AbenaU/ Caooc /ro/r? ^a/t-e Mfmphremagog 0</f 



^fn^^/y ov^ra// /5'Op. Oi^^r ^unwa/^^ /3'7' 

 S^Q^77 J-^" /r?j-/c^r at/nwa/ef JO' 



r'^'-f ho/f 



St. Francis-Abnaki Canoe for Open Water, a type that became extinct 

 before 1890. From Adney's drawings of a canoe formerly in the Museum of 

 Natural History, New York. Details of Abnaki canoes are also shown. 



sible, however, that narrow bottom canoes may have 

 been built with the bed raised 2 or 3 inches in the 

 middle, rather than employing a narrow building 

 frame. The construction of the building frame was 

 the same as among the western Indians and as 

 described in Chapter 3. 



In preparing the ribs, a common practice was the 

 following: Assume, for example, that there are 10 

 ribs from the center to the first thwart forward; these 

 are laid out on the ground edge-to-edge with the rib 

 under the center thwart to the left and the rib under 

 the first thwart to the right. On the rib to the left 

 the middle thwart is laid so that its center coincides 

 with that of the rib, and the ends of the thwart are 

 marked on the rib. The same is done to the rib on 

 the far right, over which the first thwart is laid as the 

 measure. On each side of the centerline the points 

 marking the ends of the thwarts are then joined by a 

 line across the ribs, as they lie together, to mark the 

 approximate taper of the canoe toward the ends, at 

 the turn of the bilge. Each rib is taken in turn from 

 the panel and with it is placed another from the stock 



on hand to be set in a matching position on the other 

 side of the middle thwart, toward the stern; the pair, 

 placed flat sides together, are then bent over the knee 

 at, or outside of, the marks or lines. The ribs in the 

 next portion of the canoe's length are shaped in the 

 same manner, using the lengths of the first and second 

 thwarts as guides. Thus, the ribs are given a rough, 

 preliminary bend before being fitted inside the bark 

 cover and stayed into place to season. This method 

 allowed the bilge of the canoe to be rather precisely 

 determined and formed during the first stages of 

 construction. At the ends, of course, the ribs are 

 sharply bent only in the middle. Since the full thwart 

 length makes a wide bottom, by setting the length of 

 the rib perhaps a hand's width less than that of the 

 whole thwart, the narrow bottom is formed. 



The rough length of the ribs was twice the length 

 of the thwarts nearest them. Hackmatack was used 

 for thwarts by the St. Francis Indians, rock maple 

 being considered next best. Cedar was first choice for 

 ribs, then spruce, and then balsam fir. Longitudinals 

 were cedar or spruce. All canoe measurements were 



92 



