The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America 24

The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America 24

One of the later developments took place on the St. John River, in New

Brunswick, where two Indians, Jim Paul and Peter Polchies, both of

St. Marys, in 1888 built for a Lt. Col. Herbert Dibble of Woodstock

the racing canoe illustrated above (fig. 66). This canoe, 19 feet

6½ inches long overall and only 30½ inches extreme beam, was of a

design perhaps not characteristic of any particular type of Malecite

canoe, but it nevertheless shows two elements that may have appeared

during the period of change in model. The sides amidships not only are

without tumble-home, they flare outward slightly, but tumble-home is

developed at the first thwart each side of the middle and continues to

the headboards. The bottom shows a marked ~V~-deadrise achieved by an

unusual construction in a birch-bark canoe: the center strake of the

sheathing is shaped in a shallow ~V~ in cross section, its width being

about 2½ inches amidships and tapering each way toward the ends, and

its thickness along the longitudinal centerline being about ⅝ inch and

tapering to about ¼ inch at the edges; the two lengths of the strake

are butted, not lapped, amidships, though the rest of the sheathing is

lapped at the butts in the usual way and is uniformly ¼ inch thick.

In this manner a ridge that gives a ~V~-deadrise is formed down the

centerline of the bottom, though the frames are bent in a flattened

curve from bilge to bilge. The bottom has very little rocker, the rise

being only 1 inch, and this takes place in the last 2 feet inboard of

the heel of the stem piece.

 

[Illustration: Figure 67

 

SHARP-ENDED 2½-FATHOM HUNTING CANOE for use on tidal river. Built

by the Passamaquoddy Indian Peter Denis, it shows what may be the

primitive construction method of obtaining a ~V~-form in hull.]

 

Another feature in this canoe is the end profile; the curved ends

are strongly raked, the curve used being the same as that in the old

Malecite type, but with the stem-pieces reversed, so that the quick

turn is at the head, near the sheer, rather than at the heel. As a

result, the gunwales come to the ends in a straight, rising line for

the last 16½ inches rather than as a sudden lift near the ends. The

stem-heads stand a little above the rail caps. The headboards belly

toward the ends and are raked in the same direction.

 

The use of a ~V~-shaped keel piece in the sheathing has been found

in a St. Francis canoe from the St. Lawrence country; this may be a

rather old practice. This racing canoe is very lightly built and much

decorated, the date 1888 being worked into the hull near one end.

 

Another canoe having a marked ~V~-deadrise was built sometime between

1890 and 1892 by Nicola (sometimes called Peter) Denis (sometimes

spelled Dana), a Passamaquoddy, for his son Francis, who used it

at Frenchman's Bay, Maine. The drawing above (fig. 67) shows a

coastal-type hunting canoe, nailed along the gunwales but sewn

elsewhere, and painted. The craft is 15 feet 9 inches overall and 14

feet 5 inches over the gunwales. The beam amidships is 32 inches over

the gunwales, 29½ inches inside. The depth amidships is 11 inches,

and at the headboards, 14½ inches. The ends are of the low rounded

form; the profile shows a moderate tumble-home just below the sheer,

which is a long fair curve without any quick lift toward the ends. The

construction is of the usual Malecite type described in Chapter 3. The

midsection shows a remarkable amount of ~V~ in the bottom without any

tumble-home anywhere in the topsides. The ~V~-bottom is rounded at the

apex, where the keel would be; this is done by bending the ribs very

sharply where they cross the centerline of the hull. A narrow strake

of thin sheathing runs along the centerline of the canoe, and this is

bent athwart-wise to follow the bends in the ribs there. The canoe had

46 ribs, each 2½ inches wide and ⁵⁄₁₆ inch thick, tapered slightly from

the middle up to the gunwales. The gunwales, as previously noted, are

nailed and the main gunwale members are of sawed spruce. The rest of

the framework is cedar.

 

[Illustration: Figure 68

 

MALECITE 2½-FATHOM ST. LAWRENCE RIVER CANOE, probably a hybrid model.

The high ends show a western influence.]

 

The outside of the canoe was painted red, the inside was a pale yellow,

the gunwales and middle portions of the thwarts were cobalt blue,

the ends of the thwarts were red. The _wulegessis_ was blue, and the

"canoe mark" was a painted representation of the spread eagle of the

United States Seal, the border being in black and white and the eagle

in black, yellow, and white, holding a brown branch with green leaves.

The whole panel was outlined in red. On the side of the canoe, near the

stern, was a white swallowtail pennant on which is lettered "Frenchmans

Bay" in black capital letters. This canoe was used for fishing and also

for porpoise and seal hunting.

 

The construction employed to form the ~V~-bottom in a birch-bark canoe

can be seen to have been done in two ways; that described on page 76

is undoubtedly the method used in prehistoric times, since laborious

forming of a ~V~ keel-piece in the sheathing, using stone scrapers,

would be avoided. The ~V~-bottom, it should be noted, usually appears

in canoes used in open waters, as this form tends to run straight

under paddle, in spite of a side wind, and thus requires the minimum

of steering to hold it on its course. It was this characteristic, too,

that made the ~V~-bottom suitable for the racing canoe on the St. John

River, since stopping the stroke momentarily to steer diminishes the

driving power of the stern paddler.

 

The various river canoes of the Malecite, built to the modern low,

rounded-end profiles, or to the short-radii and straight-line forms,

held rather closely to the same lines, that is, sharp ends with a

rather flat bottom amidships and an easy bilge. Some of the canoes

retained the characteristic tumble-home, but others had nearly

vertical sides or the curve of the bilge was carried so high that it

ended at the gunwales.

 

[Illustration: Figure 69

 

MALECITE 2½-FATHOM RIVER CANOE of 1890 from the Rivière du Loup region.

Canoes in this area had straight stems and sharp lines from at least as

early as 1857.]

 

On the St. Lawrence there was apparently a canoe having rather peaked

ends as well as the rather straight-stemmed, low-ended type. A St.

Lawrence River canoe found in the Chateau de Ramezay and built sometime

before 1867 provides an example of the rather high-peaked ends. The

canoe, as illustrated on page 77, has a well-rounded bilge working into

a very round tumble-home above and into a rather flat bottom below, the

tumble-home being carried into the extreme ends, so that the headboards

are rather wide. The ends round up rather quickly and then continue up

to the sheer in a very slight curve, having a very moderate tumble-home

near the sheer. The latter follows somewhat the characteristic sheer

of the old Malecite canoes, but the straight portion just inboard of

the ends is much shorter, so that the quick upsweep of the sheer begins

nearer the ends and thus appears somewhat more pronounced.

 

The construction is in the usual manner. The rocker of the bottom is 2

inches. The ribs are wider amidships than near the ends. The outwale

is rounded on the outboard face so that the cap is slightly narrower

than the thickness of inner gunwale and outwale combined. The headboard

is rather unusual, however, as it is not bellied but stands straight

and vertical. The lashing at the upper portion of the stems is the

crossed stitch, below it is spiral. The gunwale groups are made up of

six passes through the bark, and the spaces between groups are about

2½ inches. The side panels are sewn with the harness stitch. The canoe

is 16 feet long overall and 14 feet 5 inches inside the gunwales;

the extreme beam amidships is 37 inches and inside the gunwales 32

inches. The depth amidships is about 13 inches and the height of the

ends 25 inches, with 2 inches of rocker at the headboards. This canoe,

retaining the high ends, marks the transition from the old form to the

new.

 

A later canoe built on the St. Lawrence about 1890, probably near

Rivière de Loup, is shown above. It is 16 feet 11 inches long overall,

the beam over the gunwales is 33½ inches and inside it is 31 inches,

the curve of the bilge being carried up to the gunwales. The bottom is

flat for only a short width. The depth amidships is 11½ inches and the

height of the ends is 20 inches, with 1 inch of rocker in the last two

feet of length. The sheer is a long fair sweep without any quick upward

lift near the ends. The headboards are very narrow and belly only very

slightly toward the ends. The end profile illustrates the short radii

and straight line form that marked many of the last Malecite birch-bark

canoes of the St. Lawrence Valley. It is possible that the end-form was

copied from the white man's St. Lawrence skiff, which usually had ends

that were straight and nearly vertical, with a sharp turn into the keel.

 

[Illustration: Figure 70

 

MODERN (1895) MALECITE 2½-FATHOM ST. JOHN RIVER CANOE, with low ends

and moderate sheer, developed late in the 19th century.]

 

Since a Malecite canoe of the form having rounded low ends was the

subject used to describe the construction of a birch-bark canoe in

Chapter 3 (see p. 36), there is no need to discuss all the details

here. There was some variety in the sewing and lashing used in Malecite

canoes; the combination of cross and spiral stitches in the ends and

the use of a batten and the over-and-over stitch in the side panels

are, of course, very common in these canoes. The occasional use of

other stitches in the side panels and even in the gores would probably

be normal, since individual preferences in such details were not

controlled by a narrow tribal practice.

 

The Malecite are known to have hauled their canoes overland in the

early spring, before the snow was entirely gone, by mounting the canoe

on two sleds or toboggans in tandem, binding the canoe to each. This

was done as late as the 1890's for early spring muskrat hunts. The

Malecite also fitted their river canoes with outside protection when

much running of rapids or "quick water" work was done. This protection

consisted of two sets of battens (see p. 80), each set being made up of

five or six thin splints of cedar about ⅜ inch thick and 3 inches wide,

tapering to 2 or 1½ inches at one end. These were held together by

four strips of basket ash, bark cord, or rawhide. Each cord was passed

through holes or slits made edgewise through each splint. The cords

were located so that when the splints were placed on the bottom of the

canoe, the cords could be tied at the thwarts. The tapered ends of the

splints were at the ends of the canoe; the butts of the two sets being

lapped amidships with the lap toward the stern. This formed a wooden

sheathing, outside the bottom, to protect the bark from rocks and

snags or floating ice that might be met in rapids and small streams.

The fitting was used also by the Micmac and Ojibway; it is not known

whether this was an Indian or European invention. The French canoemen

called it _barre d'abordage_ and the Malecite, _P's-ta' k'n_; the

English woodsmen called the fitting "canoe shoes."

 

[Illustration: Figure 71

 

MALECITE CANOE DETAILS, GEAR, AND GUNWALE DECORATIONS.]

 

The Malecite paddle was of various forms, as illustrated in figures

71 and 72, the predominant form being very similar to the paddle now

used with canvas "Indian" canoes. The total length of the blade was

usually about 28 to 30 inches; at 10 or 11 inches from the tip it was

about 2½ inches wide. The handle was about 36 inches long. At just

above the blade it was 1¼ inches wide and 1 inch thick. The handle

was not parallel-sided. Near the top it widened gradually to about 2¼

inches at 2½ inches from the top; here the cross-grip was formed. The

thickness of the handle reduced gradually from that given for just

above the top of the blade to about ½ inch at about 5 inches below

the cross-grip, and widened again to ⅝ inch at the point where the

cross-grip was formed. The blade was ridged down its center. The lower

end was rounded and the lower half of the blade was approximately half

an ellipse in shape. The Passamaquoddy blade had its wide point within

7 inches of the lower tip, where it was about 6 inches wide. The handle

was about 1⅛ inches in diameter just above the blade, and then tapered

in thickness until it first became oval and then flat in cross section.