Birchbark canoe thought to be among world's oldest returns to N.B.

A First Nation in New Brunswick is mounting a battle to keep a birchbark canoe from the 1800s in Canada, where it was made.

Widely known as "the grandfather canoe," it is believed to be among the oldest surviving birchbark canoes in the world.

"This is the oldest and one of the largest Maliseet cargo canoes I have ever seen," said Stephen Augustine, curator of Maritimes ethnology at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, in a release.

Augustine said the size and age of the canoe indicate the six-metre cargo canoe was likely used for transporting military, surveyors and furs up and down the St. John River.

According to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the canoe appears to have been sold to British military Capt. Stepney St. George while he was working at a Canadian outpost, and he shipped the boat to his residence in Galway, Ireland.

When St. George died in 1847, the canoe was donated to the National University of Ireland in Galway.

Some First Nation members, however, are arguing that the canoe may have been taken from the colony and it should be returned to New Brunswick. No historic documentation has yet been found to either prove or disprove its sale.

Almost thrown away

After being displayed in a stairwell for decades, and collecting dust and insect damage, the canoe was almost thrown in the trash in 2001. But a professor saved it after recognizing its historical significance.

"It was an object that was part of the furniture. We didn't know anything about it," said Kathryn Moore, a geology professor at the Irish university.

The canoe is a precious and beautiful artifact with a remarkable history, Moore said.

"The canoe's past encompasses war, colonization, famine and heroism, and it is a wonderful symbol of military, migration and trade relations between Canada, Ireland and Britain," she said.

The canoe is made from birchbark and has cedar ribs, fastened by black spruce roots and sealed with pine resin.

There are also hand-sewn buoys along the canoe's length that are decorated with the flowers and fiddleheads, which are still used by Maliseet canoe-markers in New Brunswick.

The canoe was shipped to the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa in May 2007 for restoration and will now be displayed in the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John for a year.

"We're offering people this opportunity to connect with such a distinct part of New Brunswick's past," said Peter Laroque, curator at the museum.

It is scheduled then to be returned to Ireland.

But aboriginal groups say the canoe is theirs and should be returned to Canada.

Negotiating with Irish officials

"It's a rare and irreplaceable artifact," said Kim Brooks, a member of the St. Mary's First Nation, which is leading the charge to keep the canoe in the country.

"I think that Canada would at least try to support what we as the Maliseet Nation wish to see happen — to bring this grandfather canoe back to our people," Brooks said.

Maliseet leaders said on Wednesday they are currently negotiating with Irish officials to keep the canoe in New Brunswick.

"The canoe stands for who we are as Maliseet people, people of the river, and our connection with the river and that is what we are about," said Candice Paul, chief of the St. Mary's First Nation. "I think the canoe is a symbol of the people that we are."

Support from First Nations chiefs from across Canada is building to keep the canoe in New Brunswick, Paul said, and talks are occurring to help make it stay are happening.

The Assembly of First Nations also passed a motion in 2007 calling for the repatriation of the canoe.