own hands is successful. They don’t get lost again, and miss no portages. One girl, during her turn as leader, performs heroic deeds pulling each canoe into a portage landing deep in mud. This girl, best known for fashionable make-up and fear of insects, stands thigh-deep in sucking mud, flicking spiders away from the canoe seats. “Guess what? I’m not afraid of spiders anymore!” she says. Another girl comments, “I guess long portages aren’t the worst.” When two girls get in an argument, and hurt each other’s feelings, another girl during her turn at leadership arranges a change in canoe partners, and solves the problem.

In the evenings, they learn to divide the chores of putting up tents and cooking dinner quickly, so they will have more time around the campfire. By the end of the trip, they realize that they could do a trip themselves, without the adult leaders present, at least if there are no emergencies.

Taking care of themselves

Before the trip the girls were required to take a first aid course, and as they pack, they follow directions putting together a group first aid kit, as well as small individual kits. But this formal learning takes second place as they adapt to the conditions in the wilderness: mosquito bites, a few cuts and bruises, some blisters, and the inevitable tiredness and soreness at the end of each day. The girls learn to address the problems instead of ignoring them until they get worse. By the second night, one girl has appointed herself “medical person” and heats water on the fire to clean and treat the cuts and bruises, applying first aid cream and bandages as needed. The girls line up for her compassionate care. One of the leaders notices that some of the girls are shivering from a cold rain that starts at the end of the day, and makes boiling water for hot drinks. She asks the girls who feel they are too cold to help efficiently with camp chores to get their drinks first, checks that they are wearing wool socks and hats, and asks if they have dry clothes. The girls catch on, and identify which girls need the hot drinks the most, and tell each other to remember to put on dry wool socks. They go to bed happy and calm, despite the cold rain, a few mosquitoes, and a hard day.

The girls and leaders also use the time together away from civilization to talk openly about the many issues pertinent to their lives as maturing teenagers. One girl asks one of the leaders what she would do if her daughter got pregnant at fourteen, leading to a good discussion. They talk about menstruation, boys, eating disorders, alcohol, peer pressure, and how to carry out projects for the environment.

By the third day, the girls have figured out systems for setting up and breaking camp, making the meals, finding the portages, and pacing themselves through the physically challenging work. They make their own decisions, and find a campground that they plan to come back to when they make a trip on their own. The adults sense the growing self-confidence, both physical and mental, and realize their work is nearly done.

When they return to civilization, they celebrate with parents providing favorite foods – a typical re-entry finale for rites of passage around the world. These girls, because of the adults’ acknowledgment of their growth, and their own sense of achievement and self-confidence, as well as the focus on self-care, and bonding with other young women, are less likely to succumb to addictive or other harmful behaviors.

Wilderness trips, and perhaps especially canoe trips, can provide excellent alternative rites of passage for teenage girls. The following references provide additional information for anyone seeking to set up a trip. Good canoeing can be found in nearly every state. Some favorite spots include the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, the Temagami area in Northern Ontario, the Algonquin Park (Ontario), the Adirondack State Park in New York, the Florida Everglades (no portages), the Ozarks, and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Author Catherine Knott, Ph.D., teaches Anthropology and Sociology for the University of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula. She has a Ph.D. in Anthropology, Natural Resources, and Education from Cornell University and a B.A. from Yale University.

REFERENCES:

Davidson, James West and John Rugge. 1983. The Complete Wilderness Paddler. New York: Random House. “The Best Canoe Book Ever”, according to Canoe Magazine.

Jacobson, Cliff. 2007. Canoeing and Camping Beyond the Basics, 3rd: 30th Anniversary Edition. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press.

McGuffin, Gary and Joanie McGuffin. 2003. Paddle Your Own Canoe: An Illustrated Guide to the Art of Canoeing. Ontario: Boston Mills Press.

Sevareid, Eric. 2004 (latest edition).Canoeing with the Cree. St. Paul, Minnesota: Borealis Books. A well-written story of an amazing adventure.

SPECIFIC CANOE AREAS:
Malloy, Johnny. 2009. Paddler’s Guide to the Everglades National Park. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

Pauly, D. 2005. Exploring the Boundary Waters. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press.

Quick, Daniel L. 1995. The Kenai Canoe Trails. Soldotna: Northlite Publishing.

Wilson, Hap. 2004. Canoeing, Kayaking, and Hiking Temagami. Ontario: Boston Mills Press.