The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America 15

The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America 15

MALECITE CANOE BUILDING, 1910. (_Canadian Geological Survey photos._)

 

Weighting gunwales on bark cover on building bed.

 

Resetting stakes.

 

Shaping bark cover and securing it to stakes.]

 

[Illustration: Figure 33

 

FIRST STAGE OF CANOE CONSTRUCTION: assembled gunwale frame is used to

locate stakes temporarily on building bed. Instead of the gunwales, a

building frame was used in some areas. (_Sketch by Adney_.)]

 

The second pair of thwarts is placed 30 inches, center to center, from

the first pair, one at each end, and on the basis of this measurement

the tenons are cut as for the others. These two thwarts are made of

⅝-by 4-inch pieces tapering in thickness each way from the center to

the shoulder, where they are a scant ⁵⁄₁₆ inch thick, the tenons having

the same dimensions as in the other thwarts. In width the thwarts are

worked to an even 3 inches from shoulder to shoulder, but in the form

of a curve so that when each thwart is in place its center will be

bowed toward the ends of the canoe, viewed from above. As in the first

pair, the shoulders and ends are cut to a bevel to fit the gunwale;

at the centerline they each measure 12 inches shoulder-to-shoulder in

a straight line athwartships and 15 inches end-to-end. Allowing for

bevel, the maximum length is just over 15-⁵⁄₁₆ inches. These thwarts

are drilled for single gunwale lashings and the corner edges are well

rounded from shoulder to shoulder. The distance from the centerlines

of these last thwarts at the bow and stern to the extreme ends of the

joined gunwales is 33 inches, so the finished gunwale length is 16 feet.

 

After the endmost thwarts are pegged into place, the temporary stays

are removed. At each step of construction the alignment of the gunwales

is checked by measuring with the measuring sticks and by sighting,

since the shape of the assembled gunwales, in this case of the inner

gunwales, is very important in determining the sharpness of the

completed canoe and the fairness of its general form.

 

The assembled gunwales are now ready to be laid on the building bed

which, for the Malecite canoe, is 20 feet long, about 3½ feet wide and

is raised about 1½ inches at midlength so that the canoe bottom will be

straight when the craft is in the water. The gunwale frame having been

carefully centered on this bed, with the middle thwart exactly over the

highest point in the surface of the bed, some scrap split-planking is

laid across the gunwales and the whole weighted down with a few flat

stones. Next, 34 stakes from 30 to 50 inches long are prepared, each

made of a halved length of sapling. Around the outside of the gunwale

frame 26 of these are driven in pairs opposite one another across the

frame, about 24 inches apart and placed so that none is opposite a

thwart, except for the stakes at the extreme ends of the gunwale frame,

which are spaced about a foot from their nearest neighbors and are

face-to-face, about 1½ inches apart. All the stakes are driven with

the flat face about an inch from the gunwale frame and parallel to its

outside edge. Finally two more pairs of stakes are driven at each end,

the first pair about a foot beyond the end of the gunwale frame and

1½ inches apart, the second about 6 inches beyond these and similarly

spaced. The length between the outermost stakes, measured over the

gunwale frame, is about 18½ feet. Great care is taken to line up the

last pairs of stakes with the centerline of the gunwale frame.

 

[Illustration: Figure 34

 

SECOND STAGE OF CANOE CONSTRUCTION: stakes have been removed and laid

aside, and the gunwales shown in first stage have been removed from the

building bed. The bark cover is laid out on the building bed, and the

gunwales are in place upon it, weighted down with stones. (_Sketch by

Adney_.)]

 

If the canoe is to have a slight rocker near the ends and is to be

straight over the rest of the bottom, the ends of the gunwale frame

will be blocked above the building bed so that the frame is not hogged

on the bed.

 

After the builder is satisfied with the staking, each stake is

carefully pulled up and laid to one side, off the bed but near its

hole. The weights are then removed from the gunwale frame, which is

lifted from the bed and laid aside, and the bed, if disturbed is

repaired and re-leveled.

 

The roll of birch bark is now removed from storage, perhaps in a nearby

pool where it has been placed to keep it flexible, and unrolled white

side up on the building bed. As the bark dries, it will become more and

more stiff, so it will be necessary to moisten it frequently during

construction to maintain its flexibility.

 

The bark is usually long enough, but often it is not wide enough. If

the bark is too short, it may be pieced out at this time, or later. If

it is not wide enough it is centered on the bed; the piecing out will

be done later. The gunwale frame is now laid on the bark, care being

taken to place it as nearly as possible in its former position on the

bed.

 

The bark outside the frame is then slashed from the edge to a point

close to the end of each thwart, and also to points along the frame

halfway between the thwarts, so that the edges can be turned up. While

it is being slashed, the bark cover is bent slightly, so that it is

cut under tension. Later, when the required shape can be determined,

these slashes will be made into gores, the Malecite canoes having

flush seams, not overlaps, in the topsides and bottom. If a fault is

noted along the outer edge of the bark, a slash may be placed so as to

allow the fault to be cut out in the later goring; irregularity in the

position of the cuts does no great harm to the progress of building

these canoes. The slashes are usually carried to within an inch of the

gunwales on the bed. It is not customary to slash the bark close to the

end, there the bark can usually be brought up unbroken, depending upon

the form of the end.

 

When the bark has been cut as described, it can be turned up smoothly

all around the frame so that the stake holes can be seen and a few

of the stakes can be replaced. The frame and the bark are then

realigned so that all stakes may be replaced in their holes without

difficulty. When the frame and bark are aligned, the frame is weighted

as before and the bark is turned up all around it, the stakes being

firmly driven, as this is done, in their original holes. The longest

stakes are at the ends of the frame, as the depth of the hull is to be

greatest there. The tops of each pair of opposite stakes are now tied

together with a thong of basswood or cedar bark, to hold them rigid and

upright.

 

[Illustration: Figure 35

 

MALECITE CANOE BUILDERS NEAR FREDERICTON, N.B., using wooden plank

building bed with stakes set in holes in the platform. This was a late

method of construction, which probably originated in the early French

canoe factory at Trois Rivières, Que.]

 

After the bark is turned up around the frame, its lack of width becomes

fully apparent. At this stage, some builders fitted the additional

pieces to gain the necessary width; others did it later. The method of

piecing the bark cover and the sewing technique, however, is explained

here.

 

The bark is pieced out with regard to the danger of abrasion that would

occur when the canoe is moving through obstructions in the water, or

when it is rolled or hauled ashore and unloaded. If the bark is to be

lapped below the waterline, the thickness of the bark of both pieces

in the lap is scraped thin so a ridge will not be formed athwart the

bottom; here, however, most tribes used edge-to-edge joining. If

there are laps in the topsides, the exposed edge is toward the stern;

if in the midlength, upward toward the gunwale; and if it is in the

end the lap may be toward the bottom, because this makes it easier

to sew, and because in the ends of the canoe there is less danger of

serious abrasion. Many tribes used edge-to-edge joining everywhere

in the topsides so that the direction of lapping was not a matter of

consideration. The type of goring, whether by slash and lap or by

cutting out a ~V~-shaped gore, will, of course, have much to do with

the selection of the method of sewing to be used.

 

It is to be recalled that in canoe building no needle was used in

sewing the bark; the ends of the root strands were sharpened and used

to thread the strand through the awl holes. Much of the topside sewing

in a bark canoe was done with small strands made by splitting small

roots in half and then flattening the halves by scraping. Large root

strands quartered and prepared in the same manner, or the cores of

these, were sometimes used in heavy sewing or lashing at the gunwale or

in the ends of a canoe.

 

As noted previously, root thongs were used well water-soaked or quite

green, for they became very stiff and rather brittle as they dried

out. Once in place, however, the drying did not seem to destroy their

strength. Rawhide was also used for such sewing by some tribes.

 

The sewing was done by Indian women, if their help was available, and

the forms of stitching used in canoe building varied greatly. The root

sewing at the ends of the canoes ranged from a simple over-and-over

spiral form to elaborate and decorative styles. Long-and-short

stitching in a sequence that usually followed some formal pattern was

widely used. Among the patterns were such arrangements as one long,

four short, and one long; or two longs, two or three shorts, and two

longs; or one short, five of progressively increasing length, and then

one short; or six progressively longer followed by six progressively

shorter. Cross-stitching, employing the two ends of the sewing root as

in the lacing of a shoe was also common. Sometimes this was combined

with a straight-across double-strand pass to join the ends of the ~X~.

The harness stitch, in which both ends of the sewing root were passed

in opposite directions through the same holes, was often used, as was

the 2-thong in-and-out lacing from each side used in northwestern

canoes having plank stem-pieces.

 

If the root strand was too short to complete a seam, instead of being

spliced or knotted the end was tucked back under the last turns or

stitches, on the inside of the bark cover. In starting, the tail was

placed under the first turn of the stitch, so that it could not be

pulled through. To finish sewing with double-ended strands, as in the

harness stitch, both ends were tucked under the last turn or two.

 

Commonly two or more turns were taken through a single hole in the

bark; this might be done to clear some obstruction such as a frame head

at the gunwale, or to provide a stronger stitch, or turn, as in the

harness stitch and others, or to allow for greater spacing between awl

holes in the bark. (Since the awl blade was tapered, the size of the

hole it made in the bark could be regulated by the depth of penetration

of the blade as it was turned in the hole.)

 

The length of stitches varied with the need for strength and

watertightness. Long stitches were about I inch, short stitches from

about ⅜ to ½ inch in length. The run of the grain, of course, was a

consideration in the length of stitch used.

 

MALECITE CANOE BUILDING, 1910. (_Canadian Geological Survey photos._)

 

Weighting gunwales on bark cover on building bed.

 

Resetting stakes.

 

Shaping bark cover and securing it to stakes.]

 

[Illustration: Figure 33

 

FIRST STAGE OF CANOE CONSTRUCTION: assembled gunwale frame is used to

locate stakes temporarily on building bed. Instead of the gunwales, a

building frame was used in some areas. (_Sketch by Adney_.)]

 

The second pair of thwarts is placed 30 inches, center to center, from

the first pair, one at each end, and on the basis of this measurement

the tenons are cut as for the others. These two thwarts are made of

⅝-by 4-inch pieces tapering in thickness each way from the center to

the shoulder, where they are a scant ⁵⁄₁₆ inch thick, the tenons having

the same dimensions as in the other thwarts. In width the thwarts are

worked to an even 3 inches from shoulder to shoulder, but in the form

of a curve so that when each thwart is in place its center will be

bowed toward the ends of the canoe, viewed from above. As in the first

pair, the shoulders and ends are cut to a bevel to fit the gunwale;

at the centerline they each measure 12 inches shoulder-to-shoulder in

a straight line athwartships and 15 inches end-to-end. Allowing for

bevel, the maximum length is just over 15-⁵⁄₁₆ inches. These thwarts

are drilled for single gunwale lashings and the corner edges are well

rounded from shoulder to shoulder. The distance from the centerlines

of these last thwarts at the bow and stern to the extreme ends of the

joined gunwales is 33 inches, so the finished gunwale length is 16 feet.

 

After the endmost thwarts are pegged into place, the temporary stays

are removed. At each step of construction the alignment of the gunwales

is checked by measuring with the measuring sticks and by sighting,

since the shape of the assembled gunwales, in this case of the inner

gunwales, is very important in determining the sharpness of the

completed canoe and the fairness of its general form.

 

The assembled gunwales are now ready to be laid on the building bed

which, for the Malecite canoe, is 20 feet long, about 3½ feet wide and

is raised about 1½ inches at midlength so that the canoe bottom will be

straight when the craft is in the water. The gunwale frame having been

carefully centered on this bed, with the middle thwart exactly over the

highest point in the surface of the bed, some scrap split-planking is

laid across the gunwales and the whole weighted down with a few flat

stones. Next, 34 stakes from 30 to 50 inches long are prepared, each

made of a halved length of sapling. Around the outside of the gunwale

frame 26 of these are driven in pairs opposite one another across the

frame, about 24 inches apart and placed so that none is opposite a

thwart, except for the stakes at the extreme ends of the gunwale frame,

which are spaced about a foot from their nearest neighbors and are

face-to-face, about 1½ inches apart. All the stakes are driven with

the flat face about an inch from the gunwale frame and parallel to its

outside edge. Finally two more pairs of stakes are driven at each end,

the first pair about a foot beyond the end of the gunwale frame and

1½ inches apart, the second about 6 inches beyond these and similarly

spaced. The length between the outermost stakes, measured over the

gunwale frame, is about 18½ feet. Great care is taken to line up the

last pairs of stakes with the centerline of the gunwale frame.

 

[Illustration: Figure 34

 

SECOND STAGE OF CANOE CONSTRUCTION: stakes have been removed and laid

aside, and the gunwales shown in first stage have been removed from the

building bed. The bark cover is laid out on the building bed, and the

gunwales are in place upon it, weighted down with stones. (_Sketch by

Adney_.)]

 

If the canoe is to have a slight rocker near the ends and is to be

straight over the rest of the bottom, the ends of the gunwale frame

will be blocked above the building bed so that the frame is not hogged

on the bed.

 

After the builder is satisfied with the staking, each stake is

carefully pulled up and laid to one side, off the bed but near its

hole. The weights are then removed from the gunwale frame, which is

lifted from the bed and laid aside, and the bed, if disturbed is

repaired and re-leveled.

 

The roll of birch bark is now removed from storage, perhaps in a nearby

pool where it has been placed to keep it flexible, and unrolled white

side up on the building bed. As the bark dries, it will become more and

more stiff, so it will be necessary to moisten it frequently during

construction to maintain its flexibility.

 

The bark is usually long enough, but often it is not wide enough. If

the bark is too short, it may be pieced out at this time, or later. If

it is not wide enough it is centered on the bed; the piecing out will

be done later. The gunwale frame is now laid on the bark, care being

taken to place it as nearly as possible in its former position on the

bed.

 

The bark outside the frame is then slashed from the edge to a point

close to the end of each thwart, and also to points along the frame

halfway between the thwarts, so that the edges can be turned up. While

it is being slashed, the bark cover is bent slightly, so that it is

cut under tension. Later, when the required shape can be determined,

these slashes will be made into gores, the Malecite canoes having

flush seams, not overlaps, in the topsides and bottom. If a fault is

noted along the outer edge of the bark, a slash may be placed so as to

allow the fault to be cut out in the later goring; irregularity in the

position of the cuts does no great harm to the progress of building

these canoes. The slashes are usually carried to within an inch of the

gunwales on the bed. It is not customary to slash the bark close to the

end, there the bark can usually be brought up unbroken, depending upon

the form of the end.

 

When the bark has been cut as described, it can be turned up smoothly

all around the frame so that the stake holes can be seen and a few

of the stakes can be replaced. The frame and the bark are then

realigned so that all stakes may be replaced in their holes without

difficulty. When the frame and bark are aligned, the frame is weighted

as before and the bark is turned up all around it, the stakes being

firmly driven, as this is done, in their original holes. The longest

stakes are at the ends of the frame, as the depth of the hull is to be

greatest there. The tops of each pair of opposite stakes are now tied

together with a thong of basswood or cedar bark, to hold them rigid and

upright.

 

[Illustration: Figure 35

 

MALECITE CANOE BUILDERS NEAR FREDERICTON, N.B., using wooden plank

building bed with stakes set in holes in the platform. This was a late

method of construction, which probably originated in the early French

canoe factory at Trois Rivières, Que.]

 

After the bark is turned up around the frame, its lack of width becomes

fully apparent. At this stage, some builders fitted the additional

pieces to gain the necessary width; others did it later. The method of

piecing the bark cover and the sewing technique, however, is explained

here.

 

The bark is pieced out with regard to the danger of abrasion that would

occur when the canoe is moving through obstructions in the water, or

when it is rolled or hauled ashore and unloaded. If the bark is to be

lapped below the waterline, the thickness of the bark of both pieces

in the lap is scraped thin so a ridge will not be formed athwart the

bottom; here, however, most tribes used edge-to-edge joining. If

there are laps in the topsides, the exposed edge is toward the stern;

if in the midlength, upward toward the gunwale; and if it is in the

end the lap may be toward the bottom, because this makes it easier

to sew, and because in the ends of the canoe there is less danger of

serious abrasion. Many tribes used edge-to-edge joining everywhere

in the topsides so that the direction of lapping was not a matter of

consideration. The type of goring, whether by slash and lap or by

cutting out a ~V~-shaped gore, will, of course, have much to do with

the selection of the method of sewing to be used.

 

It is to be recalled that in canoe building no needle was used in

sewing the bark; the ends of the root strands were sharpened and used

to thread the strand through the awl holes. Much of the topside sewing

in a bark canoe was done with small strands made by splitting small

roots in half and then flattening the halves by scraping. Large root

strands quartered and prepared in the same manner, or the cores of

these, were sometimes used in heavy sewing or lashing at the gunwale or

in the ends of a canoe.

 

As noted previously, root thongs were used well water-soaked or quite

green, for they became very stiff and rather brittle as they dried

out. Once in place, however, the drying did not seem to destroy their

strength. Rawhide was also used for such sewing by some tribes.

 

The sewing was done by Indian women, if their help was available, and

the forms of stitching used in canoe building varied greatly. The root

sewing at the ends of the canoes ranged from a simple over-and-over

spiral form to elaborate and decorative styles. Long-and-short

stitching in a sequence that usually followed some formal pattern was

widely used. Among the patterns were such arrangements as one long,

four short, and one long; or two longs, two or three shorts, and two

longs; or one short, five of progressively increasing length, and then

one short; or six progressively longer followed by six progressively

shorter. Cross-stitching, employing the two ends of the sewing root as

in the lacing of a shoe was also common. Sometimes this was combined

with a straight-across double-strand pass to join the ends of the ~X~.

The harness stitch, in which both ends of the sewing root were passed

in opposite directions through the same holes, was often used, as was

the 2-thong in-and-out lacing from each side used in northwestern

canoes having plank stem-pieces.

 

If the root strand was too short to complete a seam, instead of being

spliced or knotted the end was tucked back under the last turns or

stitches, on the inside of the bark cover. In starting, the tail was

placed under the first turn of the stitch, so that it could not be

pulled through. To finish sewing with double-ended strands, as in the

harness stitch, both ends were tucked under the last turn or two.

 

Commonly two or more turns were taken through a single hole in the

bark; this might be done to clear some obstruction such as a frame head

at the gunwale, or to provide a stronger stitch, or turn, as in the

harness stitch and others, or to allow for greater spacing between awl

holes in the bark. (Since the awl blade was tapered, the size of the

hole it made in the bark could be regulated by the depth of penetration

of the blade as it was turned in the hole.)

 

The length of stitches varied with the need for strength and

watertightness. Long stitches were about I inch, short stitches from

about ⅜ to ½ inch in length. The run of the grain, of course, was a

consideration in the length of stitch used.