MoNTAGNAis Can vAS-CovERED Crooked Canoe Under construction. 

 {Canadian Geological Survey photo.) 



the ribs under the gunwales were driven into place. 

 At the ends they were canted toward the center, so 

 that in the straight-bottom models they stood nearly 

 perpendicular to the rocker of the bottom there; in 

 the crooked canoe the ribs were all somewhat canted 

 in this manner. 



The paddles used in this area were made with 

 parallel-sided blades, the end of the blade being 

 almost circular. The handle might be fitted with 

 a wide grip at the head or it might be pole-ended. 

 It is impossible to say how early sails were used to 

 propel canoes, but is is probable they were introduced 

 by the fur traders. Square sails were being used on 

 the coastal canoes at the time the earliest reference 

 was made to these canoes, in the 1870's. 



Little is known about the decorations employed by 

 the eastern Cree. The Montagnais birch-bark model 

 canoe of about 1850 (see p. 91) has three small circles 

 placed in a triangular position on the bow and a 

 band along the bottom of the side panels. The circles 

 and the bands are in red paint, but may have been 

 intended to represent the dark inner rind left after 

 scraping the winter bark cover. The use of decoration 

 in this area after 1850 has not been noted in any 

 available reference. 



As a rule, the straight-bottom canoes were small, 

 commonly between 12 and 18 feet overall, and the 

 most popular size was 14 to 16 feet overall. A 

 canoe of this size was usually employed as a hunters' 

 canoe for forest travel, though it might be used 



occasionally along the coasts. These canoes were light 

 and, in this respect, resembled the Micmac models 

 shown in Chapter 4. 



The original purpose of the crooked canoe is in 

 question. Those travelers who saw this canoe in 

 use on the Hudson Bay side of the Labrador Penin- 

 sula believed that it was designed for use in rough, 

 exposed water. While it would be a desirable form 

 for beach work in surf, the high ends would make 

 paddling against strong winds very difficult. On the 

 other hand the Montagnais used the crooked canoe 

 for river navigation, particularly where rapids were 

 to be run, and for this work it appears to have been 

 well adapted. The crooked canoe was commonly 

 built larger than the straight-bottom model, between 

 16 and 20 feet in length overall, and was a vessel of 

 burden rather than a hunting canoe. Canoes up to 28 

 feet in length have been mentioned by travelers in 

 this area but investigation indicates strongly that these 

 were not the tribal form but the canot du nord, or 

 north canoe of the Hudson's Bay Company traders. 



Along the southern borders of their territory and 

 to the westward the eastern Cree often built and used 

 canoes modeled on those of their neighbors, the 

 Tetes de Boule and the Ojibway. Hence the tribal 

 classification does not hold good in these localities. 

 Also, the eastern Cree were employed by the Hudson's 

 Bay Company as builders of forms of the maitre canot 

 and canot du nord that are vmlike their typical tribal 

 model. 



106 



