Canoe Building Demonstration at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in May and June

Visitors to Ocmulgee Mounds Historical Park will have a chance to see a rare sight in middle Georgia until Friday this week and then again in June. John Brown of the Muscogee Nation and Pedro Zepeda of the Seminole Tribe of Florida are busy carving out a canoe from a large, cypress log.

This is the large cypress log that will one day soon be a canoe that could float down the Ocmulgee River (Photographer Nate Weeks)

"Once we are finished with the canoe they are going to put it in the museum so we had to shorten the log so it would fit," Zepeda said, pointing to the shorter piece that had to be removed.

Pedro Zepeda surrounded by some of the tools used to craft the canoe (Photographer Nate Weeks)

Brown and Zepeda are carving and shaping the log near the outdoor classroom at the Ocmulgee Mound's Visitor Center. While they work they talk to visitors about the techniques and cultural significance of canoe building for both men.

Items carved by Pedro Zepeda demonstrates the variety of objects that can be carved out of wood.

The week of June 6, 2022 Brown and Zepeda will return to Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park to finish the crafting of the canoe. The park is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. every day of the week and is located at 1207 Emery Hwy in Macon.

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