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Pkeli.nc, Rolling, and Transporting bark 

 for use in canoe construction. 

 {Sketches by Adney) 



Tempering, done after the gum was melted, 

 consisted of adding animal fat and a little finely 

 powdered charcoal. The mixture was then tested by 

 dipping a strip of bark into it and then into cold 

 water. The strip was bent to see if it cracked the 

 spruce gum; if it did, too much tempering material 

 had been added and more gum was required. If no 

 cracking occurred, the gum on the strip was held in 

 the hand for a few moments to see if it became tacky 

 or could be rubbed ofT the strip; if either occurred, 

 more tempering was needed. The method of 

 tempering had many variations. One was to remelt 

 the gum a number of times; this darkened it and made 

 It harder. Red ochre or vermillion were sometimes 

 added, often together with charcoal made from the 

 willow. Instead of spruce gum, in some areas, pine 

 resin was used, tempered with tallow and sometimes 

 charcoal. The Indians in the East sometimes used 

 remelted spruce gum to which a little tallow had been 

 added, making a light brown or almost transparent 

 mixture. Most tribal groups used gum that was 

 black, or nearly so. 



For repair work, when melted spruce gum could 

 not be procured in the usual manner, hard globules 

 and fiakes of gum scraped from a fallen spruce tree 

 were used. These could not be easily melted, so they 

 were first chewed thoroughly until soft; then the gum 

 \\as spread over a seam. This type of gum would 



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