Splints Arranged in various ways to sheath 

 the bottom of a canoe; i, Micmac, Malecite; 

 2, Central Cree, Tetes de Boule, etc.; 3, Mon- 

 tagnais; 4, Algonkin, Ojibway, etc. 



tion 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. 



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 sheath- 

 ing, 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 v/ood 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. 



34 



