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
This is a very diminutive vessel, the smallest of all the Northwestern
canoes. The term is grammatically the diminutive of _sdΔ´wiL_ (_c_ in
the diagram, pl. I). Nevertheless, as a glance at the drawing will
show, its hull differs somewhat in shape from that of its larger
namesake. The _di´twiL_ will carry only one person; but it is often
very beautifully made. Specimens capsize very easily, but so long as
they remain right-side up, they may be driven at high speed, and are
light enough to be easily lifted and carried from place to place. They
were used for fishing, and, following the introduction of firearms,
for hunting ducks. Firing a shotgun over the side, however, turns the
craft over. Bow and stern are finished off with very small carved
pieces, which are set in place with the usual cedar pegs, and the bow
carries the “notch” characteristic of the larger type. The canoe is
rigged with thwarts, but the huntsman sits, not on these, but flat
on the bottom of the boat. We may perhaps speak of this type as “the
one-man canoe.”
F.--THE “CHILDRE1’S CANOE” (_qe´lbιd_)
The canoe pointed out under this name is a “double-ended” type. The
Indians describe it as a craft _with two sterns_. Its ends, which are
identical in shape, are finished off to resemble the stern of the big
war-canoe shown in pl. I, _a_. This craft, while not of great length, is
very heavy, since the sides are relatively thick, and it is also very
wide in the beam. It was used for the commonest purposes. Children got
their first knowledge of the handling of canoes by “practising” with it.
While the sides are not adzed down to the thinness which characterizes
the hunte1’s craft, the vessel is nevertheless well designed in its own
way and is much lighter and more manageable than a white-ma1’s boat. It
is worth noting that the word _qe´lbιd_, given as the term for
this type of boat, is the general word for canoe. The term _dl1’e´dwlL_
was also applied to this type. We may perhaps speak of this form of
craft as the “children’s canoe.”
[Illustration: WATERMAN--CANOES
PL. VII
A “SHOVEL-NOSE” CANOE IN ACTION
Scene on the upper waters of Quinault river, coast of Washington.
(Photograph by J. H. Weir, of “The Mountaineers.”)]
NATIVE TERMS FOR THE PARTS OF THE CANOE
1. Bow, _cεdst_.
2. Stern, _i´laaq_.
3. Side, _sila´lgwil_.
A steam vessel is called _u´dalgwil_, “burning sides.”
4. Gunwale, _sbΔtctca´lgwil_.
5. Additional piece or section, hewn out separately, set on the bow, and
fastened in place with pegs and lashing of twisted cedar, _stL’a´lu_.
It is fastened in place with dowels or pegs of cedar (No. 6), and
lashings of twisted cedar-twigs (No. 7).
6. Dowels or pegs used as above, _st’Δ´stΔd_.
This word is now used for iron nails.
7. Cedar withes, _sti´dagwΔt_.
Used in fastening on the bow and stern sections, and in closing up
cracks.
8. Stern-piece, _stL’a´lalΔp_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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