//ecf c=/ b (parc^ 



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 verti- 

 cal, 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 per- 

 mitted the gunwale jnembers 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 ex- 



tending 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 for- 

 ward 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 gun- 

 wale structure were secured to it. This complicated 

 oending 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 rcquircincnts 

 of service. 



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