I I I 



^ Fa f horn Algon/r//7 Mun/-erj Caooe 

 from Joa/^ f/f Mart'f 



/f^g/h oypra// /J V 1 oy^r ^unkva/^j /3'0" 

 Sfctrn 3/^" IL inj/cie gurtwa/ri 30" 



Light, Fast 2-Fathom Hunting Canoe of the old Algonkin model. 



always used. For a 2- or 2)^-fathom canoe this was 

 made of two strips of cedar, \\'i inches wide and % 

 inch deep, that were bent edgewise, notched, and tied 

 together at the ends with thongs of the inner bark of 

 the basswood. These strips were held apart in the 

 required shape by cedar crosspieces 1 inch wide and 

 1% inches deep, with the ends notched % inch deep 

 (the depth of the longitudinals) and the tops well 

 rounded. The crosspieces, five in all, were fastened 

 to the longitudinals with thongs passing through holes 

 in the ends. The middle one was about 19}^ inches 

 between the inside faces of the longitudinals, those 

 on each side of it were about 15J^ inches long by 

 similar measure, and the end ones were nearly 6 

 inches long and were located a foot or so from the 

 extremities of the longitudinals. The outside width 

 of the building frame amidships would thus be about 

 22^ or 23 inches. 



The building bed was level, with a 6-inch-wide 

 board, some 6 to 8 feet in length, sunk into the earth 

 flush with the surface to insure a true line for the 

 bottom. The outside stakes were of the usual sort 

 described in building the Malecite canoe (pp. 40-41). 

 The wedge-shaped inside stakes, or clamp pieces, 



were \)'i inches wide, 1 inch thick, and 20 to 25 inches 

 long. The posts for setting the height of the gunwales 

 at the ends and at the crosspieces were not cut off 

 square at the top as for the Malecite canoe, but were 

 notched on the outside to take the gunwales. The 

 heights of the posts were graduated, of course, to form 

 the required sheer in the gunwales. Like the canoes 

 of the Tetes de Boule, these of the Algonkin were 

 generally less deep amidships than the general run of 

 eastern canoes. 



Building procedure was as follows: The gunwales 

 were made, bent, and the ends fastened, but instead of 

 being mortised and fitted with thwarts, they were 

 spread by temporary crosspieces, or "spalls," made 

 of a splint, or plank-on-edge, with the lower edge 

 notched in two places to take the gunwale members. 

 Sometimes the spalls were lashed, pegged or nailed to 

 the gunwales as well. The stakes were set along the 

 building frame and these were generally driven 

 sloping, so that their heads stood outboard of the 

 points. They were then pulled and laid aside, the 

 building frame was removed, and the bark cover 

 placed on the building bed. After the building 

 frame has been reset in its original position and the 



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