|
In 1988, Dr. Jim Smithers, a Professor in the School of Outdoor Recreation at Lakehead University, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, first suggested the idea of a cross-Canada canoe expedition celebrating the 200th anniversary of the first recorded crossing of North America by Sir Alexander Mackenzie. Dr. Smithers felt that such an event could be an important educational and life experience for the university students who would paddle the reproduction voyageur canoes, and the pageantry and celebration that would accompany the journey would be a memorable experience for all the communities that the expedition touched. After two years of deliberations, the Canada Sea-to-Sea project began to take root. Two other organizations had joined Lakehead University as partners in the Sea-to-Sea project; The Alexander Mackenzie Trail Association of Kelowna, British Columbia, and The One Step Beyond Adventure Group of Canmore, Alberta. The Alexander Mackenzie Trail Association, a volunteer-based organization interested in the preservation of historic trails, saw the Expedition as a link to the concept of preserving a cross-Canada 'Voyageur Route' following the path of Alexander Mackenzie. One Step Beyond, formed by John Amatt, manager of the 1984 Canadian Everest Expedition, took interest in facilitating the fund raising and financial administration of the Expedition from a consultative position. By 1988, under these three partners, the basis for what was to be a five-year commemorative project was formed. ==Goals & objectives== Through the image of Mackenzie, the French Canadian Voyageurs, and the Native Guides and women, the Canada Sea-to-Sea project was to make a powerful statement about Canada, cooperation, unity and the importance of understanding our shared heritage. The original project goals of the Canada Sea-to-Sea project, developed in 1988, and maintained throughout the Expedition are as follows: *To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the first recorded crossing of the North American continent (north of Mexico) from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. *To educate young Canadians, through the image of Sir Alexander Mackenzie and other European explorers in whose footsteps he followed ~ Cabot, Cartier, Champlain, La Vérendrye, Niverville and others ~ about Canada's adventurous heritage and the role the spirit of adventure must play in modernized urban society *To establish through a series of historical dramatizations and performances, the first route to link Canada from "sea-to-sea" and to provide a catalyst for the establishment of a national heritage trail, preserving and interpreting this route for subsequent generations of Canadians. *To reaffirm for young Canadians the spirit of teamwork, unity and multiculturalism that first built Canada, by demonstrating the vital roles of Canada's Native peoples, the European explorers and entrepreneurs, and the French Canadian voyageurs, without whose help Mackenzie's original expeditions would not have been possible. The summer of 1990 was originally planned as a cross-Canada interpretive road show for schools and communities, which would not be reached by the water-based portion of the Expeditions, but due to lack of financial support, there was no project in 1990. In total, the four expedition teams visited nearly 140 communities, spoke to more than 50,000 school children and paddled and portaged more than 12,000 kilometres, and in doing so, the Expeditions provided the important public relations support for the proclamation of what is now the Alexander Mackenzie Voyageur Route 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sir Alexander Mackenzie Canada Sea-to-Sea Bicentennial Expeditions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|