to give longitudinal strength to the hull; for this reason the
structure was made sufficiently large in cross-section to be rather
stiff, or was formed of more than one member. An inner and outer
gunwale construction was employed in many bark canoes. The inner
member was the strength member and was sometimes square, or nearly so,
in cross-section. In some canoes bark was brought up on the outside
of this gunwale member, lapped over the top, and lashed over it; in
others the bark was lashed to both inner and outer gunwales. The outer
gunwale, a rectangular-sectioned batten bent narrow-edge up, was
applied like a guard, outside the bark, and was secured by pegs, by the
lashings of the bark cover, or by widely spaced lashings. On top of
the large inner gunwale and usually extending outward over the outer
gunwale, a thin cap, pegged or lashed in the same manner as the outer
gunwale, was sometimes added; this was intended to protect the lashing
of the bark to the gunwale rather than to add longitudinal strength.
The corners of the inner gunwale, or of the single gunwale, were all
rounded off to prevent them from cutting the sewing and lashings. The
bottom outboard corner was sometimes rounded off more than the other,
or beveled, in order to form between the outboard face of the gunwale
and the bark a slot into which the heads of the ribs could be forced.
An alternate method of accomplishing this was to notch or drill holes
in the gunwales for the heads of the ribs.
The ends of the gunwales were fashioned in various ways. In some canoes
the gunwales were sheered upward at the ends only slightly, the gunwale
ends being secured to wide end boards in the stems or extended past
them and secured to the stem-pieces. The apparent sheer in the latter
might be formed by bending the outer gunwale, or outwale, and the cap
(if one existed) to the required curve and then securing the ends
to the stem-piece, or to the end boards, as the form of end profile
dictated. If either the single gunwale or the outwale or both were
sharply sheered, they were split, to a point near the end thwart, into
two or four or even more laminations; even the rail cap, which was
perhaps half an inch thick, might be split in the same manner to allow
a sharp upward sweep at the stems. After being bent, the split members
were temporarily wrapped to hold the laminations together. In no bark
canoes did the ends of the gunwales curve back on themselves to form a
hook just inboard of the bow and stern, despite the numerous pictures
that show this feature. The gunwale ends sometimes projected almost
perpendicularly upward, slightly above the top of the bow and stern,
so that when the canoe was upside down its weight came on these rather
than on the sewing of the ends of the craft.
[Illustration: Figure 25
GUNWALE ENDS nailed and wrapped with spruce roots. (_Sketch by Adney._)]
The gunwale ends in some canoes were fastened together by means of one
or more lashings, often widely spaced. After being lashed together,
a narrow wedge was sometimes driven between the two gunwales from
inboard to tighten the lashings. The ends were sometimes beveled on
their bearing surfaces so as to make a neat appearance when joined. The
various ways in which the gunwale ends at stem and stern were finished
can best be described when individual types are under examination. Some
canoes had a small piece of bark over the ends of the gunwales but
under the outwales that held it in place. Whether these pieces were
employed to protect the lashing of the gunwales and adjoining work from
the weather, or whether they were the vestigial remains of a decking
once used, cannot be determined. In the Canadian Northwest the ends
of bark canoes were sometimes decked with bark for a short distance
inboard.
[Illustration: Figure 26
GUNWALES AND STAKES ON BUILDING BED, plan view. (_Sketch by Adney._)]
The bark was secured to the gunwales by a continuous spiral lashing
all along the main gunwale or by separated lashing in series. In the
first, the continuous lashing, where it passed through the bark, might
show regularly spaced separations to avoid the tops of the ribs. In the
second, the lashings were placed clear of the ribs. There were some
slight variations in the lashings, but these were of minor importance
so far as structural strength is concerned. In all cases, the bark was
brought up to or over the top of the gunwale before being secured, so
that the holes for the lashing were pierced at some distance from the
edge of the bark to prevent it from splitting.
The ends of the thwarts were mortised into the gunwales and also
secured by lashings. The number of thwarts varied with the tribal type,
the size, and the purpose of the canoe. Usually an odd number, from
three to nine, were used, though occasional canoes had two or four
thwarts. Very small canoes for hunting might have only two or three
thwarts, but most canoes 14 to 20 feet long had five. Canoes intended
for portaging usually had one thwart at midlength to aid in lifting the
canoe for the carry position. The distance between the thwarts might be
determined by structural design, or might be fixed so as to divide the
cargo space to allow proper trim. The thwarts might serve as backrests
for passengers, but were never used as seats. There was no standard
form for the shape of the thwarts, which varied not only to some degree
by tribal classification, but even among builders in single tribe. They
were usually thickest and widest over the centerline of the canoe,
tapering outboard and then spreading again at the gunwales to form a
marked shoulder at the mortise. The lashings to the gunwales often
passed through two or more holes in this shoulder.
The ribs, or frames, of most canoes were very closely spaced and
were wide, flat, and thin. They ran in a single length from gunwale
to gunwale. In canoes having ~V~-sections near the ends, the ribs
were often so sharply bent as to be fractured slightly. Across the
bottom they were wide but above the bilge they tapered in width toward
the end, which was either a rounded point or a beveled or rounded
chisel-edge. The ribs were forced under the gunwales so that the heads
fitted into the bevel, or into notches or holes at the underside and
outboard edge of the gunwale, between it and the bark cover. By canting
the rib to bring its ends into the proper position and then forcing it
nearly perpendicular, the builder brought enough pressure on the bark
cover to mold it to the required form. Bulging of the bark at each
frame was prevented by a thin plank sheathing. The ribs in many Eastern
canoes were spaced so that on the bottom they were separated only by a
space equal to the width of a rib.
Each piece of sheathing, better described as a "splint" than as
"planking," was commonly of irregular form. The edges were often
beveled to a marked thinness. While some builders laid the sheathing
edge-to-edge in the bark cover, others overlapped the edges. Nearly
all builders feathered the butts and overlapped them slightly. The
sheathing was held in position by a number of light temporary ribs
while the permanent frames, or ribs, were being installed. It is to be
noted that the sheathing was neither lashed nor pegged; it remained
fixed in place only through the pressure of the bent ribs and the
restraint of the bark skin.
The exact method of fitting the sheathing varied somewhat from area
to area, but not in every instance from tribe to tribe. The bottom
sheathing used by some eastern Indians was in two lengths. The
individual pieces were tapered toward the stems and the edges butted
closely together. The sides were in three lengths, but otherwise
similarly fitted. The butts lapped very slightly. In a second method,
used to the westward, the sheathing was laid edge-to-edge in two
lengths, with the butts slightly lapped. The center members of the
bottom, usually five, were parallel-sided, but the outboard ends of
those at the turn of the bilges were beveled, or snied, off. The
members further outboard were in one length, with both ends snied off.
The bottom thus appeared as an elongated diamond-form. The topside
sheathing was fitted as in the first instance.
[Illustration: Figure 27
GUNWALE LASHINGS, examples made by Adney: 1, Elm-bark, Malecite; 2, St.
Francis; 3, Algonkin; 4, Malecite.]
[Illustration: Figure 28
GUNWALE-END LASHINGS, examples made by Adney: Athabascan (large),
Ojibway (small).]
A variation in the second style used three lengths in the centerline
sheathing. In still another variation a centerline piece was laid in
two lengths without taper, the next outboard piece was then cut in the
shape of a broad-based triangle, and the rest were laid in two lengths,
with the sides parallel to the sides of the triangular strake and with
their ends snied off against the centerline pieces. In a fourth style
short pieces, roughly elongate-oval in shape, were overlapped on all
sides and laid irregularly so that when in place they appeared "thrown
in." With this style, the midship section was laid first and secured by
a temporary rib, then the next toward the ends, with the butts shoved
under the ends of the middle section. The next series was similarly
laid so that the top member of each butt-lap faced toward the ends of
the hull and was under a rib. The ends were not cut square across,
but were either blunt-pointed or rounded. Five lengths of sheathing
were often used, and the widths of the individual pieces of sheathing
were rarely the same, so the seams were not lined up and presented an
irregular appearance in the finished canoe. The sheathing was thin
enough to allow it to take the curve of the bilge easily.
[Illustration: Figure 29
SPLINTS ARRANGED in various ways to sheath the bottom of a canoe: 1,
Micmac, Malecite; 2, Central Cree, Têtes de Boule, etc.; 3, Montagnais;
4, Algonkin, Ojibway, etc.]
If the sheathing was lapped, the overlap was always slight. In some
old canoes a small space was left between the edges of the sheathing,
particularly in the topsides. In some northwestern bark canoes there
was no sheathing; these used a batten system somewhat like that in
the Eskimo kayak, except that in the bark canoes the battens were
not lashed to the ribs, being held in place only by pressure. These
kayak-like bark canoes had a bottom framework formed with chine
members; some had a rigid bottom frame of this type, while others
had bottom frames secured only by rib pressure. The purpose of the
sheathing, it should be noted, was to protect the bark cover from
abrasion from the inside, to prevent the ribs from bulging the bark,
and to back up the bark so as to resist impacts; but in no case, even
when battens were employed, as in the Northwest, did the sheathing
add to the longitudinal strength of the bark canoe. The principle
of the stressed rib and clamped sheathing, which is the most marked
characteristic in the construction of the North American Indian bark
canoe, is fundamentally different from that used in the construction of
the Eskimos' skin craft.
A wide variety of framing methods are exhibited in the construction of
the ends, or stems, of bark canoes. In the temporary types of the East,
the bark was trimmed to a straight, slightly "ram" form and secured by
sewing over two battens, one outboard on each side. Birch-bark canoes
of the East usually had an inside stem-piece bent by the lamination
method to the desired profile, the heel being left unsplit; as usual,
the laminations were spirally wrapped, often with basswood-bark thongs.
The stem-piece was then placed between the bark of the sides, and
the bark and wood were lashed together with an over-and-over stitch.
Sometimes variations of the short-and-long form of stitch were used
here, and some builders also placed a halved-root batten over the
ends of the bark before lashing to form a stem-band as protection to
the seam. In some canoes the end lashing passed through holes drilled
in the stem-pieces, often with the turns alternating in some regular
manner through and around the stem-piece.
The stem-pieces were generally very light, and in some canoes the head
was notched and sharply bent down and inboard, so that it could be
secured to the ends of the gunwales. Some tribal types had no inner
stem-piece, and the stem profiles were strengthened merely by the use
of two split-root or halved-sapling battens, one on each side, outside
the bark and under the sewing.
[Illustration: Figure 30
END DETAILS, INCLUDING CONSTRUCTION OF STEM-PIECES and fitting of bark
over them, ending of gunwale caps at stem heads, and the headboard,
with its location. Lamination of the stem pieces shows fewer laminae
than is common. (_Sketches by Adney._)]
Birch-bark canoes to the westward used battens under the end lashing
as well as rather complicated inside stem-pieces. In some parts of
the West and Northwest, the ends were formed of boards set up on edge
fore-and-aft, the bark being lashed through all, with the boards
projecting slightly outboard of the ends of the bark cover to form a
cutwater.
To support the inside stem-piece, some form of headboard was usually
fitted near each end after the sheathing was in place. These were
shaped to the cross-section of the canoe so as to form bulkheads.
In some canoes, these miniature bulkheads stood vertical, but in
others they were curved somewhat to follow the general curve of the
end-profile, and this caused them to be shaped more like a batten
than a bulkhead. Bent headboards were sometimes stepped so as to rake
outboard. Sometimes the form of the headboard permitted the gunwale
members to be lashed to it, and often there was a notch for the main
gunwale on each side.
The headboards were sometimes stepped on the unsplit heel of the
stem-piece; a notch was made in the bottom of the headboard to allow
this. In two types of canoe in which there was no inner stem-piece, the
headboards were stepped on short keel pieces, or "frogs," fore-and-aft
on the bottom and extending slightly forward of the end of the
sheathing to reinforce the forefoot. The purpose of the headboard was
to strengthen the stem-piece, and in many cases it was an integral
member of the end structure itself and helped to maintain its form. The
headboard usually served to support the gunwale ends in some manner, it
stretched the bark smooth near the stems, and it secured the ends of
the sheathing where support from a rib would have been most difficult
to obtain. Many canoes had the space between the headboard and the
stem-piece stuffed with shavings, moss, or other dry material to help
mold the bark to form beyond the sheathing in the ends. Some tribal
groups decorated the headboards.
In a few canoes, the stem-piece was additionally supported by a short,
horizontal member stepped in the forward face of the headboard and
projecting forward to bear on the after side of the stem-piece. The
latter was sometimes bent back onto itself above this member to form a
loop around the top of the end-profile, and the gunwale ends or a part
of the gunwale structure were secured to it. This complicated bending
of the stem-piece, in conjunction with use of a headboard and a brace
member, served to stiffen the end structure sufficiently to meet the
requirements of service.
[Illustration: Figure 31
MALECITE CANOE OF THE TYPE DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER. This 2½ fathom
St. John River canoe represents the last Malecite birch-bark model,
and usually was fastened with tacks and nails, rather than with root
lashings and pegs as described here.]
The use of a bark cover over the gunwale ends has already been
mentioned. In some eastern canoes, this was placed under the cap and
outwale pieces and extended below the latter in a shallow flap on which
the owner's mark or other decoration might appear; the flap was in fact
a kind of name board. Such flaps do not appear on the partly decked
bark canoes of the Northwest.
This general description of the structure of the bark canoes is
sufficient to permit the explanation of the actual construction of
a bark canoe to be more readily understood, and it also serves to
illustrate the close connection between the method of construction
and the formation of the lines, or model, of bark canoes. From the
description, too, it can be seen that while the shape of a bark canoe
was partially planned during the construction the control of every part
of the model could not be maintained with the same degree of precision
as in the building of an Eskimo skin boat or an Indian dugout.
_Construction_
One aspect of canoe construction, the Indian method of making
measurements, was briefly mentioned (p. 8) under a discussion of the
origin of the measurement known in French Canada as the _brasse_.
This was the distance from finger-tip to finger-tip of the arms
outstretched; in the fur trade in English times it was known as the
fathom and it appears to have been about 64 inches, or less than the
nautical fathom of 6 feet. Other measurements used were the greatest
width of the ball of the thumb, which is very close to an English inch,
and the width of the four fingers, each finger-breadth being close to
three-fourths of an English inch. The length of the forearm, usually
from the knuckles of the clenched hand to the elbow, was also employed
by some Indians, as a convenient measurement.
Measurements in these units might be memorized and used in building,
but many Indians used measuring sticks, and these served as
"foot-rules." They were sometimes squared and were painted as well as
notched.
A Malecite Indian, interviewed in 1925, had three such sticks for canoe
building. One, for the length of the gunwale frame, was half the total
length required; it was notched to show the distance at which the ends
of the gunwales were lashed and also the position of the thwarts. Such
a stick would be about 7 feet long for a 16-foot canoe, 8 feet for an
18-foot canoe. The second stick was notched to show half the length of
each of the thwarts. The third stick had notches showing the height of
the gunwale at each thwart and at the end, four notches in all for the
half-length of the canoe. This stick measured from the surface of the
building bed, not from a regular base line.
The method of measuring canoes appears to have been fairly well
standardized, at least in historical times. As stated earlier, length
was commonly taken over the gunwales only, and did not include the
end profiles, which might extend up to a foot or slightly more beyond
the gunwale ends, bow and stern. However, in certain old records
the overall length is given, and in various areas other methods of
measurement existed. Where a building frame was used, the given length
of the canoe was the length of this frame; usually this approximated
the length of the gunwales. The width of a canoe was measured by the
Indian from inside to inside of the main gunwale members. The extreme
beam might be only 2 or 3 inches greater than the inside measurement
of the gunwales, but if the sides bulged out, the beam might actually
be 6 or more inches greater. The depth was usually measured from the
inside of the ribs to the top of the gunwale but in building it was
measured from the surface of the building bed to the bottom of the main
gunwales, as noted above in the description of the measuring sticks.
Thus it will be seen that the Indian measurements constituted a
statement of dimensions primarily useful to the builder, for their main
purpose was to fix the proportions rather than establish the actual
length, width, and depth. Today we state the length of a canoe in terms
of extreme overall measurement; the Indian was inclined to state the
length in building terms, giving dimensions applicable to the woodwork
only, just as the old-time shipbuilder gave the keel length of a vessel
instead of the overall length on deck.
The building site was carefully selected. The space in which the canoe
was to be set up had to be smooth, free of stones and roots or anything
that might damage the bark, and the soil had to be such that stakes
driven into it would stand firmly. A shady place was preferred, as the
bark would not dry there as fast as in sunlight. Since the construction
of a canoe required both time and the aid of the whole Indian family,
the site had to be close to a suitable place for camping, where food
and water could be obtained. It is not surprising, therefore, to find
canoe building sites that apparently had been used by generations of
Indians.
The preparation of the building bed was controlled by the intended
form of the canoe to be built. If the bottom of the canoe was to be
rockered, the cleared ground was brought to a flat surface for the
length required for setting up the canoe. If the rocker was to be
great, the middle of the bed would be slightly depressed. If the bottom
was to be straight fore-and-aft, or very nearly so, the bed was crowned
from 1½ to 2 inches higher in the middle than at the ends, so that the
canoe was first set up with a hogged bottom. Very large canoes such as
were used in the fur trade required as much as 4 inches crown in the
building bed. Other dimensions being equal, the amount of crown was
usually somewhat greater in canoes having bulging sides than in ones
having more upright or flaring sides. Canoe factories such as were
operated in certain fur-trading posts sometimes had a plank building
bed suitably crowned and drilled for setting the stakes.
Two methods of setting up the canoe were used. In most of the eastern
area, the gunwales were put together and used to establish the plan
outline of the canoe on the building bed. But a building frame was used
for constructing the various narrow-bottom canoes having flaring sides,
and for some other tribal forms. The frame, made in the same general
form as the gunwales when assembled, but less wide and sometimes much
shorter, could be taken apart easily, allowing it to be removed after
the canoe was built; hence it could be used to build as many canoes as
desired to the same dimensions as the first, and was retained by the
builder as a tool, or pattern, for future use.
The method of construction in which gunwales only were used in setting
up the canoe will be explained first in order to show the general
technique of construction. Use of the building frame will then be
described. Important deviations from these methods will be described in
later chapters under the individual tribal types in which they occur.
The Malecite canoe, a straight-bottomed craft about 19 feet long and 36
inches beam, is used as the example, hence the method of building to be
described is that generally employed in the East, where variations in
construction mainly involve the use or omission of structural elements.
The gunwales are the first members to be formed. In the Malecite canoe
these are the inner gunwales, as the canoe will have outwales and
caps. The gunwales are split from white cedar to produce battens that
will square 1½ inches when shaped. The gunwales are tapered each way
from midlength, where they are 1½ inches square, to a point 3 inches
short of the ends, where they are ¾ by 1 to 1¼ inches. The edges of
the gunwales are all rounded, and the outboard bottom edge is beveled
almost ½ inch, at 45° to the bottom of the member. The last 3 inches at
each end is formed like half a blunt arrowhead, as shown in the sketch
of the member on page 31. The gunwales will be bent, side to side, on
the flat as far as the ends are concerned, so the blunt arrowhead is
formed on one of the wide faces of the ends as shown. The arrowhead
form allows a neat joint when the gunwale ends are brought together,
pegged athwartships, and then wrapped with a root lashing. In forming
and finishing the gunwales, a good deal of care is required to get them
to bend alike, so that the centerline of the finished frame will be
straight and true.
To take the ends of the middle thwart, a mortise ¼ by 2 inches is cut
in each gunwale member athwartships at exactly midlength, the length
of the mortise being with the run of the gunwale. In it, the middle
thwart, 33 inches long, is fitted. Made of a ⅞-inch by 3-inch piece of
hard maple, the thwart tapers slightly in thickness each way from its
center to within 5 inches of the shoulders, which are 30 inches apart.
The thickness at a point 5 inches from the shoulder is ¾ inch; from
there the taper is quick to the shoulder, which is ⁵⁄₁₆ inch thick,
with a drop to ¼ inch in the tenon. The width, 3 inches at the center,
decreases in a graceful curve to within 5 inches of the shoulder, where
it is 2 inches, then increases to about 3 inches at the shoulder. The
width of the tenon is, of course, 2 inches, to fit the mortise hole in
the gunwale. The edges of the outer 5 inches of the thwart are rounded
off or beveled a good deal; inboard they are only slightly rounded.