The “littlest canoe carver in the world” carefully sanded a cedar paddle. That’s how Dave Paul described 7-year-old Amelia McConville, who stood as tall as her nearly finished 3½-foot cedar paddle.

Along the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan on June 5, members of the Ho-Chunk Nation could be seen paddling in a traditional handmade, dugout canoe. The paddle event marked the end of a four-day ...