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Canoes: A Natural History in North America

Mark Neuzil and Norman Sims

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This is the story of the canoe, that singular American artifact so little changed over time. Featured here are canoes old and new, from birch bark to dugout to carbon fiber; the people who made them; and the adventures they shared. With features of technology, industry, art, and survival, the canoe carries us deep into the natural and cultural history of North America.

Follow author Mark Neuzil on Twitter: @mrneuzil

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Published: 2016

Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

ISBN(s)

9780816681174 (hardcover)

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Filtering by: Keyword Ojibwe

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The Ojibwe (also called Chippewa) built different styles of canoes, including this distinctive long-nose model.

Long-Nose Canoe

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

The Ojibwe (also called Chippewa) built different styles of canoes, including this distinctive long-nose model.

Birch-bark baskets, like this Ojibwe example from Grand Portage, are used for winnowing wild rice.

Birch-Bark Basket

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Birch-bark baskets, like this Ojibwe example from Grand Portage, are used for winnowing wild rice.

A black-and-white photograph of two women making birch-bark containers on the ground outside.

Mary Bigwind & Maggie Skinaway

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Birch had a number of uses for native tribes. Two Ojibwe women, Mary Bigwind and Maggie Skinaway, make birch vessels for maple sap, which could be made into syrup, supplying the tribe with its sugar.

A painting of about eight figures (some babies or children) paddling a canoe.

Canoe of the Indians

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Eastman Johnson, Canoe of the Indians, ca. 1856–1857.

A black-and-white photograph depicting the process of building a birch-bark canoe. Stakes are in the ground forming an outline of a canoe. Bark is arranged to form canoe walls. Several figures are in the photograph working on this project.

Setting a Frame

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

The setting of a frame for a birch-bark canoe involved preparing the ground, driving in stakes, and sliding in the bark and attaching a frame in the general shape of the boat. Photograph taken ca. 1885 at an Ojibwe camp.

A black-and-white photograph of a figure holding a roll of birch bark on their back.

Rolling the Bark

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Native builders would roll the stripped birch bark into a backpack of sorts, secure it with roots, and carry it back to the canoe-making camp. This individual with the pack is identified as Cheemaun of an Ojibwe tribe in Wisconsin.

In 1939, Ojibwe tribal members at Grand Portage, near the border between the United States and Canada on Lake Superior, completed a birch-bark canoe in the traditional manner as part of a Works Progress Administration arts program. Here a headboard is installed.

Installing the Headboard

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

In 1939, Ojibwe tribal members at Grand Portage, near the border between the United States and Canada on Lake Superior, completed a birch-bark canoe in the traditional manner as part of a Works Progress Administration arts program. Here a headboard is installed.

A black-and-white photograph of a figure kneeling in and paddling a canoe.

Kneeling in Canoe

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Chippewa Indian Kneeling in Canoe, ca. 1914.

An oil painting of three figures collecting wild rice in a birch-bark canoe. Additional canoes and rice collectors are in the background.

Rice Gatherers

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Seth Eastman, Rice Gatherers, 1867.

A black and white photograph of a man bent over a birch-bark canoe on the shore of a lake. Large teepees are visible in the background of the photo. Hand written text on the photograph reads "Mending his canoe. Linde."

Mending His Canoe

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Carl Gustave Linde, Mending His Canoe, ca. 1912.