o a o 



Figure 25 



Gunwales and Stakes on Building Bed, plan view. {Sketch by Adney) 



stern were finished can best be described when indi- 

 vidual 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 cf 

 the gunwales and adjoining work from the weather, cr 

 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. 



The bark was secured to the gunwales by a continu- 

 ous spiral lashing all along the main gunwale or b)- 

 separated lashing in series. In the first, the continu- 

 ous lashing, where it passed through the hark, might 

 show regularly spaced separations to avoid the tops cf 

 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 gun- 

 wales 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 hunt- 

 ing 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 irreg- 



32 



