Chapter I: Front Matter

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM

WASHINGTON, D. C.

1964]

Museum of History and Technology

THE BARK CANOES AND SKIN BOATS OF NORTH AMERICA

EDWIN TAPPAN ADNEY and HOWARD I. CHAPELLE

Curator of Transportation

B031222CA

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 1964

Publications of the United States National Museum

The scholarly and scientific publications of the United States National Museum include two series, _Proceedings of the United States National Museum_ and _United States National Museum Bulletin_.

In these series the Museum publishes original articles and monographs dealing with the collections and work of its constituent museums--The Museum of Natural History and the Museum of History and Technology--setting forth newly acquired facts in the fields of Anthropology, Biology, History, Geology, and Technology. Copies of each publication are distributed to libraries, to cultural and scientific organizations, and to specialists and others interested in the different subjects.

The _Proceedings_, begun in 1878, are intended for the publication, in separate form, of shorter papers from the Museum of Natural History. These are gathered in volumes, octavo in size, with the publication date of each paper recorded in the table of contents of the volume.

In the _Bulletin_ series, the first of which was issued in 1875, appear longer, separate publications consisting of monographs (occasionally in several parts) and volumes in which are collected works on related subjects. _Bulletins_ are either octavo or quarto in size, depending on the needs of the presentation. Since 1902 papers relating to the botanical collections of the Museum of Natural History have been published in the _Bulletin_ series under the heading _Contributions from the United States National Herbarium_, and since 1959, in _Bulletins_ titled "Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology," have been gathered shorter papers relating to the collections and research of that Museum.

This work, the result of cooperation with the Mariners' Museum, the Stefansson Library, the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, and the American Museum of Natural History, forms number 230 of the _Bulletin_ series.

FRANK A. TAYLOR

_Director, United States National Museum_

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON: 1964

* * * * *

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402--Price $6.75

_Special acknowledgment_

_Is here gratefully made to The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia, under whose auspices was prepared and with whose cooperation is here published the part of this work based on the Adney papers; also to the late Vilhjalmur Stefansson, for whose_ ENCYCLOPEDIA ARCTICA _was written the chapter on Arctic skin boats._

_Contents_

_Page_

Introduction 1

1. Early History 7

2. Materials and Tools 14

3. Form and Construction 27
Form 27
Construction 36

4. Eastern Maritime Region 58
Micmac 58
Malecite 70
St. Francis 88
Beothuk 94

5. Central Canada 99
Eastern Cree 101
Têtes de Boule 107
Algonkin 113
Ojibway 122
Western Cree 132
Fur-trade Canoes 135

6. Northwestern Canada 154
Narrow-Bottom Canoe 155
Kayak-Form Canoe 158
Sturgeon-Nose Canoe 168

7. Arctic Skin Boats: by _Howard I. Chapelle_ 174
The Umiak 181
The Kayak 190

8. Temporary Craft 212
Bark Canoes 212
Skin Boats 219

Retrospect 221

Appendix: The Kayak Roll, by _John D. Heath_ 223

Bibliography 231

Index 235

_Illustrations_

_Figure_ _Page_

1 Fur-trade canoe on the Missinaibi River, 1901. (_Canadian
Geological Survey photo._) 2

2 Page from a manuscript of 1771, "Observations on Hudsons
Bay," by Alexander Graham, Factor. (In archives of Hudson's
Bay Company.) 9

3 Canoes from LaHontan's _Nouveaux Voyages ... dans l'Amerique
septentrionale_, showing crude representations typical of
early writers. 11

4 Lines of an old birch-bark canoe, probably Micmac, brought to
England in 1749 from New England. (_From Admiralty Collection
of Draughts, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich._) 12

5 Ojibway Indian carrying spruce roots, Lac Seul, Ont., 1919.
(_Canadian Geological Survey photo._) 15

6 Roll of bark for a hunting canoe. Algonkin Reserve, at Golden
Lake, Ont., 1927. 16

7 Sketch: wood-splitting techniques, cedar and spruce. 17

8-19 Sketches of tools: 8, stone axe; 9, stone hammer, wedge, and
knife; 10, mauls and driving sticks; 11, stone scraper; 12,
bow drill; 13, modern Hudson Bay axe; 14, steel fur-trade
tomahawk; 15, steel canoe awls; 16, crooked knives; 17, froe;
18, shaving horse; 19, bucksaw. 17

20 Peeling, rolling, and transporting bark. (_Sketches by
Adney._) 25

21 Sketch: Building frame for a large canoe. 26

22, 23 Sketches: Effect on canoe bottom of crimping and goring
bark. 30

24 Sketch: Canoe formed by use of gores and panels. 31

25 Gunwale ends nailed and wrapped with spruce roots. (_Sketch
by Adney._) 31

26 Gunwales and stakes on building bed, plan view. (_Sketch by
Adney._) 32

27 Photo: Gunwale lashings, examples made by Adney. 33

28 Photo: Gunwale-end lashings, examples made by Adney. 33

29 Sketch: Splints arranged in various ways to sheath the bottom
of a canoe. 34

30 End details, including construction of stem-pieces.
(_Sketches by Adney._) 35

31 Lines of 2½-fathom St. John River Malecite canoe. 36

32 Malecite canoe building, 1910. (Canadian Geological Survey
photos.) 39

33 First stage of canoe construction: assembled gunwale frame is
used to locate stakes temporarily on building bed. (_Sketch
by Adney._) 40

34 Second stage of canoe construction: bark cover is laid out on
the building bed, and the gunwales are in place upon it.
(_Sketch by Adney._) 41

35 Photo: Malecite canoe builders near Fredericton, N.B., using
wooden plank building bed. 42

36 Sketch: Two common styles of root stitching used in bark
canoes. 43

37 Comparison of canoe on the building bed and canoe when first
removed from building bed during fifth stage of construction.
(_Detail sketches by Adney._) 44

38 Third stage of canoe construction: the bark cover is shaped
on the building bed. (_Sketch by Adney._) 45

39 Cross section of canoe on building bed during third and
fourth stages of construction. (_Sketch by Adney._) 46

40 Sketch: Multiple cross section through one side of a canoe on
the building bed, at the headboard, middle, first, and second
thwarts. 46

41 Fourth stage of canoe construction: bark cover has been
shaped and all stakes placed. (_Sketch by Adney._) 47

42 Fifth stage of canoe construction: canoe is removed from
building bed and set on horses to shape ends and complete
sewing. (_Sketch by Adney._) 49

43 Ribs being dried and shaped for Ojibway canoe. (_Canadian
Geological Survey photo._) 50

44 Sketch: Details of ribs and method of shaping them in pairs. 51

45 Sixth stage of canoe construction: in this stage splints for
sheathing (upper left) are fixed in place and held by
temporary ribs (lower right) under the gunwales. (_Sketch by
Adney._) 53

46 General details of birch-bark canoe construction, in a
drawing by Adney. (From _Harper's Young People_, supplement,
July 29, 1890.) 54

47 Gunwale construction and thwart or crossbar fastenings, as
shown in a sketch by Adney. (_Harper's Young People_,
supplement, July 29, 1890.) 56

48 "Peter Joe at Work." Drawing by Adney for his article "How an
Indian Birch-Bark Canoe is Made." (_Harper's Young People_,
supplement, July 29, 1890.) 57

49 Lines of 2-fathom Micmac pack, or woods, canoe. 59

50 Lines of 2-fathom Micmac pack, or woods, canoe. 60

51 Lines of 2-fathom Micmac pack, or woods, canoe. 61

52 Lines of 2½-fathom Micmac big-river canoe. 62

53 Lines of 3-fathom Micmac ocean canoe fitted for sailing. 63

54 Micmac rough-water canoe, Bathurst, N.B. (_Canadian
Geological Survey photo._) 64

55 Micmac Woods canoe, built by Malecite Jim Paul at St. Mary's
Reserve in 1911. (_Canadian Geological Survey photo._) 64

56 Micmac rough-water canoe fitted for sailing. (_Photo W. H.
Mechling, 1913._) 65

57 Micmac rough-water canoe, Bay Chaleur. (_Photo H. V.
Henderson, West Bathurst, N.B._) 66

58 Micmac rough-water sailing canoe, Bay Chaleur. (_Canadian
Geological Survey photo._) 66

59 Drawing: Details of Micmac canoes, including mast and sail. 67

60 Micmac canoe, Bathurst, N.B. (_Canadian Geological Survey
photo._) 68

61 Micmac woman gumming seams of canoe, Bathurst, N.B., 1913.
(_Canadian Geological Survey photo._) 69

62 Lines of 2½-fathom Malecite river canoe, 19th century. Old
form with raking ends and much sheer. 71

63 Lines of old form of Malecite-Abnaki 2½-fathom ocean canoe of
the Penobscots in the Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass. 72

64 Lines of large 3-fathom ocean canoe of the Passamaquoddy
porpoise hunters. 73

65 Lines of old form of Passamaquoddy 2½-fathom ocean canoe. 74

66 Lines of Malecite racing canoe of 1888, showing ~V~-shaped keel
piece between sheathing and bark to form deadrise. 75

67 Lines of sharp-ended 2½-fathom Passamaquoddy hunting canoe,
for use on tidal river. 76

68 Lines of Malecite 2½-fathom St. Lawrence River canoe,
probably a hybrid model. 77

69 Lines of Malecite 2½-fathom river canoe of 1890 from the
Rivière du Loup region. 78

70 Lines of Modern (1895) 2½-fathom Malecite St. John River
canoe. 79

71 Drawing: Malecite canoe details, gear, and gunwale
decorations. 80

72 Drawing: Malecite canoe details, stem profiles, paddles, sail
rig, and salmon spear. 81

73 Lines and decoration reconstructed from a very old model of a
St. John River ancient woods, or pack, canoe. 81

74 Lines of last known Passamaquoddy decorated ocean canoe to be
built (1898). 82

75 Drawing: Malecite canoe details and decorations. 83

76 Sketches: Wulegessis decorations. 84-85

77 Photo: End decorations, Passamaquoddy canoe. 86

78 Photo: End decorations, Passamaquoddy canoe. 87

79 Photo: Passamaquoddy decorated canoe. 87

80 Lines of 2-fathom St. Francis canoe of about 1865 89

81 Lines of "14-foot" St. Francis canoe of about 191090

82 Lines of 2½-fathom low-ended St. Francis canoe. 91

83 Lines of St. Francis-Abnaki canoe for open water, a type that
became extinct before 1890. From Adney's drawings of a canoe
formerly in the Museum of Natural History. 92

84 Photo: Model of a St. Francis-Abnaki canoe under construction. 93

85 Photo: St. Francis-Abnaki canoe. 93

86 A 15-foot Beothuk canoe of Newfoundland (_Sketch by Adney._) 95

87 Lines based on Adney's reconstruction of 15-foot Beothuk
canoe. 97

88 Montagnais crooked canoe. (_Canadian Geological Survey
photo._) 100

89 Birch-bark crooked canoe, Ungava Cree. (_Smithsonian
Institution photo._) 101

90 Lines of 3-fathom Nascapee canoe, eastern Labrador. 102

91 Lines of 2-fathom Montagnais canoe of southern Labrador and
Quebec. 102

92 Lines of 2½-fathom crooked canoe of the Ungava Peninsula. 103

93 Lines of hybrid-model 2-fathom Nascapee canoe. 103

94 Eastern Cree crooked canoe of rather moderate sheer and
rocker. (_Canadian Pacific Railway Company photo._) 104

95 Photo: Straight and crooked canoes, eastern Cree. 105

96 Montagnais canvas-covered crooked canoe under construction.
(_Canadian Geological Survey photo._) 106

97 Sketch: Fiddlehead of scraped bark on bow and stern of a
Montagnais birch-bark canoe at Seven Islands, Que., 1915. 107

98 Sketch: Disk of colored porcupine quills decorating canoe
found at Namaquagon, Que., 1898. 107

99 Fleet of 51 birch-bark canoes of the Têtes de Boule Indians,
assembled at the Hudson's Bay Company post, Grand Lake
Victoria, Procession Sunday, August 1895. (_Photo,
Post-Factor L. A. Christopherson._) 108

100 Photo: Têtes de Boule canoe. 109

101 Photo: Têtes de Boule canoes. 110

102 Lines of 1½-fathom Têtes de Boule hunting canoe. 111

103 Lines of 2½-fathom Têtes de Boule canoe, with construction
details. 111

104 Lines of 2-fathom Têtes de Boule hunting canoe. 112

105 Photo: Old Algonkin canoe. 113

106 Lines of 2½-fathom old model, Ottawa River, Algonkin canoe. 114

107 Photo: Models made by Adney of Algonkin and Ojibway
stem-pieces. 115

108 Lines of light, fast 2-fathom hunting canoe of the old
Algonkin model. 116

109 Lines of hybrid 2½- and 2-fathom Algonkin canoes. 117

110 Lines of 2-fathom Algonkin hunter's canoe, without headboards. 118

111 Photo: Algonkin canoe, old type. 119

112 Photo: Algonkin "Wabinaki Chiman" 120

113 Algonkin canoe decorations, Golden Lake, Ont. 121

114 Lines of 2-fathom Ojibway hunter's canoe, built in 1873 123

115 Lines of 3-fathom Ojibway old model rice-harvesting canoe and
2-fathom hunter's canoe. 124

116 Lines of 3-fathom Ojibway freight canoe. 124

117 Lines of 2½-fathom Ojibway, old form, canoe and a 16-foot
long-nose Cree-Ojibway canoe. 125

118 Eastern Ojibway canoe, old form. (_Canadian Pacific Railway
photo._) 126

119 Photo: Ojibway Long-Nose canoe, Rainy Lake District. 126

120 Lines of 2-fathom Ojibway hunter's canoe, 1849 and long-nose
Minnesota Ojibway rice-harvesting canoe. 127

121 Photos: Canoe building, Lac Seul, Canada, 1918 128-129

122 Long Lake Ojibway long-nose canoe. (_Canadian Geological
Survey photo._) 130

123 Photo: Ojibway 19-foot canoe with 13 Indians aboard (1913) 131

124 Lines of 2½-fathom western Cree canoe, Winisk River district,
northwest of James Bay. 133

125 Lines of a 6-fathom fur-trade canoe of the early 19th century. 134

126 Inboard profile of a 6-fathom fur-trade canoe, and details of
construction, fitting, and decoration. 135

127 Lines of small 3-fathom north canoe of the Têtes de Boule
model. 136

128 Photo: Models of fur-trade canoes. 137

129 "Fur-Trade Maître Canot With Passengers." From an oil
painting by Hopkins (_Public Archives of Canada photo_). 138

130 "Bivouac in Expedition in Hudson's Bay Canoe." From an oil
painting by Hopkins (_Public Archives of Canada photo_). 139

131 Ojibway 3-fathom fur-trade canoe, a cargo-carrying type,
marked by cut-under end profiles, that was built as late as
1894. 139

132 Lines of a 5-fathom fur-trade canoe, Grand Lake Victoria
Post, Hudson's Bay Company. 140

133 "Hudson's Bay Canoe Running the Rapids." From an oil painting
by Hopkins (_Public Archives of Canada photo_). 141

134 "Repairing the Canoe." From an oil painting by Hopkins
(_Public Archives of Canada photo_). 142

135 Lines of a 4½-fathom Hudson's Bay Company "North Canoe,"
built by Crees near James Bay, mid-19th century. 143

136 Photo: 5-fathom fur-trade canoe from Brunswick House, a
Hudson's Bay Company post. 144

137 Fur-trade canoes on the Missinaibi River, 1901. (_Canadian
Geological Survey photo._) 145

138 Photo: Fur-trade canoe brigade from Christopherson's Hudson's
Bay Company post, about 1885. 146

139 Forest rangers, Lake Timagami, Ontario. (_Canadian Pacific
Railway Company photo._) 147

140 Photo: Models made by Adney of fur-trade canoe stem-pieces. 149

141 Photo: Models by Adney of fur-trade canoe stem-pieces. 151

142 Portaging a 4½-fathom fur-trade canoe, about 1902, near the
head of the Ottawa River. (_Canadian Pacific Railway Company
photo._) 152

143 Decorations, fur-trade canoes (_Watercolor sketch by Adney._) 153

144 Lines of 2-fathom Chipewyan hunter's canoe. 155

145 Lines of 2½-fathom Chipewyan and 3-fathom Dogrib cargo, or
family, canoes. 156

146 Lines of 3-fathom Slavey and 2½-fathom Algonkin-type
Athabascan plank-stem canoes. 157

147 Lines of Eskimo kayak-form birch-bark canoe from Alaskan
Coast. 159

148 Lines of Athabascan hunting canoes of the kayak form. 160

149 Lines of extinct forms of Loucheux and bateau-form canoes,
reconstructed from old models. 161

150 Lines of kayak-form canoes of the Alaskan Eskimos and
Canadian Athabascan Indians. 163

151 Lines of kayak-form canoe of British Columbia and upper Yukon
valley. 164

152 Construction of kayak-form canoe of the lower Yukon, showing
rigid bottom frame. (_Smithsonian Institution photo._) 165

153 Photo: Model of an extinct form of Athabascan type birch-bark
canoe, of British Columbia. In Peabody Museum, Harvard
University. 167

154 Lines of sturgeon-nose bark canoe of the Kutenai and Shuswap. 169

155 Ojibway canoe construction. (_Canadian Geological Survey
photos._) 170-171

156 Photo: Indians with canoe at Alert Bay, on Cormorant Island,
B. C. 173

157 Eighteenth-century lines drawing of a kayak, from Labrador or
southern Baffin Island. 175

158 Western Alaskan umiak with eight women paddling, Cape Prince
of Wales, Alaska, 1936. (_Photo by Henry B. Collins._) 177

159 Western Alaskan umiak being beached, Cape Prince of Wales,
Alaska, 1936. (_Photo by Henry B. Collins._) 177

160 Repairing umiak frame at St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, 1930.
(_Photo by Henry B. Collins._) 178

161 Eskimo woman splitting walrus hide to make umiak cover, St.
Lawrence Island, Alaska, 1930. (_Photo by Henry B. Collins._)
178

162 Fitting split walrus-hide cover to umiak at St. Lawrence
Island, Alaska, 1930. (_Photo by Henry B. Collins._) 179

163 Outboard motor installed on umiak, Cape Prince of Wales,
Alaska, 1936. (_Photo by Henry B. Collins._) 179

164 Launching umiak in light surf, Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska,
1936. (_Photo by Henry B. Collins._) 179

165 Umiaks on racks, in front of village on Little Diomede
Island, July 30, 1936. (_Photo by Henry B. Collins._) 181

166 Umiak covered with split walrus hide, Cape Prince of Wales,
Alaska. (_Photo by Henry B. Collins._) 183

167 Lines of small umiak for walrus hunting, west coast of
Alaska. 1888-89 184

168 Umiaks near Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, showing walrus hide
cover and lacing. (_Photo by Henry B. Collins._) 185

169 Lines of umiak, west coast of Alaska, King Island, 1886 186

170 Making the blind seam: two stages of method used by the
Eskimo to join skins together. 186

171 Lines of north Alaskan whaling umiak of about 1890 187

172 Lines of Baffin Island umiak, 1885. Drawn from model and
detailed measurements of a single boat. 188

173 Lines of east Greenland umiak, drawn from measurements taken
off by a U.S. Army officer in 1945. 189

174 Frame of kayak, Nunivak Island, Alaska. (_Photo by Henry B.
Collins._) 191

175 Frame of kayak at Nunivak Island, Alaska, 1927. (_Photo by
Henry B. Collins._) 193

176 Lines of Koryak kayak, drawn from damaged kayak in the
American Museum of Natural History, 1948. 195

177 Lines of Kodiak Island kayak, 1885, in U.S. National Museum. 196

178 Lines of Aleutian kayak, Unalaska, 1894, in U.S. National
Museum. 196

179 Lines of kayak from Russian Siberia, 2-hole Aleutian type, in
Washington State Historical Society and Museum. Taken off by
John Heath, 1962. 197

180 Lines of Nunivak Island kayak, Alaska, 1889, in U.S. National
Museum. 198

181 Lines of King Island kayak, Alaska, 1888, in U.S. National
Museum. 198

182 Lines of Norton Sound kayak, Alaska, 1889, in U.S. National
Museum. 198

183 Nunivak Island kayak with picture of mythological water
monster Palriayuk painted along gunwale. (_Photo by Henry B.
Collins._) 199

184 Photo: Nunivak Island kayak in U.S. National Museum. 199

185 Western Alaskan kayak, Cape Prince of Wales, 1936. (_Photo by
Henry B. Collins._) 200

186 Lines of Kotzebue Sound kayak, in Mariners' Museum. 201

187 Lines of Point Barrow kayak, Alaska, 1888, in U.S. National
Museum. 201

188 Lines of Mackenzie Delta kayak, in Museum of the American
Indian. 201

189 Photo: Kayak from Point Barrow, Alaska, in U.S. National
Museum. 202

190 Photo: Cockpit of kayak from Point Barrow. 202

191 Lines of kayak in U.S. National Museum. 203

192 Lines of kayak from Coronation Gulf, Canada. 203

193 Lines of Caribou Eskimo kayak, Canada, in American Museum of
Natural History. 203

194 Lines of Netsilik Eskimo kayak, King William Island, Canada,
in the American Museum of Natural History. 203

195 Lines of old kayak from vicinity of Southampton Island,
Canada. 205

196 Lines of Baffin Island kayak, from Cape Dorset, Canada, in
the Museum of the American Indian. 205

197 Lines of kayak from north Labrador, Canada, in the Museum of
the American Indian. 207

198 Lines of Labrador kayak, Canada, in the U.S. National Museum. 207

199 Lines of north Greenland kayak, in the Museum of the American
Indian. 207

200 Lines of north Greenland kayak, in the Peabody Museum, Salem,
Mass. 207

201 Photo: Profile of Greenland kayak from Disko Bay, in the
National Museum. 208

202 Photo: Deck of Greenland kayak from Disko Bay. 208

203 Photo: Cockpit of Greenland kayak from Disko Bay. 209

204 Photo: Bow view of Greenland kayak from Disko Bay. 209

205 Lines of northwestern Greenland kayak, in the U.S. National
Museum. 210

206 Lines of southwestern Greenland kayak, 1883, in the U.S.
National Museum. 210

207 Lines of southwestern Greenland kayak, in the Peabody Museum,
Salem, Mass. 210

208 Lines of south Greenland kayak, in the American Museum of
Natural History. 211

209 Lines of Malecite and Iroquois temporary canoes. 214

210 Photo: Model of hickory-bark canoe under construction, in the
Mariner's Museum. 217

211 Sketch: Detail of thwart used in Malecite temporary
spruce-bark canoe. 217

212 Iroquois temporary elm-bark canoe, after a drawing of 1849. 218

213 Large moosehide canoe of upper Gravel River, Mackenzie
valley. (_Photo, George M. Douglas._) 221

214 Sketch: Standard Greenland roll. 224

215 Sketch: Critical stage of a capsize recovery. 225

216 Sketch: Hand positions used with the standard Greenland roll. 226

217 Sketch: Kayak rescue, bow-grab method. 226

218 Sketch: Kayak rescue, paddle-grab method. 226

219 Preparing for demonstration of Eskimo roll, Igdlorssuit, West
Greenland. (_Photo by Kenneth Taylor._) 227

220 Getting aboard kayak. (_Photo by Kenneth Taylor._) 228

221 Fully capsized kayak. (_Photo by Kenneth Taylor._) 228

222 Emerging from roll. (_Photo by Kenneth Taylor._) 229

223 Emerging from roll. (_Photo by Kenneth Taylor._) 229

224 Righting the kayak. (_Photo by Kenneth Taylor._) 229

_The
Bark Canoes and Skin Boats
of
North America_