Ouok^ir/^ /a/fy/y 



Low-Ended St. Francis Canoe with V-form end sections made with short, 

 V-shaped keel battens outside the sheathing at each end. Note the unusual 

 form of headboard, seen in some St. Francis canoes. 



confined to a narrow band along the gunwale, or to 

 the doubling pieces. The marking of the wulegessis 

 had ceased long before Adney investigated this type 

 of canoe and no living Indian knew of any old marks, 

 if any ever had been used. 



The ends were commonly lashed with a spiral or 

 crossed stitch, but some builders used a series of short- 

 to-long stitches that made groups generally triangular 

 in appearance. The gunwale lashing was in groups 

 about 2K inches long, each having 5 to 7 turns through 

 the bark. The groups were about \% to \}i inches 

 apart near the ends and about 2 inches apart else- 

 where. The groups were not independent but were 

 made by bringing the last turn of each group over the 

 top and inside the main gunwale in a long diagonal 

 pass so as to come through the bark from the inside 

 for the first pass of the new group. The caps were 

 originally pegged, with a few lashings at the ends. 



The ribs were bent green. After the bark cover had 

 been sewn to the gunwales, the green ribs were fitted 



roughly inside the bark, with their ends standing above 

 the gunwales, and were then forced into the desired 

 shape and held there, usually by two wide battens 

 pressed against them by 7 to 10 temporary cross 

 struts. After being allowed to dry in place, the 

 ribs were then removed, the sheathing was put into 

 place, and the ribs, after a final fitting, were driven 

 into their proper positions. Some builders put in the 

 ribs by pairs in the shaping stage, one on top of the 

 other, as this made easier the job of fitting the tempo- 

 rary battens. The forcing of the ribs to shape also 

 served to shape the bark cover, and the canoe was 

 placed on horses during the operation, so that the 

 shape of the bottom could be observed while the bark 

 was being moulded. Some builders used very thin 

 longitudinal battens between the bark and the green 

 ribs to avoid danger of bursting the bark. 



The canoe was built on a level building bed, in 

 most instances apparently, with the ends of the build- 

 ing frame blocked up about an inch. It seems pos- 



91 



