Malecite Canoe Builders Near Fredericton, N.B., using wooden plank 

 building bed with stakes set in holes in the platform. This was a late method 

 of construction, which probably originated in the early French canoe factory 

 at Trois Rivieres, Que. 



realigned so that all stakes may he replaced in their 

 holes without difficulty. When the frame and bark 

 are aligned, the frame is weighted as before and the 

 bark is turned up all around it, the stakes being firmly 

 driven, as this is done, in their original holes. The 

 longest stakes are at the ends of the frame, as the 

 depth of the hull is to be greatest there. The tops of 

 each pair of opposite stakes are now tied together with 

 a thong of basswood or cedar bark, to hold them 

 rigid and upright. 



After the bark is turned up around the frame, its 

 lack of width becomes fully apparent. At this stage, 

 some builders fitted the additional pieces to gain the 

 necessary width; others did it later. The method of 

 piecing the bark cover and the sewing technique, 

 however, is explained here. 



The bark is pieced out with regard to the danger 

 of abrasion that would occur when the canoe is 

 moving through obstructions in the water, or when 

 it is rolled or hauled ashore and unloaded. If the 

 bark is to be lapped below the waterline, the thickness 



of the bark of both pieces in the lap is scraped thin so 

 a ridge will not be formed athwart the bottom; 

 here, however, most tribes used edge-to-edge joining. 

 If there are laps in the topsldes, the exposed edge is 

 toward the stern; if in the midlength, upward toward 

 the gunwale; and if it is in the end the lap may be 

 toward the bottom, because this makes it easier to 

 sew, and because in the ends of the canoe there is less 

 danger of serious abrasion. Many tribes used edge- 

 to-edge joining everywhere in the topsides so that the 

 direction of lapping was not a matter of consideration. 

 The type of goring, whether by slash and lap or by 

 cutting out a V-shaped gore, will, of course, have 

 much to do with the selection cf the method of sewing 

 to be used. 



It is to be recalled that in canoe building no needle 

 was used in sewing the bark; the ends of the root 

 strands were sharpened and used to thread the strand 

 through the awl holes. Much of the topside sewing in 

 a bark canoe was done with small strands made by 

 splitting small roots in half and then flattening the 



42 



