The Great Canoe Loop

Join Penobscot Nation guide Ryan Ranco Kelly as he retells the adventures of an 1,800 plus mile canoe loop around northeastern Turtle Island through stories and a photo slideshow. Embarking in spring of 2023 with National Geographic writer/adventurer Freddie Wilkinson and Neil Benedict of the Oneida tribe, the group traveled various different waterways and were joined by several tribal paddlers and guides along the way. They were welcomed by many indigenous communities as they traveled through the territories, retracing some of the old indigenous canoe trade routes from Indian Island Maine to Boston Harbor, Long Island, Manhattan, Syracuse, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, and Quebec before returning where they started four months earlier.