End Decorations, Passamacjuoddy Canoe built by Tomah Joseph. 



a Passamaquoddy who at every opportunity used 

 to pole his canoe in preference to paddling. As a 

 result he had become known as "Peter of the Pole" 

 or "Peter Pole" and he then used as a canoe mark 

 a representation of a setting pole. In submitting 

 sketches of the marking on the wulegessis of canoes 

 to old Indians it was seldom possible to learn the 

 identity of the owner or builder, since the marks were 

 usually not known to those questioned. In more 

 recent times, the educated Malecite signed his name 

 in English on his canoe and thus gave it more per- 

 manent identification. 



In duplicating a design, the Malecite apparently 

 used a pattern, or stencil, which was preserved to 

 allow duplication over a long period of time. The 

 stencil was usually cut from birch bark, apparently 

 an old practice, although whether it was done in 

 prehistoric times cannot be determined. The long 

 contact of the Malecites with Europeans is a factor 

 to be considered in such matters. This is sometimes 

 shown in picture-writing on a canoe; one, for instance, 

 showed a white man fishing with rod and line from a 

 canoe with an Indian guide. On the opposite side 

 was the representation of an Indian camp beside two 

 trees, a kettle over the fire and the brave sitting cross- 

 legged smoking his pipe, indicating, of course, "com- 

 fort and contentment." 



Asking old Indians to identify or give the names 

 of decorations, Adney recorded statements which 

 indicate their thought in regard to such matters. 

 There were used, for example, two forms of the half- 

 moon or crescent; one was quite open at the points 

 which plainly indicated a half-moon, but the other 

 was more nearly closed: (JJ) Mrs. Billy Ellis, widow 

 of Frank Francis, a Malecite, said of them, "Old 

 Indian earrings, that is only what I can call them. 

 Also in nose. Wild Indian made them of silver or 

 moosebone, I guess he thought he looked nice; it 

 looked like the devil." Joe Ellis, an old canoe 

 builder, also called this form "earrings" and when 

 asked why an Indian would put these on a canoe, 

 replied "He will think what he will put on here. He 

 might have seen his wife at bow of canoe, and put 

 it on [there]." Shown the right-triangle-in-series 

 design, Mrs. Ellis said " I fergit it but I will remember; 

 what you lift with your hand, we call it that — camp 

 door" (referring to the cloth or hide hung over a 

 camp door, and raised at one corner to enter, so 

 that the opening is then divided diagonally). 



In a later period, the Malecite usually confined 

 decoration to the wulegessis and to the pieced-out 

 bark amidships, the panel formed on each side. The 

 wulegessis was of various forms; its bottom was some- 

 times shaped like a cupid's bow, sometimes it was 



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