About the Film
The practice of winter ice canoeing has deep roots in French Canadian river culture, reaching back to the seventeenth century. Traditionally, these sturdy wooden plank boats (referred to as canot à glace, "ice canoe") were used for the winter crossing of the ice-packed St. Lawrence River. For the inhabitants of L’Isle-aux-Coudres and other river islands, apart from the uncertain grace of ice bridge, it was the sole way of reaching the mainland during the frozen season. Adapted to navigating through ice floes and open channels in winter conditions, the keel (and often the stem and sternpost, too), was shod with a wrought iron "shoe" or "band" (semelle de fer, sometimes called sabot de fer). This reinforcement protected the wooden keel when the canoe was dragged or 'walked' over ice floes. Some canoes also had metal edge strips along the chines where impact with ice was greatest. Shodding not only added structural strength but also controlled sliding, as the iron (later steel) alloweed the canoe to move more predictably over ice rather than biting into it. These ice canoes served as a vital means of transport (for people, mail, and goods) before the arrival of ferries and icebreakers. (Description
