Over 100 participants involved in this year’s Two Row on the Grand pulled into Chiefswood Park for the Paddlestock event on Sunday, July 20, 2025.
The event was held in celebration of the tenth anniversary of Two Row on the Grand, a ten day canoe and kayaking journey down the Grand River, traveling from Cambridge to Port Maitland in Haldimand County.
Organizers Ellie Joseph and Jay Bailey, were simply “paddle acquaintances” and friends, but when Joseph asked Bailey if he would like to take part in the 2013 Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign on the Hudson River, they quickly became a “paddle family.”
The 2013 event was held as a way to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Two Row Wampum Treaty, which was first established between the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch around 1613.
During the two-week long journey, around 200 paddlers made up of the Haudenosaunee and their allies, travelled side-by-side in two rows down the Hudson from Albany, New York to New York City.
Inspired by their experience, the two decided to host a similar one-time six-day long journey along the Grand River and invited both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to participate.
What they didn’t expect then, was that they would still be hosting the event ten years later.
“We thought we were only going to do it once, but it was actually because of a sharing circle at the end of that first Two Row on the Grand that we heard what an impact it had on people,” said Bailey. “Being retired teachers, we both had the thought of, ‘well, how can we not do this again?’ and so here we are in our tenth year. It’s been quite the ride and it’s really had quite the ripple effect because in 2022 we won a tourism award for partnerships, we’ve been invited to speak at elementary schools, high schools and universities, and it’s just kept growing and evolving.”
Having arrived at their halfway mark on day five, organizers arranged a Paddlestock event with several performances from James N. Wilson, Gail Obediah, Lacey Hill, Dylan Roberts, Hahsdotrewi Bomberry, and the band SHEBAD, to celebrate the anniversary.
Between performances, several paddlers got to share words about their various experiences, and safety paddler, Seth Cabezas, shared a poem about his relationship with his Métis heritage.
Including ground crew and safety paddlers, around 167 people are currently involved in this year’s trip. While many are doing the full ten days down the Grand, some chose to do just the first five days with 105 paddlers, or the last five days with 109 paddlers.
Heather Marshall of Toronto, was just one of the solo participants ending her journey at the halfway mark.
Taking part in the event for the first time, Marshall said it was hard to put into words how transformative the trip was for her.
I’ve learned so much along the way, be it from the official programming or the informal chatter and the conversations you have on the water, while eating food, washing up dishes or even sitting around a fire laughing and sharing stories,” she said. “You really get to learn so much from each other, both from the Indigenous community members, as well as the allies and I really enjoyed getting to hear about what they’re doing to support truth and reconciliation, and to uphold the treaties in their own communities.”
When asked if she had a particular favourite moment, Marshall explained that there were too many to count.
“The Woodland Cultural Centre was a really significant stop along the way for sure, but also, on the first and second days, we had two eagles circling us. You don’t get to see eagles too often and so to see two was just really cool and very powerful for me,” she said. “I think another significant moment included an explanation of the Thanksgiving Address by Ron Thomas; it was really amazing that he took the time to explain to us how he was taught to do it and just being grateful for what you have.”
Marshall also added that getting to spend the whole fifth day on the river in the Two Row formation was another special moment for her.
“The first couple days we were navigating a lot of rapids so it isn’t always easy to stay in formation, and so finally being able to do that for a long stretch of time was just amazing,” she said.
Greg Hill, who traveled from Chelsea, Quebec, to participate in the journey for the first time, also said that he was having a great experience.
“It’s interesting because there’s a bit of trepidation that you have when you first start, there’s kind of that question of, ‘can I do this?’ but then you make it through your first day and you feel good about that. It’s also been really nice meeting people and seeing how a community builds solely among people, especially with the really intentional way that everybody’s coming to do this with a good mind and to learn the teachings of the Two Row Wampum Belt, and apply them and see the results of that. It’s really wonderful to experience.”
He added that even with over 100 people involved in the journey, he felt particularly grateful for the moments of connection with the river.
“We’re a huge group and because there’s so many people, it’s been really nice just to have those few moments alone with the river. I’m originally from Fort Erie, but my dad is from Six Nations and so having been removed from the reserve territory, it’s been harder to make those connections and I find that I’ve really had put in the effort to do so,” said Hill. “So for me personally, getting to know the river in this way has been really grounding and very important for me. With that being said, it’s also been wonderful to see so many people on the river and travelling in the Two Row paddle formation so that’s been very beautiful as well.”
As far as what he was hoping to take away from his ten-day trip, Hill said he wanted to just be present with his journey.
“My attitude is really to just be here and take in as much as I can and contribute where I can,” he said. “So far, it’s been a very rich experience for me so I’m certainly sure they’ll be some life changing moments too.”
Joseph said that because the idea of the event is to pay tribute to the Two Row Wampum, and in doing so, to build community and to build relationships between Indigenous people and their neighbours, it’s nice to see how many connections they’ve helped facilitate throughout the years.
“We still get a lot of people who come back to participate every year, or every other year and even today, there’s people who we haven’t seen in a while that have come to visit,” she said. “That’s been really rewarding to see.”
“There’s been people who have come for the concert today, but a lot of them have come to connect and reconnect,” added Bailey. “It’s great because that’s what this is all about, connecting people and creating those relationships.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
