Chapter 3 (4)

Because the variations in the second model, the Algonkin-Ojibway type, are relatively slight, it will be easiest to describe this first. The canoe is known to have been built extensively by the Chipewyan, Dogrib, and Slave. The sizes most common were 16 to 22 feet over the gunwales, with a beam of between 36 and 48 inches. The sheer was usually rather straight, the sharp upward turn to the end taking place very close to the gunwale ends. Most of the bottom was straight; the rocker, if existing, occurred close to the ends of the canoe and was moderate. The midsection was dish-shaped and nearly flat across the bottom, with a rather slack, well-rounded bilge and almost straight flaring sides, the amount of flare being usually great. The bottom apparently was never dead flat athwartships, for in all known examples it was somewhat rounded. Near the ends the sections were in the shape of a ~V~ with apex rounded; the form of the ends was sharp and without hollow either at the gunwale or at the level lines. The ends of the canoes were never lofty and many had end profiles that were very long fore-and-aft and showed a marked angularity. Inwales and outwales formed the gunwale structure; some canoes also had gunwale caps which stopped well short of the end profiles. The ends of the inwales were carried to the stem-pieces; they were sharply tapered and curved to sheer, and were elaborately cross-wrapped to secure them there. The end profiles were formed of a thin plank-on-edge in most canoes, but some had stem-pieces split into laminae in the usual fashion and bent. In all cases headboards were employed; the heads were forced under the inwale ends and against the inside face of the stem-piece. The gunwale lashings were in groups, although some canoes exist in which the outwale was omitted and the lashing was continuous; these canoes usually had laminated bent stem-pieces and their stem lashing was identical with that of the Algonkin-Ojibway fur-trade canoes. This departure, it is reasonable to assume, was the result of outside influence on the Athabascan technique. When the stem-piece was of thin plank, the bark was usually fastened to it by multiple turns of two thongs passed, one from each side, through the bark and through holes bored in the stem.

ATHABASCAN CARGO OR FAMILY CANOES WITH BENT STEM PIECES, Chipewyan 2½-fathom (top) and Dogrib 3-fathom. These canoes were covered with spruce or birch bark.]

The end profile varied with the tribe of the builder. Chipewyan canoes had a very long end profile fore-and-aft; the heel was angular, and the outline of the stem then swept forward in an easy curve to a height about two-thirds the depth of the canoe amidships, then began to tumble in a little, the curve becoming gradually sharper until the head was reached. The stem-head in its fore-and-aft length was almost one third the height of the ends and was roughly parallel to the bottom of the canoe directly beneath it. Because of the rocker of the bottom, the after end of the head was thus lower than the fore end. The sheer was faired up to the after end of the head in a short, quick curve. Usually the outwales were cut off short of this point, but in some canoes they were brought up along with the inwales to the stem-head. Wedges were used in making up the gunwale-end lashings in both the Chipewyan and Dogrib canoes; these served to tighten the lashings and formed a sort of breasthook. In a few examples of the Athabascan type, the stem-pieces were of cedar root without lamination; this use of the roots enabled the angular form of the plank-on-edge stems to be retained. It cannot be determined whether the root stem-pieces were part of the old Athabascan technique or were an importation from the western Cree. The lashing in these canoes followed the forms used in the fur-trade canoes--long-and-short turns in groups generally triangular in shape, with a spiral turn between groups.

PLANK-STEM CANOES OF HYBRID FORMS, 3-FATHOM Slavey (top) and 2½-fathom Algonkin-type Athabascan, probably the results of the influence of fur-trade canoe-building.]

The canoes of the Dogrib were practically identical with those of the Chipewyan except that the end profiles were usually slightly deeper fore-and-aft; also the Dogrib canoes were perhaps more often of birch bark, judging from the remaining canoes and models. The form of the ends in the Dogrib canoes was such that they often appeared higher than they really were, as the stem-heads stood some distance above the ends of the sheer, an effect which was heightened by the small fore-and-aft depth of the stem-heads.

The large canoes of the Slave had the same hull characteristics as the others but differed in end profiles and did not have rail caps. In the Slave canoe, the ends were formed of thin plank and in profile were almost upright and slightly curved. The stem line came out from the bottom in a sharp, almost angular curve and ascended with a slight sweep to a point about level with the gunwale amidships (in some, to within a few inches of the stem-head); from there a tumble-home carried it to the stem-head, which was short fore-and-aft and slightly crowned, the inboard end dropping vertically downward inside the gunwales. The headboards were under the gunwale ends. Inwales and outwales were both carried to the stems but the end lashings were quite short. There were no rail caps. The bark cover was lashed to the stem with an in-and-out stitch from side to side through holes in the plank. The sheer was brought up nearly to the top of the stem in a rather long, easy sweep beginning inboard at the endmost thwart.

The gunwale members in all these Athabascan canoes were quite light compared with their Eastern counterparts. A reinforcing strip of bark was placed under the outwales so as to hang down below them some four inches or so amidships and less toward the ends; this was sometimes decorated with a painted zigzag stripe or with widely spaced circles. The end lashings of the gunwales were protected by short bark deck pieces inserted under the caps. The edges of these deck pieces were trimmed flush with the outboard edges of the caps, so that no _wulegessis_ resulted.

In spruce-bark canoes, because the bark was stiff the ribs were spaced 6 to 8 inches, whereas in birch-bark canoes the ribs were spaced about as usual, 1 to 2 inches edge to edge. In the Dogrib and Slave canoes the ribs were without taper; in the Chipewyan there was usually a slight taper from the bottom to the gunwale end. The ends of the ribs were forced under the gunwales in the usual manner employed in the east, the gunwales being rectangular in cross-section, with the lower outboard corner beveled.

The thwarts were all parallel-sided, but tapered toward the ends, in elevation. The thwart ends were tenoned into the inner gunwale and usually had two holes in each end for the lashings.

In the bark cover the horizontal sewing was often over root battens. In many canoes rawhide was used in much of the lashing and sewing, and in the last-built bark canoes the end lashings of the gunwales were often protected by a decking formed of a small triangular sheet of metal, obtained from a large can and crimped along its edges so as to clamp the bark and main gunwales. When this metal deck-piece was used, the cap and outwale ended against the inboard edge of it.

For use in open water these canoes were often fitted with a blanket square-sail. The sapling serving as a temporary mast stood in a hole in the second thwart, and was stepped on a block, or board, pegged or lashed to the ribs.

The sheathing of all canoes of this class was of the same form--wide, short strakes amidships, narrower short strakes afore and abaft. The midship strakes were often quite short and their ends were over the longer end strakes. The end strakes were, of course, tapered toward the stems. The placing of the strakes was often irregular, with the result that the butts were somewhat staggered. Some canoes had four strakes to the length, but three appears to have been most common.

The large canoe was employed on the large lakes of the Mackenzie region; smaller canoes of the same general form, 14 to 16 feet in length and 30 to 40 inches in beam, were used on the large rivers and streams. In the smaller canoes of this class, the flare of the topsides was often less than in the larger craft. The Cree in this area, particularly to the south of Great Slave Lake, also employed the Athabascan form. This class of canoe, in general, appears to have been strongly affected by outside influence; consequently this description must be understood to cover existing canoes and models, not pure Athabascan canoe building.

The usual construction methods were employed in building this class of canoe; the stakes around the building frame were set vertically, and when the bark cover was lashed to the gunwale members (inwale and outwale together) the gunwales were spread and the thwarts inserted in their tenons. Skill was required in preshaping the gunwale members, which, as in the fur-trade canoes, had to be arched in sheer amidships to allow for the change in sheer caused by spreading the gunwales in construction. The building bed was also arched at midlength to allow for the lifting of the ends that occurred in spreading the gunwales with the bark cover attached.

A typical large Chipewyan canoe of this class was 21 feet 4 inches in overall length, 43 inches beam and 14 inches in depth amidships. A smaller Dogrib canoe of the same class was 14 feet 7 inches in overall length, 31¼ inches beam, and 11½ inches in depth. However, these smaller canoes appear to have been relatively uncommon, and the average large canoe was about 20 feet long.

_Kayak-Form Canoe_

The kayak-form canoe was widely employed in the Northwest and was highly developed in both model and construction. It was essentially a portage and hunting craft, ranging in length from 12 to 18 feet and in beam from about 24 to 27 inches, with a depth between 9 and 12 inches. In areas where the kayak form was used as a family and cargo canoe, the length would be as great as 20 or 25 feet and the beam might reach 30 inches. Except in the family or cargo canoe, which had none, there was usually some decking at the ends, most of it forward. Some tribal groups built the kayak form with its greatest beam at midlength, but the most common form had its greatest beam abaft midlength and its greatest depth there likewise. Many of the kayak forms had unlike end profiles, so that there was a distinct bow in appearance as well as in fact.

There was much variety in end profile, and the canoes of each tribal group were usually identifiable by this means. The kayak-form bark canoes of the lower Yukon and neighboring streams had a short overhang, formed in a curved rake and alike or very nearly so, at bow and stern. On the upper Yukon and adjoining streams the canoes had much rake at both ends, the rake being straight from the bottom outward for some distance, then curving rather markedly. The bow rake was usually greatest, but the stern might be higher by one or two inches. The bottom was without rocker, being straight or even slightly hogged in most of these canoes. The sheer was straight to the point where the rake began, then rose in a easy sweep to the ends. The end decks on the upper Yukon canoes were short, those on lower Yukon canoes were much longer; on the latter the bow deck was nearly a third the length of the canoe, on the former about a fifth. In the Mackenzie Basin, the kayak-form canoes had a moderate rake, curved in profile, at bow and stern and a rather low stem-head; the depth at the stern was noticeably greater than at the bow, and the deck forward was commonly a little less than a fourth the length of the canoe. In these canoes the greatest beam in most cases was abaft midlength, and this was also true of the lower Yukon canoes. On the upper Yukon and in some of these canoes on the lower Mackenzie, the greatest beam was amidships and the depth at bow and stern were equal.

ESKIMO KAYAK-FORM BIRCH-BARK CANOE FROM ALASKAN COAST, with long foredeck batten-sewn to the gunwales, no afterdeck, and rigid bottom frame.]

The variation in depth at bow and stern in some of the kayak-form canoes seems to have been related to the position of the greatest beam; when the beam was abaft the midlength, the greatest depth was aft, whereas when the greatest beam was amidships, the depth at the ends was equal. With the beam abaft midlength, the weight of the paddler trimmed the canoe by the stern somewhat, hence greater depth aft than forward was necessary to make the canoe run easily and turn readily in smooth water. In the sea kayaks of the eastern Eskimo, on the other hand, the depth and the draft were greatest forward, to bring them head to the sea when paddling ceased. The Alaskan sea kayaks were commonly of equal draft at bow and stern or might have a slightly greater draft aft than forward.

A third variation of the kayak form existed in British Columbia in early times, and apparently was employed by the Beaver, Nahane, and Sekani. It was an undecked bateau-shaped canoe having a fair sheer in a long sweep from end to end, the stem profiles were nearly straight, the ends were raked rather strongly, and the bow was somewhat higher than the stern. The beam was greatest slightly abaft midlength. It is estimated that canoes of this type, which has long been extinct and now can only be reconstructed from a model, were about 14 feet 8 inches long and 30 to 36 inches in beam, and probably were built of both spruce and birch.

The gunwales of the kayak-form canoes were formed by inwales and outwales; no caps were employed. In the Alaskan types and in the extinct British Columbia bateau variation, the gunwale lashings were continuous, but in the Mackenzie models the lashings were in groups. Inwales and outwales in all the kayak forms ran to the stem-pieces, which were plank-on-edge of a thickness that varied according to tribal practice. No headboards were employed. The gunwale members were rectangular in cross-section and were bent square with the flare of the sides. The ends sometimes were swelled and rounded, and in the bateau variation the gunwales, in cross section, appear to have been rounded. Six thwarts appear in most of the kayak forms but the Loucheux model had five and the bateau variation seems to have had but three.

ATHABASCAN HUNTING CANOES OF THE KAYAK FORM, showing characteristic hull shape. These canoes were light, handy, and fast.]

Reinforcing bark was placed under the outwales in all Mackenzie Basin canoes, but not in the Alaskan or in the bateau variation. The ribs in all these canoes were small, usually about ½ inch square, and widely spaced, about 9 to 14 inches on centers. No ribs were placed in the rake of the ends. The ends of the ribs were chisel-pointed and were forced between the inwale and outwale, against the inside of the bark cover. In some canoes, however, the ribs near the ends of the canoe were forced into short splits on the underside of the inwale. The thwart ends might also be forced into short splits on the inside face of the inwales or might be tenoned there; in any case a single lashing was used at the thwart ends. Thwarts were parallel-sided in plan and slightly tapered toward the ends in elevation; no shoulders were used. In the bateau variation, a heavy thwart was placed directly under the middle thwart with its ends against the side battens, apparently to act as a spreader. Each end was notched over the side battens and was held by two lashings to the bottom crosspiece below it. This structure was probably made necessary by the fragile construction of this form of canoe. In all kayak forms there was no complete sheathing--the one, two, or three narrow battens to a side above the chine were held in place only by the sprung ribs (without lashings); in the bateau form, however, the side batten was lashed to each frame after the manner of of an Eskimo sea kayak.

The characteristic detail in the structure of the bark kayak-canoe, including the bateau variation, was the bottom framing. It was variously formed, according to tribal designation. The bottom framing was made up of five or six longitudinal battens (four in one extinct form of canoe). In the Yukon canoes six rectangular battens, all of about the same cross section, were used with the narrow edge outboard. These battens were held rigidly to form by thin crosspieces, or splints, about ¼ by 1 inch forced athwartships through short splits in the battens and pegged at the ends on the chine battens. The ends of the four inner longitudinals were cut off on the snye to bear on the inside face of the chine battens (in some instances they were cut short of this). The chine ends were beveled together or lashed to the sides of the stem-pieces. But in the Mackenzie form of canoe, the longitudinals had no cross-members and, like the side battens, were held in place by the pressure of the sprung ribs against the bark cover. There was a difference in the form of midsection: in the Yukon canoes the bottom athwartships was flat, but in the Mackenzie canoes there had to be some rounding there. At least one exception existed in the Mackenzie Basin, where the Loucheux canoe was formed on the Yukon bottom. Another is to be seen in an old model of an extinct Athabascan kayak form, which has only four longitudinals and chine members that are very wide and rounded only on the outboard face. Between the chine battens are two light rectangular battens. These are all held together by a few splints and by lashings which pass around each individual batten, thus serving both as lashing and spreader. This canoe has what is apparently a very narrow bottom compared to known types. In some of the Eskimo-built birch kayak forms, the separators between the bottom battens were rectangular blocks held in place by a thong threaded through two holes in each batten and block, to make a round turn, and tied at one chine.

EXTINCT FORMS OF CANOES RECONSTRUCTED FROM OLD MODELS, showing variations in the bottom frame construction and the effects of hull form. Dimensions are estimated from the sizes of canoes in the area of each example.]

In some bateau variations of the kayak-form canoe, the longitudinals were secured by crosspieces, the ends of which were tenoned into the inside faces of the chine battens. The three inner battens were below the cross pieces. As a result, their bottoms were slightly below the bottom of the chine members, so that in this canoe two chine lines show through the bark cover on each side of the canoe.

From tribe to tribe the method of building the kayak-form canoe varied somewhat, but generally the following procedure was employed. On a smooth, level piece of ground the form of the canoe was staked out in the usual manner, using a building frame, with the stakes sloped outward at the top to match the desired flare of the sides.

Stem and stern posts were shaped of cedar by charring and scraping. The gunwales were made in the same manner and were then lashed at the desired heights on the stakes. Next, the bark cover was formed, usually of two or more sheets sewn together. This was placed inside the stakes and the building frame was forced down on it and weighted with stones. The ends were then trimmed and the sides were gored, sewn, and trimmed to fit the gunwales, to which the bark was laced. The stem and the stern post were then placed and lashed to the gunwales and secured to the bark by lashing, in some instances through holes in the posts. The bark at this stage was usually quite dry and stiff and the gunwales could be freed from the side stakes.

The bottom frame, assembled before other construction had started, was hogged; the middle was placed on a log or block and the ends weighted. Hot water was often applied to set the bottom frame.

Next, the bark cover was thoroughly wetted with boiling water to make it pliable and elastic. The building frame and stones were now removed, the bottom frame was substituted, and its ends fastened or engaged to the heels of the stem and stern posts. The bottom frame was then forced flat and held there by stones. This stretched the bottom bark longitudinally, and increased the sheer slightly toward bow and stern. The hogged bottom frame was known as a "sliding bottom" by some Indians.

The transverse frames, or ribs, had been prebent in the usual manner before assembly began; a few of these were now put in place, the ends being forced under the gunwales between their outer faces and the bark, or into a groove on the underside of the gunwale. This stretched the bark transversely and vertically. Once the bark had been forced into form by this method, the remaining ribs were added, and these now held the hogged bottom down so that the weights or stones could be removed. The canoe was then turned over, the seams gummed, and any tears or rents repaired.

This method of building usually produced a slight hogging in both bottom and in the sheer amidships, but when the canoe was afloat and loaded the light, flexible construction caused the hogging to disappear. The kayak-form canoes of the Dènè tribe appear to be the most highly developed of all in this type.

The decks of many of the kayak-form canoes were made of a triangular sheet of bark cut with the grain of the bark running athwartships, so that it could be held in place by the curl of its edges, which clamped under the outwales, as well as by three lashings. The edges were curled by passing a glowing brand along them. One lashing was around the stem-head and two were at the inboard end of the deck, around inwale and outwale. If the inboard end of the deck was not on a thwart it was stiffened by a batten lashed on top of the deck athwartship, at the deck end, to serve as an exterior deck beam and breakwater in one. If the deck end was on a thwart, a batten might be pegged athwartship on top of the deck; sometimes this batten was rolled in a sheet of bark first. Another method was to use a small sheet of bark tightly rolled, with its free edge tucked under the deck end and secured at the ends of the roll by the deck-gunwale lashings there. Some canoes had their decks lashed over battens for a short distance along the gunwales. In some Mackenzie Basin kayak forms, the end of the deck at the stem-head was protected by a small paddle-or leaf-shaped piece of bark placed under the lashing there and shaped to reach a little over onto the stem piece so as to seal the seam.

The fitting of the bark cover of the kayak-form canoes was not the same in all types. In the Mackenzie canoes the bottom, which might be in three, four, or five pieces sewn together, was alike on both sides; to it the side pieces were sewn at, or just above, the chines. The sides were made up of deep panels, five to nine to a side. There were no horizontal seams other than the one near the chines.

In some Yukon canoes, however, the bottom sheet was often made of three pieces and covered not only the bottom but also a portion, such as the after two-thirds, of one side. The forward portion of that side would then be covered by a single large panel or perhaps two, so that the horizontal seam on that side would run from the stem aft to the inboard end of the foredeck and would be just above the chine. On the opposite side a sheet would cover the bottom there and the bow topside from the stem aft for a short way. Deep panels would then cover the rest of that side to the stern, so that the horizontal seam there began forward at the sheer, some feet abaft the bow, and swept downward in a gentle curve to near the chine and then ran aft to the stern in a long sheered line just above the turn of the bilge, rising slightly as it neared the stern. Hence the foremost of the panels on that side was nearly triangular and the others were nearly rectangular. Inside, at the chine, was placed a reinforcing strip of bark wide enough to reach 3 inches beyond both sides of each chine longitudinal and running the length of the bottom; or if a seam near the chine permitted, the side and bottom pieces were overlapped. As has been noted, in the Yukon canoes a reinforcing piece at the outwale was not used, but was in the Mackenzie canoes; it extended down the side about 3 inches below the underside of the outwale amidships and ran to the ends of the canoe, or nearly so, tapering with the outwales to a width of about 1½ inches at bow and stern. In these canoes much of the lashing at stem and stern was double-thong; the longitudinal sewing was often over a batten in the usual spiral stitch, and a simple spiral stitch was also used to join the panels, although in-and-out stitching might also be seen in some canoes.

In many of the kayak-form canoes two ribs often stood noticeably close together amidships, and the rest stood parallel to the rake of the end on their side, respectively, of the middle ribs. However, not all these canoes had such double ribs; some were framed out in the usual manner, with the ribs widely spaced and canted toward their respective ends of the hull, away from the midship of the canoe.

KAYAK-FORM CANOES OF THE ALASKAN ESKIMOS and Canadian Athabascan Indians: chine form of Eskimo birch-bark canoe (above) and the dish-sectioned form of the Canadian Athabascans.]

In most of these canoes the paddler sat on a sheet of bark secured on the bottom; this was held in place by one or two false ribs having their ends under the inner gunwales and their middle forced down against the bark on the bottom framework. In place of bark, some Eskimo builders of the type used thin splints of wood laced together by two or three lines of double-thong stitching athwartships, which was passed through two holes in each splint. This might be loose or held in place by a false frame.

The paddle was single-bladed and the same as that used with the second class of Mackenzie Basin canoe (fig. 151). The blade was parallel-sided with the point formed in a short straight-sided ~V~-form; The blade of Yukon paddles was often taper-sided toward the point, which was a rounded ~V~. Other variations in blade form existed, however, and the narrow leaf-shaped blade was used in some areas in Alaska. In the Mackenzie paddles the handle ended in a knob, but in Alaskan versions it ended in a cross-grip like those of paddles used with some Alaskan sea kayaks. The Eskimo double-blade paddle was used with the kayak-form canoe by some paddlers; Hearne mentions its use.

Some of the kayak-form canoes were decorated; in Alaska this decoration often took the form of a line of colored beads sewn along each side of the afterdeck at the gunwale, or it consisted of a few oval panels of red, blue, or black paint along the sides or centerline of the afterdeck. In some Mackenzie kayak forms the decks were painted in various designs; a rather common one seems to have been two or more bands of paint around the deck edges, along the gunwales, ending at bow and stern with a full round sweep. Painted disk designs appeared on some of the large Algonkin-Ojibway canoes of the second type.

A number of kayak forms became extinct before any accurate, detailed records of their shape and construction had been made; models of some of these canoes exist but are not to scale and are untrustworthy as to detail, since they are often simplified. One model of the extinct British Columbia bateau form, for example, showed but three longitudinals in the bottom, though the probable size of the canoe undoubtedly would have required a greater number. On the other hand, the model may have represented a spruce-bark canoe constructed for temporary use, in which case a simplified construction might have been employed. One can only speculate which it was. Models of some kayak-form Yukon canoes show the decks lashed to the gunwales with a very coarse spiral stitch not recorded for any of the observed full-size canoes; thus it may be a model-maker's method of securing the decking firmly rather than an actual practice used on full-size canoes.

KAYAK-FORM CANOE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA and upper Yukon valley. Shows hogged bottom, usual in the type with a rigid bottom frame, which becomes straight or cambered when canoe is afloat and manned. Original in the Museum of the American Indian, New York.]

It now remains only to give short descriptions of the various kayak-form canoes that have been observed.

The ends of the Eskimo-built canoes of the lower Yukon had a short rake, the heel of the end profile breaking out of the bottom line at a slight angle and sweeping upward and outward in a gentle curve, often becoming almost straight near the stem head. The bow and stern were nearly the same height, the bow being a little higher, about half the midship depth above the sheer amidships. The sheer at each end was almost dead straight until within a few inches of the end; thence it swept up sharply with the inner gunwale ends, broadened, resting on the inboard side of the stem piece. The extreme ends of the inner gunwales were thus at the extreme stem-head. The stem-pieces were of plank, the cutwater portion outside the bark cover being sharpened the full height of the stems. These lower Yukon canoes had three side battens above the chine piece, but not all ran the full length in one piece; some were in two, in which case the ends merely ran past one another for a few rib-spaces and were neither butted nor lapped. The forward deck extended nearly one-third the canoe's length and had a batten across the inboard deck-end; the after deck reached to the after thwart. Adney's model of such a canoe shows the after deck lashed to the gunwales with spiral turns over a batten along the deck edges and finished toward the stern with chain stitching, but no such arrangement was seen in any full-sized canoe.

The form of these Eskimo-built canoes was nearly that of a double-ended flat-bottom skiff; the bottom being flat athwartships and without rocker fore-and-aft. The sides flared and were nearly straight. The turn of the bilge was quite sharp, the chine having a very short radius. In plan, the canoe showed no hollow in the ends, which were convex both at gunwale and on the bottom frame. In some of the full-sized canoes inspected there appeared to be a slight hog ranging from ¼ to ⅜ inch in the bottom, but there was no evidence to suggest that this was a result of the drying and shrinkage of the canoe structure with age. Hearne's drawing of a kayak-form canoe shows an impossible amount of hog in the bottom, and he indicates that some hog was intentional in building. This would disappear when the canoe was loaded afloat owing to the light and flexible structure, and it is evident that the builders usually sought to have the bottom slightly hogged.

CONSTRUCTION OF KAYAK-FORM CANOE of the lower Yukon, showing rigid bottom frame. (_Smithsonian Institution photo._)]

The kayak-form canoes of the lower Yukon and neighboring streams all appear to have been small canoes "tailored" to their owner's weight and height: 14 to 15 feet in overall length, 2 to 2¼ feet wide, and 10 to 12 inches deep. The bottom frame was from 12 to 14 inches wide amidships.

The kayak-form canoes of the upper Yukon Valley and those used in northern British Columbia and in Yukon Territory had ends with a long rake that came up in a straight line from an angular break at the bottom line to the height of the sheer amidships or thereabouts; there a gradual upward curve continued to the stem-head. The stern was 2 inches or so higher than the bow, and the rake of the latter was usually about an equal distance longer than that of the stern. The sheer was nearly straight, with only about 2 inches of sag from the heel of the stem to that of the stern. Beyond the heels, the sheer lifted in a fair sweep, becoming sharper toward the ends, where the broadened inwales were secured on top of the stem and stern pieces. There was no rocker in the bottom, and some examples showed as much as ⅜ inch of hog amidships. The bottom was flat athwartships and the almost straight sides flared a good deal. The turn of the bilge was on a very small radius and in some canoes appeared angular. The bow deck was usually just under one-fifth the length of the canoe. Most of the canoes did not have a stern deck, at least on the Yukon headwaters, but on those that did, it was about one-ninth the length of the canoe. The greatest beam was abaft amidships and the canoe was usually about 1½ inches deeper at the heel of the sternpost than at the heel of the stem. In plan, the ends (at gunwale and bottom frame) were convex; the gunwale ends alone might appear slightly hollow close to the posts in some examples. The canoes in Alaska and British Columbia and at the headwaters of the Yukon had a rigid bottom structure, with the splint spreaders usually numbering five.

The 1-man hunting canoes were commonly 18 to 19 feet long, 24 to 27 inches beam, and usually 10 to 11 inches deep amidships. The single example of a family or cargo kayak-form that has been measured from this area was 20 feet 1 inch overall and 30¼ inches beam over the gunwales. It was 18 inches wide on the bottom frame, 13 inches deep amidships, 14 inches deep at heel of stem, and 16 inches at heel of stem-post. Height of the stem was 29 inches, of the stern 30½ inches, the after rake was 38 inches, and the fore rake 40½ inches. The canoe had no decks and was rather sharp-ended.

The kayak-form canoe of the Athabascan Loucheux had a rigid bottom-frame; the bottom was flat athwartships and it had no fore-and-aft rocker. The sides were flaring and slightly curved. Both ends were alike, and the canoe was unusual in having only five thwarts, with one amidships. The stem was short in rake and curved; the stem profile came out of the bottom line in a fair, quick curve which became vertical at a height of little more than two-thirds the depth amidships of the canoe. The height of the stem was almost twice the midship depth. Between the end thwarts the sheer was straight, thence it swept upward in a gradually sharpening curve to the inboard stems; the inwale ends stood vertical on the face of the stem, with their ends brought to the top of the stem-head. The stem-pieces were of unusually thick plank, with the head broadened and the cutwater part outside the bark cover sharpened until near the head, where it gradually became as wide as inboard. The gunwales were lashed with continuous turns, as in the Alaskan canoes. In plan, the gunwales and bottom frame were full-ended and convex. These canoes were decked equally at both ends. The deck extended inboard far enough to just cover the end thwart, to which, in the example seen, it was lashed with four simple in-and-out passes of rawhide thong. The chine-pieces of the bottom were lashed to the sides of the stem-pieces. The covering was birch bark. Two battens on each side were employed with the usual six longitudinals in the bottom frame. These canoes were well-built and their ends resemble those of the seagoing kayaks used at the mouth of the Mackenzie, but these for at least the last 70 years of their use were round-bottomed. The Loucheux canoes were small, usually about 15 feet long, 30 inches wide, and about 12 inches deep amidships.

The Chipewyan kayak-form canoe was of loose-batten bottom frame construction, with its beam well aft of amidships. Its bottom was slightly rounded athwartships, with a slight rocker fore-and-aft; the sides flared outward and were nearly straight; and the turn of the bilge was almost angular. The bow and stern were of the same general shape; the end profile came out of the bottom line with a quick hard curve and then fell outboard in a long sweep that gradually straightened near the head. The rakes were short, however, and the stem was noticeably lower than the stern, the difference being as much as 6 inches in some canoes. The sheer was nearly straight to the end thwarts and thence it curved up in an easy sweep to the ends of the canoe. The canoes were markedly deeper at the stern than at the bow; the difference being as much as 1½ inches in some examples.

This kayak-form was very sharp-ended; the gunwales in plan often showed a slight hollow and the chine members came to the posts in an almost straight ~V~. As a result, the end ribs were often intentionally "broken" to form a narrow-based, angular ~U~. In some Eskimo-built kayak forms, a similar result in hull section was obtained in the endmost frames by stepping short struts in splits, or tenons, on top of the chine members and on the underside of the main gunwales. This construction was occasionally found in some of the lower Yukon kayak forms. The Chipewyan kayak forms were decked at both ends. The fore deck was slightly more than one-fourth the length of the canoe and extended inboard to the second thwart; the after deck was about one-tenth, and came inboard to the end thwart. No breakwater batten or bark was employed. There were two battens on the sides, above the bilges.

The gunwale wrappings were in groups. The bark cover was not folded over the top of the inner gunwale but, as usual in the Northwest canoes, was trimmed evenly with the top of the inwale and outwale. Reinforcing bark along the gunwales extended downward about 1½ inches below the bottom of the outwales amidships and about 1 inch at the ends. Of the bottom longitudinals, the keel and chine-pieces were roughly rectangular in cross-section, laid on the flat, and the intermediate two battens were round; the ends of the keel piece were merely butted against the stems, no lashing being used. The stem piece was thick plank and was sharpened outside the bark cover to form a cutwater. The stem lashing was of the usual two-thong form, and a batten was used in the longitudinal seams of the bark cover. The thwarts, six in number, were tenoned through both inwale and outwale and pegged between them. No thwart lashings were used. The decks often were not lashed into place, being held only by the curling of the edges of the bark sheets.

This canoe was a very good one; it was light and was fitted to the owner's build. In size it would be between 12 and 14 feet long and 20 and 24 inches wide over the gunwales, and the width of bottom over the chine members amidships would be 11 to 12 inches. The greatest beam would occur 7 to 8¼ feet abaft the stem. The depth at heel of stem would be 8½ to 9½ inches and at heel of stern, 10 to 11 inches. The amount of bottom rocker would be between ¾ and 1 inch, with its low point about amidships. The cover was usually birch bark, but sometimes spruce bark was used.

MODEL OF AN EXTINCT FORM OF BIRCH-BARK CANOE, Athabascan type, of British Columbia. In Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.; entered in the museum catalog as of 1849.]

Another kayak-form canoe of unknown tribal designation from the Mackenzie Basin was 13 feet 3 inches long, 27 inches beam over the gunwales, 8½ inches deep amidships, 8¾ inches deep at heel of stem, 10 inches deep at the aftermost thwart, and with about ⅜ inch of rocker in the forebody, none in the afterbody. The greatest beam occurred 7 feet 2 inches from the stem. The width amidships of the bottom framework of loose longitudinals was 13 inches. The length of the rake foreward was 12 inches and aft, 12 inches. The fore deck extended inboard to the second thwart, where a roll of bark formed a breakwater. The after deck extended inboard to the aftermost thwart. Between the end thwarts the sheer was practically straight; at the ends it rose gently, becoming almost a straight line as it came to the stem and stern, and without the usual upward hook in the ends of the gunwales.

This was a very light and well-built canoe with a birch-bark cover, a slightly rounded bottom athwartships, slack bilge, and flaring sides showing some curve in cross-section. The ends were rather sharp, the gunwales coming in to them almost straight, in plan, as did the chine members. The stem and stern pieces were of wide plank sharpened along their outboard edge outside the bark cover, for their whole height, to form cutwaters. The stem and stern profiles were about the same as those of the Chipewyan canoes.

An old model in the Peabody Museum of an undecked kayak-form canoe of Athabascan construction represents a high-ended canoe having ends with a slight rake and a straight cutwater. This form of canoe has long been extinct, and no description of an actual canoe of the form exists. Judging by the model it had a very narrow flat-bottom and rounded flaring sides.

The extinct bateau variant has already been described (pp. 159-161); it might be considered a primitive form of the kayak-form bark canoes, were it not that no intermediate type, between the bateau and the later and highly developed bark kayak-form, has been found; as a result, any such statement can be no more than speculation.

_Sturgeon-Nose Canoe_

In southern British Columbia and in northern Washington, the ram-ended or sturgeon-nose canoes were built. These were the canoes of the Kutenai, also spelled "Kootenay," and of the Salish tribal groups. Used on rivers and lakes, they were constructed of the bark of birch, spruce, fir, white pine, or balsam, whichever was available at the building site. Wherever possible a panel of birch bark was worked in along the whole length of the gunwales. The hull form of these canoes varied somewhat, perhaps by decision of the builder, or perhaps by local tribal custom. The ends were formed with a marked "ram," the stem profiles running down and out to the "nose" in a straight or nearly straight line. In some examples the stem profiles were in a hollow curve, starting down from the gunwales rather steeply and then curving outward more gently to the nose. Most examples had a bottom that was straight or slightly hogged, while those with the hollow curve in the ram often had a slight rocker. It is believed that the intention was always to have the bottom straight but that in construction the center of the canoe lifted somewhat, thus showing a slight hog in the bottom line. The effects of loading and use on the light and flexible structure of these canoes would cause the bottom to rocker and the outboard ends to lift, thus causing the hollow in the ram profiles. These effects of loading are confirmed by tests with models of this form of canoe.

The midsection was usually quite round, almost ~U~-shaped, on the bottom, but some canoes showed the bottom slightly flattened and the sides flared out somewhat. Toward the ends, the ~U~-shape became marked, and near the gunwale ends the sides of the ~U~ fell inboard slightly as they came to the gunwales, the bottom of the ~U~ having a hard turn. In plan, the gunwales approached the stems without hollow, being nearly straight or even slightly convex. The ram was long and sharp in its lower level lines and this, with the form of midsection, made this model a fast-paddling canoe, though rather unstable. Most of these canoes had but one thwart, placed at midlength, but some have been found with three thwarts and a thong tie across the gunwales, close to the stems, as well.

No stem-pieces were used; the bark ends were closed by two outside battens, one on each side, whose heads were carried some 3 inches above the gunwales. A cutwater batten was placed over the edges of the bark between the battens, and the three were lashed together, with the bark, by a coarse spiral wrapping or by group ties. The bark cover was not sheathed inside; instead, six battens, ⅜ by 1½ inches, were placed on each side of the keel piece, which measured about ½ by 3 inches and tapered toward the ends. The battens, widely spaced, ran well into the ram ends, and were held in place, like sheathing, by the pressure of the ribs. The ribs, spaced 8 to 12 inches on centers, were often split saplings; sometimes they were shaped to approximately ¼ by ¾ inch. The batten nearest the gunwale on each side was lashed to every rib. In some canoes the heads of the ribs were brought up between the inwale and outwale, inside the bark cover, with their ends against the cap. The stitching of the longitudinal seam of the topside panel was passed around these frames and so helped to secure them. In one example, the ribs were passed through the bark cover just below the horizontal seam of the topside panel; there a turn of the stitching was passed around each rib; then the rib was brought inboard again in the seam by being passed between the edges of the bark cover and the panel. In many canoes there were no ribs in the ram ends, but this was not universal practice; small light ribs were sometimes placed there, with their heads caught in the closure lashing of the end.

BARK CANOE OF THE KUTENAI AND SHUSWAP, about average in size and proportion. Original in the Museum of the American Indian, New York.]

The canoes had 3-part gunwales consisting of inwale, outwale, and cap, but in many the arrangement of these was such that this nomenclature is misleading. In the latter construction, a lower inwale was used, as in the above drawing; rather small in cross section, it was almost square, with rounded edges. The rib ends, after passing through slits in the bark cover below the lower inwale, continued upward past it, outside the bark cover. Above the lower inwale and inside the bark cover was a larger upper inwale; this was flat on the outboard and bottom sides, the top and inboard sides being rounded into one another. The outwale, roughly rectangular in cross section, clamped the bark cover and heads of the ribs between it and the upper inwale. The ribs and bark were trimmed off flush with the tops of the outwale and upper inwale. The thwart amidships was caught, at the ends, between the lower and upper inwales. The gunwale members and bark cover were secured by group lashings of small extent and rather widely spaced.

The methods of fitting the thwarts differed in this class of canoe, and it cannot be determined with certainty whether this variation was tribal or the choice of the individual builder. In canoes having the lower inwale arrangement there was but one thwart amidships. As has been said, its ends were caught between the upper and lower inwales. Directly beneath it was a rib whose head was not brought up outside the bark cover but, after being secured to the uppermost sheathing batten, was brought around inboard in a quick hard turn and secured along the underside of the thwart with a close spiral lashing. Under this rib at the topmost batten was secured a short false rib head by forcing the beveled foot of the false rib between the batten and the true rib, after lashing; the head of the false rib was then brought up through and outside the bark cover in the customary manner, or it might be forced under the lower inwale, inside the bark cover. In this construction, the endmost ribs were at the gunwale ends, and the heads of these were lashed to the stem battens outside the gunwale ends, on the outside of the bark cover.

OJIBWAY CANOE CONSTRUCTION. (See pp. 122-131.)

Peeling bark.

Staking out bark.

Assembling bark over on building site.

(_Canadian Geological Survey photos._)

Making root thongs.

Setting ribs inside bark cover with a mallet.

Fitting gunwale caps on new canoe.]

In canoes having the usual gunwales of inwale, outwale, and cap, the inwale and outwale were roughly rectangular, with their top sides horizontal, and the cap, very small and light, was flat on the bottom and rounded on top. In this construction, the rib heads usually were clamped between the inwale and outwale, inside the bark cover.

The ribs of the ends were lighter than those of the main body and more closely spaced, say 2 or 3 inches apart. These began about 8 or 9 inches inboard of the gunwale ends; the heads did not reach the gunwales, but instead were caught in the horizontal seam of the side panel and then cut off. Usually three ribs were so fitted. The rest of the end ribs, usually eight in number, either had their heads caught in the stem lashings or were made up as hoops with the heads overlapped and lashed together, the ribs being placed so that the overlap came to one side or the other of the canoe. Each hoop was usually caught by a turn in the end-closure lashing.

To strengthen the ram, the lower ends of the three stem battens were lashed to the extremities of the inside keel-piece, which was brought through the bark cover at this point. The opening resulting from this was sealed with gum or pitch. Minor variations in construction have been noted in the canoes exhibited in museums; in one, for example, only every fourth rib was caught in the topside panel stitching.

In canoes having the usual arrangement of gunwale members, with the cap over the ends of the ribs, the ends of the thwart were sometimes carried some 6 to 8 inches beyond the gunwales, at each end, and much reduced in thickness by cutting away about half the depth of the thwart. This part was then wrapped tightly around the inwale, brought inboard along the underside of the thwart, and there lashed. Examples show that the amount of end brought inboard under the thwart varied with the builder. It should be added that the thwarts were usually no more than barked saplings and were obviously installed in the canoe when green and treated with hot water so they would not break when wrapped around the inwales. In canoes having three thwarts, all were fitted in this manner, but often the thwarts on each side of the middle were also wrapped in a long spiral with a thong whose ends were tied to each gunwale. In 3-thwart canoes, there was commonly a cross tie, located roughly 12 inches from the gunwale ends and consisting of three or more turns of cord, or thong, around the gunwale members on each side and athwartships, secured by turns of the ends around the cross tie. In one canoe there was a thwart amidships and one at one end, about halfway between the middle thwart and the gunwale ends; at the other end were two cross ties, one replacing the thwart and another a foot inboard of the ends of the gunwales. In this canoe the ribs at the gunwale ends were hoops and there were only three hoop ribs in the ram ends.