The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North AmericaChapelle, Howard Irving
History
The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America
Chapelle, Howard Irving
Canoes and canoeing -- North America; Indians of North America -- Boats; Skin boats -- North America
Iroquois living in the Algonkin territory during the period built this
form of canoe as well as the older, high-ended form. The _wabinaki
chiman_ was very much like the St. Francis and Malecite canoes in
appearance, but it was not an exact copy. The Algonkin version was
commonly a narrow-bottom canoe with flaring topsides. There was some
variation in the end profiles; most had the rather high, peaked ends
of the St. Francis canoe. The sheer was rather straight until near the
end, where it rose rapidly to the stem. The stem was rounded and was
faired into the bottom. The top of the stem was often rather straight
and tumbled home slightly, but on some it raked outward, much as did
the stem of some Malecite canoes.
Another form of Algonkin canoe had a low sheer with only a slight lift
toward the ends. In this canoe the stem might have a short, hard curve
at the heel and an upper portion that was quite straight and slightly
tumbled home; or the full height might be well rounded, with a slight
tumble-home near the stem head.
In appearance these canoes were very like the straight-stem Malecite
models. The _wabinaki chiman_ was unquestionably copied from the
eastern canoes that came into popularity among the Algonkin late in
the 19th century, when white sportsmen were demanding canoes of the
St. Francis and Malecite models. However, the Algonkin canoes differed
somewhat from the eastern canoes not only in model but also in methods
of construction.
[Illustration: Figure 107
ALGONKIN AND OJIBWAY STEM-PIECES, models of old forms made by Adney: 1,
2, 3, Ojibway; 4, 5, 6, 7, Algonkin.]
Algonkins used the same construction methods in both their canoe
models, though the framework was not alike in all respects. The
building frame was always used. For a 2-or 2½-fathom canoe this was
made of two strips of cedar, 1½ inches wide and ¾ inch deep, that were
bent edgewise, notched, and tied together at the ends with thongs of
the inner bark of the basswood. These strips were held apart in the
required shape by cedar crosspieces 1 inch wide and 1¾ inches deep,
with the ends notched ¾ inch deep (the depth of the longitudinals) and
the tops well rounded. The crosspieces, five in all, were fastened
to the longitudinals with thongs passing through holes in the ends.
The middle one was about 19½ inches between the inside faces of the
longitudinals, those on each side of it were about 15½ inches long by
similar measure, and the end ones were nearly 6 inches long and were
located a foot or so from the extremities of the longitudinals. The
outside width of the building frame amidships would thus be about 22½
or 23 inches.
[Illustration: Figure 108
LIGHT, FAST 2-FATHOM HUNTING CANOE of the old Algonkin model.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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