White cedar Black spruce
Wood-splitting techniques]
Black spruce was also employed, as it too would split well, although
only when green. This wood also required a different direction in
splitting than the white cedar. Ribs of black spruce could be bent and
set in shape when this was done while the wood was green. In some areas
black spruce was used in place of white cedar for all parts of a bark
canoe structure.
Hard maple (usually either _Acer saccharum_ Marsh. or _A. nigrum_
Michx.), can be split rather easily while green; this wood was used
for the crosspieces or thwarts that hold the gunwales apart and for
paddles. Larch, particularly western larch (_Larix occidentalis_
Nutt.), was used in some areas for canoe members. White and black ash
(_Fraxinus americana_ L. and _F. nigra_ Marsh.), were also used where
suitable wood of these species was available. In the northwest, spruce
and various pines were employed, as was also willow (_Salix_). It
should be noted that the use of many woods in bark canoe construction
can be identified only in the period after steel tools became
available; it must be assumed that the range of selection was much
narrower in prehistoric times.
To make a bark cover watertight, it is necessary to coat all seams
and to cover all "sewing" with a waterproof material, of which the
most favored by the Indians was "spruce gum," the resin obtained from
black or white spruce (_Picea mariana_ or _P. glauca_ (Moench) Voss).
The resin of the red spruce (_Picea rubens_ Sarg.) was not used, so
far as has been discovered. The soft resin was scraped from a fallen
tree or from one damaged in summer. Spruce gum could be accumulated by
stripping a narrow length of bark from trees early in the spring and
then, during warm weather, gathering the resin that appeared at the
bottoms of the scars thus made. It was melted or heated in various ways
to make it workable and certain materials were usually added to make it
durable in use.
[Illustration: Figure 8
Stone axe]
The most important aids to the Indian in canoe construction were his
patience, knowledge of the working qualities of materials, his manual
skill with the crude cutting, scraping, and boring instruments known
to him, and of course fire; time was, perforce, of less importance. The
canoe builder had to learn by experience and close observation how to
work the material available. The wood-working tools of the stone age
were relatively inefficient, but with care and skill could be used with
remarkable precision and neatness.
Felling of trees was accomplished by use of a stone axe, hatchet, or
adze, combined with the use of fire. The method almost universally
employed by primitive people was followed. The tree was first girdled
by striking it with the stone tool to loosen and raise the wood fibers
and remove the soft green bark. Above this girdle the trunk was daubed
all around with wet earth, or preferably clay. A large, hot fire was
then built around the base of the tree and, after the loose fibers were
burned away and the wood well charred, the char was removed by blows
from the stone tool. The process was repeated until the trunk was cut
through enough for the tree to fall. The fallen trunk could be cut into
sections by employing the same methods, mud being laid on each side
of the "cut" to prevent the fire from spreading along the trunk. Fire
could also be used to cut down poles and small trees, to cut them into
sections, and to sharpen the ends into points to form crude wedges or
stakes.
Stone tools were formed by chipping flint, jasper, or other forms of
quartz, such as chalcedony, into flakes with sharp edges. This was done
by striking the nodule of stone a sharp blow with another stone held
in the hand or mounted in a handle of hide or wood to form a stone
hammer. The flakes were then shaped by pressing the edges with a horn
point--say, part of a deer antler--to force a chip from the flake. The
chipping tool was sometimes fitted with a hide or wood handle set at
right angles to the tool, so that its head could be hit with a stone or
horn hammer. The flake being worked upon, if small, was often held in
the hand, which was protected from the slipping of a chipping tool by
a pad of rawhide. Heat was not used in chipping, and some Indians took
care to keep the flake damp while working it, occasionally burying the
flake for a while in moist soil. The cutting edge of a stone tool could
be ground by abrasion on a hard piece of granite or on sandstone, but
the final degree of sharpness depended upon the qualities of the stone
being used as a tool. Slate could be used in tools in spite of its
brittleness. In general, stone tools were unsuitable for chopping or
whittling wood.
[Illustration: Figure 9
Stone hammer
Stone wedge
Stone knife with rawhide thong handle]
Splitting was done by starting the split at the upper, or small end, of
a balk of timber with a maul and a stone wedge or the blade of a stone
axe, hatchet, or knife. The stone knives used for this work were not
finished tools with wood handles, but rather, as the blade was often
damaged in use, selected flakes fitted with hide pads that served as
a handle. The tool was usually driven into the wood with blows from a
wooden club or maul, the brittle stone tool being protected from damage
by a pad of rawhide secured to the top, or head, of the tool. Once the
split was started, it could be continued by driving more wedges, or
pointed sticks, into the split; this process was continued until the
whole balk was divided. White cedar was split into quarters by this
method and then the heartwood was split away, the latter being used for
canoe structural members. From short balks of the length of the longest
rib or perhaps a little more, were split battens equal in thickness
to two ribs and in width also equal to two, so that by splitting one
batten two ways four finished ribs were produced. The broad faces
of the ribs were as nearly parallel to the bark side of the wood as
possible, as the ribs would bend satisfactorily toward or away from the
bark side only. Black spruce, however, was split in line with the wood
rays, from the heart outward toward the bark, so that one of the rib's
narrow edges faced the bark side; only in this direction would the wood
split readily and only when made this way would the ribs bend without
great breakage.
[Illustration: Figure 10
Wooden mauls
(2, 3 used to set ribs with 4, 5)
Driving sticks]
Long pieces for sheathing and for the gunwale members were split
from white cedar or black spruce. The splitting of such long pieces
as these required not only proper selection of clear wood, but also
careful manipulation of wood and tools in the operation. Splitting of
this kind--say, for ribs in the finish cut--was usually done by first
splitting out a batten large enough to form two members. To split it
again, a stone knife was tapped into the end grain to start the split
at the desired point, which, as has been noted, was always at the upper
end of the stick, not at the root end. Once the split was opened, it
was continued by use of a sharp-pointed stick and the stone knife;
if the split showed a tendency to run off the grain as it opened, it
could be controlled by bending the batten, or one of the halves, away
from the direction the split was taking. The first rough split usually
served to show the worker the splitting characteristics of a piece of
wood. This method of finishing frame members in bark canoes accounts
for the uneven surfaces that often mark some parts, a wavy grain
producing a wave in the surface of the wood when it was finished. If
it were desired to produce a partially split piece of wood, such as
some tribal groups used for the stems, or in order to allow greater
curvature at the ends of the gunwale, the splitting was stopped at the
desired point and a tight lashing of rawhide or bark was placed there
to form a stop.
The tapering of frames, gunwales, and thwarts and the shaping of
paddles were accomplished by splitting away surplus wood along the
thin edges and by abrasion and scraping on all edges. Stone scrapers
were widely employed; shell could be employed in some areas. Rubbing
with an abrasive such as soft sandstone was used when the wood became
thoroughly dry; hardwood could often be polished by rubbing it with a
large piece of wood, or by use of fine sand held in a rawhide pad. By
these means the sharp edges could be rounded off and the final shaping
accomplished. Some stone knives could be used to cut wood slowly, saw
fashion, and this process appears to to have been used to form the
thwart ends that in many canoes were tenoned into the gunwales. A stone
knife used saw fashion would also cut a bent sapling easily, though
slowly. To cut and trim bark a stone knife was employed; to peel bark
from a tree, a hatchet, axe, or chisel could be used.
[Illustration: Figure 11
Stone scraper]
Drilling was done by means of a bone awl made from a splinter of the
shank-bone of a deer; the blade of this awl had a roughly triangular
cross-section. The splinter was held in a wooden handle or in a rawhide
grip. The awl was used not only to make holes in wood, but also as the
punch to make holes for "sewing" in bark. Large holes were drilled by
means of the bow-drill, in which a stone drill-point was rotated back
and forth by the bow-string. Some Indians rotated the drill between the
palms of their hands, or by a string with handgrips at each end. The
top of the drill was steadied by a block held in the worker's mouth,
the top rotating in a hole in the underside of the block. With the
bow-drill, however, the block was held in one hand.
[Illustration: Figure 12
Bow Drill]
Peeling the bark from roots and splitting them was done by use of the
thumbnail, a stone knife, or a clamshell. Biting was also resorted
to. The end of a root could also be split by first pounding it with a
stone, using a log or another stone as an anvil, to open the fibers
at one end. Splitting a root was usually done by biting to start the
split. Once this was done, half was held in the mouth and the other
half between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. Then the
two parts were gradually pulled apart with the right hand, while the
thumbnail of the left was used to guide the split. If the split showed
a tendency to "run off," bending the root away from the direction of
the run while continuing the splitting usually served to change the
course of the split. If a root was hard to split, the stone knife
came into play instead of the thumbnail. When the split reached arm's
length, the ends were shifted in hand and mouth and the operation
continued.
The use of hot water as an aid in bending wood was well known to
some tribal groups before the white man came. Water was placed in a
wooden trough, or in a bark basin, and heated to boiling by dropping
hot stones into it. Some Indians boiled water in bark utensils by
placing them over a fire of hot coals surrounded by stones and earth
so that the flame could not reach the highly inflammable bark above
the water-level in the dish. Stones were lifted from the fire with
wooden tongs made of green saplings bent into a ~U~-shape or made
into a spoon-like outline. A straight stick and a forked one, used
together, formed another type of tongs. The straight stick was placed
in and under the fork; then, by forcing the latter under the stone and
bringing the end of the straight stick hard against its top, the stone
was held firmly, pincer-fashion.
The wood to be bent was first soaked in the boiling water, or the water
was poured over it by means of a birch-bark or other dipper. When the
wood was thoroughly soaked with boiling water, bending began, and as
it progressed boiling water was almost continuously poured on the
wood. When the wood had been bent to a desired form, it was secured in
shape by thongs and allowed to cool and dry out, during which it would
take a permanent set. Hard bends, as in gunwale ends and stem-pieces,
were made by this means, usually after the wood had been split into a
number of laminations in the area of the greatest bend. When the piece
had been boiled and bent to its required form, the laminations were
secured by wrapping them spirally with a thong of inner bark (such as
basswood), of roots, or of rawhide.
Flat stones were used to weigh down bark in order to flatten it and
prevent curling. Picked up about the canoe-building site, they had
one smooth and fairly flat surface so that no harm came to the bark,
and were of such size and weight as could be handled easily by the
builder. Smooth stones from a stream appear to have been preferred. In
preparation for building a canoe, the pins, stakes, and poles which
were of only temporary use were cut or burned down in the manner
mentioned and stored ready for use. Bark containers were made and
filled with spruce gum, and the materials used in making it hard and
durable were gathered. The building site was selected in the shade,
to prevent the bark from becoming hard and brittle, and on ground
that was smooth, clear of outcroppings of stone, and roots, or other
obstructions, and firm enough to hold the stakes driven into it. The
location was, of course, usually near the water where the canoe was to
be launched.
[Illustration: Figure 13
Modern Hudson Bay axe]
When steel tools became available, the work of the Indian in cutting
and shaping wood became much easier but it is doubtful that better
workmanship resulted. The steel axe and hatchet made more rapid and
far easier than before the felling and cutting up of trees, poles, and
sticks; they could also be used in peeling bark. The favored style of
axe among Canadian Indians was what is known as the "Hudson Bay axe";
it is made as a fairly large or "full-axe," as a lighter "half-axe,"
and as a large hatchet, or hand-axe. The head of the blade is very
narrow, the front of the blade vertical, while the back widens toward
the cutting edge and the latter stands at a slightly acute angle to the
front of the blade. This style of axe seems to follow the traditional
form of the tomahawk and is popular because it cuts well, yet is
lighter to carry than the other forms of axe. It is also called a
"cedar axe" in some localities. In modern times, Indian hatchets are of
the commercial variety, the "lathing" form being preferred because it
holds somewhat to the old trade tomahawk in form of blade and weight.
The traditional steel tomahawk, incidentally was an adaptation of one
of the European forms of hatchet, sold in the early days of the fur
trade.
[Illustration: Figure 14
Steel tomahawk (fur trade)]
[Illustration: Figure 15
Steel canoe awls]
The "canoe awl" of the fur trade was a steel awl with a blade
triangular or square in cross-section, and was sometimes made of an old
triangular file of small size. Its blade was locked into a hardwood
handle, and it was a modern version of the old bone awl of the bark
canoe builders, hence its name.
The plane was also used by modern Indians, but not in white man's
fashion, in which the wood is held in a vise and smoothed by sliding
the tool forward over the work. The Indian usually fixed the plane
upside down on a bench or timber and slid the work over the sole, much
as would be done with a power-driven joiner. However, the plane was not
very popular among any of the canoe-building Indians.
[Illustration: Figure 16
Crooked knives]
The boring tool most favored by the Indians was the common steel
gimlet; if a larger boring tool was desired, an auger of the required
diameter was bought and fitted with a removable cross-handle rather
than a brace.
One steel tool having much popularity among canoe-building Indians was
the pioneer's splitting tool known as the "froe." This was a heavy
steel blade, fifteen to twenty inches long, about two inches wide, and
nearly a quarter inch thick along its back. One end of the blade ended
in a tight loop into which a heavy hardwood handle, about a foot long,
was set at right angles to the back edge of the blade, so that, when
held in the hand, the blade was cutting edge down, with the handle
upright. The froe was driven into the end of a balk of timber to be
split by blows from a wooden maul on the back of its blade. Once the
split was started, the maul was dropped and the hand that had held it
was placed at the end of the blade away from the handle. By twisting
the blade with the two hands the split could be forced open. The froe
was a most powerful and efficient splitting tool when narrow, short
plank, or battens, were required. The balk to be split was usually
placed more or less end-up, as its length permitted, in the crotch of a
felled tree, so as to hold it steady during the splitting. The pioneer
used this tool to make clapboards and riven shingles; the Indian canoe
builder found it handy for all splitting.
[Illustration: Figure 17
Froe]
Another pioneer tool that became useful to the Indian canoe builder was
the "shaving horse." A sort of bench and vise, it was used by Indians
in a variety of forms, all based on the same principle of construction.
Usually a seven-foot-long bench made of a large log flattened on top
was supported by two or four legs, one pair being high enough to
raise that end of the bench several feet off the ground to provide a
seat for the operator. To the top of the bench was secured a shorter,
wedge-shaped piece flattened top and bottom, with one end beveled and
fastened to the bench and the other held about 12 inches above it by a
support tenoned into the bench about thirty inches from the high end.
Through the bench and the shorter piece were cut slots, about four feet
from the high end of the bench and aligned to receive an arm pivoted on
the bench and extending from the ground to above the upper slot. The
arm was shaped to overhang the slot on the front, toward the operator's
end of the bench, and on each side. The lower portion of the arm was
squared to fit the slot, and a crosspiece was secured to, or through,
its lower end.
[Illustration: Figure 18
SHAVING HORSE.]
The worker sat astraddle the high end of the bench, facing the low end,
with his feet on the crosspiece of the pivoted arm. Placing a piece of
wood on top of the wedge-shaped piece, close to the head of the pivoted
arm, he pushed forward on the crosspiece with his feet, thus forcing
the head down hard upon the wood, so that it was held as in a vise. The
wood could then be shaved down to a required shape with a drawknife or
crooked knife without the necessity of holding the work. A long piece
was canted on top of the bench so that the finished part would pass by
the body of the worker, and, if it were necessary to shape the full
length, it could be reversed.
Nails and tacks eventually came into use, though they were never used
in all phases of the construction of a particular canoe. In the last
days of bark canoe construction, the bark was tacked to the gunwales
and, in areas where a gunwale cap was customarily employed, the cap was
often nailed to the top of the gunwales.
The "bucksaw" also came into the hands of the Indians, but the frame of
this saw was too awkward to carry, so the Indian usually bought only
the blade. With a couple of nails and a bent sapling he could make a
very good frame in the woods, when the saw was required. The ends of
the sapling were slotted to take the ends of the blade and then drilled
crosswise to the slot, so a nail could be inserted to hold the ends of
blade and sapling together. With the end of the nail bent over, the
frame was locked together and the tension was given to the blade by the
bent sapling handle.
[Illustration: Figure 19
Bucksaw]
The "crooked knife" was the most important and popular steel tool found
among the Indians building bark canoes. It was made from a flat steel
file with one side worked down to a cutting-edge. The back of the
blade thus formed was usually a little less than an eighth of an inch
thick. The cutting edge was bevel-form, like that of a drawknife or
chisel, with the back face quite flat. The tang of the file was fitted
into a handle made of a crotched stick, to one arm of which the tang
was attached, while the other projected at a slightly obtuse angle
away from the back of the blade. The tang was usually held in place
by being bent at its end into a slight hook and let into the handle,
where it was secured with sinew lashing; wire later came into use for
this lashing. The knife, held with the cutting edge toward the user,
was grasped fingers-up with the thumb of the holding hand laid along
the part of the handle projecting away from the user. This steadied the
knife in cutting. Unlike a jackknife, the crooked knife was not used
to whittle but to cut toward the user, and was, in effect, a one-hand
drawknife. This form of knife is so satisfactory that it is to this day
employed instead of a drawknife by many boat-builders in New Brunswick
and Quebec. A variation in the crooked knife has the tip of the blade
turned upward, on the flat, so that it can be used in hollowing out
a wooden bowl or dish. The blades of crooked knives seen are usually
about five-eighths inch wide and perhaps five or six inches long. Some
are only slightly beveled along the cutting edge; others show this
feature very markedly.
Awls, as well as chisels and other stone or bone blades, often had
handles on their sides to allow them to be held safely when hit with
a hammer. Some of the stone blades and chisels thus took the form of
adzes and could be used like them, but only, of course, to cut charred
or very soft wood. The sharpening of stone tools followed the same
methods used in their original manufacture and was a slow undertaking.
To some Indians an efficient wood-cutting chisel was available in the
teeth of the beaver. Each tooth was nearly a quarter inch wide, so
two teeth would give a cut of nearly half an inch. The usual practice
appears to have been to employ the skull as a handle, though some
beaver tooth chisels had wooden handles. As used in making tenons in
the gunwales, two holes, of a diameter equal to the desired width, were
first drilled close enough together to make the length of the desired
tenon, after which the intervening wood, especially if it was white
cedar or black spruce, could be readily split out by means of either a
beaver tooth or narrow stone chisel.
The maul was merely some form of wooden club; the most common type
was made by cutting away part of the length of a small balk to form a
handle, the remainder being left to form the head. The swelling of the
trunk of a small tree at the ground, where the roots form, was also
utilized to give weight and bulk to the head of a maul. It could be
hardened by scorching the head in a fire. Another method of pounding
and driving was to employ a stone held in one hand or both. Stone
hammers were rarely employed, since the maul or a stone held in the
hand would serve the purpose.
The birch tree that was to supply the bark was usually selected far in
advance of the time of construction. By exploring the birch groves,
the builder located a number of trees from which a suitable quantity
of bark of the desired quality could be obtained. Samples of the bark
of each tree were stripped from the trunk and carefully inspected and
tested. If they separated into layers when bent back and forth, the
bark was poor. If the "eyes" inside the bark were lumpy, the bark in
their vicinity would split too easily; this was also true if they were
too close together, but if the eyes on the inside of the bark appeared
hollow there was no objection. Bark that was dead white, or the outer
surface of which was marked by small strips partly peeled away from the
layer below, would be rejected as poor in quality.