T? ") 



Comparison of Canoe on the Building Bed (above), with gunwales or building frame weighted 

 down by stones inside bark cover, and (below) canoe when first removed from building bed 

 during fifth stage of construction. {Sketches by Adney.) 



In making the canoe watertight, it is to be remem- 

 bered that some forms of stitch make the bark lie 

 up tight all along its edges while others bind only 

 where the stitch crosses the seam. The in-and-out 

 stitch, which was used only above the waterline, 

 cannot be pulled up hard without causing the bark 

 to pucker and split and cannot be made very water- 

 tight with gum. The over-and-over stitch, in either 

 a spiral form or square across the seam on the outside 

 and diagonally on the inside, is very strong; when a 

 batten is used under the stitches it can be pulled 

 up hard and allows a very watertight gumming. 

 When this style of sewing is used without a batten 

 across the run of the grain, as in the gore seams, it 

 cannot be pulled up as hard, but will serve. Back- 

 stitching, which was much used in the topsides, can 

 be pulled up quite hard and makes a tight seam when 

 gummed, as do the harness stitch and cross-stitch. 

 The ends, regardless of the style of sewirig used, were 

 more readily made tight by gumming than the other 

 seams in a bark canoe. 



Two basic methods, with some slight and unimpor- 

 tant variations, were used to fasten the bark to the 

 gunwales. One employed a continuous over-and- 

 over stitch, the other employed groups of lashings. 

 On a canoe with the lashing continuous along the 

 gunwales, the turns were made two or more times 

 through the same hole on each side of each rib head 

 to allow space for them. This might also be done 

 where the lashing was in groups, as described above. 

 Usually, a measuring stick was used to space the 

 groups between thwart ends so that each group came 

 between the rib heads. The groupings could be inde- 

 pendent lashings, or the strand could be carried from 

 one group to another. If the latter, it was passed 

 along under the gunwale in a number of in-and-out 

 stitches or in a single lone stitch either inside or out, 

 or else it was brought around over the gunwale from 

 the last full turn. Some tribes use both ends of the 

 lashing, passing them through the same hole in the 

 bark from opposite directions below the gunwales; 

 the ends might be carried in the same manner in a 



44 



