Types of canoes on Puget SoundWaterman, T. T. (Thomas Talbot)
History
Types of canoes on Puget Sound
Waterman, T. T. (Thomas Talbot)
Canoes and canoeing; Indians of North America -- Boats; Indians of North America -- History
A situation with many points of interest exists in regard to the
distribution of these forms of canoes. For example, on Puget sound we
have the six types of dugout canoes, which have been described; in
northern California we have only one. The question at once suggests
itself, How far southward along the Pacific coast does the use of six
types of canoes extend? And, again, as we travel southward, do all six
of the Puget Sound types disappear from use at once, being replaced by
new types of craft, or are certain of these Puget Sound types more
widely distributed than the others? The last question, I think, is the
more easily answered. The single type which is used on Klamath river and
on Humboldt bay in northern California is probably a modification of one
of the types used on Puget sound--the “shovel-nose” model described
above (pl. I, _d_). The appended diagram (pl. II) shows these two craft
side by side. There seems to be in a general way a marked similarity in
these canoes. They are both dugouts, of a “square-ended” type, and in
each case the model has reached a high degree of refinement. There is a
skilful “pinching-in” of the lines of the craft toward the ends, and
also a very graceful “lift” of the bottom at bow and stern. It may be
asserted from experience that both craft are very light and easily
handled. The California canoe has no gunwale-strips,[16] and, moreover,
it has in the stern some foot-braces and a seat, hewn in one piece with
the hull, which are absent in the Puget Sound boat. The California boat,
on the other hand, has no thwarts. The most striking difference,
however, is that the bow and the stern of the California craft are
crowned up into a peak, and the bow is further graced with a removable
carven ornament, shaped like an inverted V. These differences seem
superficial and underneath them the present writers see almost identical
lines in the two vessels.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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