Algonkin Canoe, Old Type. 



as in the drawing (p. 116). In the wabinaki chimuri, 

 however, the gunwales and other members, as a rule, 

 all followed the sheer of the ends of the canoe. 



The Algonkins used inside stem-pieces in both 

 models, but the stem-piece of the old high-ended 

 canoe was quite different from that of the wabinaki 

 chiman, for it was built to give a profile in which the 

 top of the high stem ended in a line straight across to 

 the sheer. The piece consisted of a crooked stick, 

 without lamination, worked out of a thin board, % 

 to Yi inch thick. It was shaped to the desired profile 

 inside and out, and was slightly sharpened, or some- 

 times rabbeted and sharpened, toward the outboard 

 face. The headboard was mounted on this stem- 

 piece by means of the usual notch but was not 

 bellied; instead it stood approximately vertical and 

 a short strut was tenoned into both the headboard 

 and the inside face of the stem at a point about half 

 the height of the stem. Sometimes two struts were 

 u.sed, side by side, with the outboard ends lashed at 

 the sides of the stem. Thus the stem-pieces and head- 

 boards were placed as a single unit, not independently 

 as in eastern canoes. The gunwale ends were 

 lashed to the sides of the stem-piece, between the strut 

 and the stem-head, at a height determined by the 

 sheering of the main gunwale members. The outwales 

 and caps did not touch the stem-piece, ending with 

 a nearly vertical upward sweep, a few inches inboard. 

 The ends of the outwales and caps were always higher 

 than the top of the stem-piece so that, when the canoe 

 was turned upside down, the bark cover over the stem- 

 head was kept off the ground and thus preserved from 

 damage. The top of the stem-piece was held rigid 

 not only by the strut to the headboard but also by the 

 ends of the main gunwale members lashed to it a 

 little higher up. The headboard was in the form of 

 a rounded V that was widest at midheight, at the 

 gunwales, which were let into its sides. 



When the stem-head was rounded in the style of the 

 fur-trade canoe, the stem-piece except near the heel 

 was split into very thin laminations about ]{^ inch, 

 or a little more, thick. The carefully selected cedar 

 of which these were made was treated with boiling 

 water, then bent to profile; the head was sharply bent 

 over and down, inside the stem, then sharply up again 

 so the end stood at about right angles to the face of 

 the stem at midheight. The headboard was mounted 

 as previously described, except that the end of the 

 stem-piece was inserted into a hole in the headboard 

 just above the strut. The laminations of the stem- 

 piece were wrapped in the normal manner and the 

 lashing was often brought around the strut as well, 

 up against the outboard face of the headboard. 

 The whole structure was thus made rigid and very 

 strong. As in the other form, the main gunwale 

 members did not follow the sheer near the ends of 

 canoe but were secured at a point lower down on 

 the sides of the stem-piece. In the round-head form, 

 however, the outwale and cap ends were fastened on 

 the after face of the stem-head where the laminations 

 were curved downward as illustrated in the drawing 

 (p. 116). 



The headboards for both models were thicker than 

 those in the eastern canoes; this aided in holding 

 the stem line in form. Tension on the bark cover 

 was obtained by making the cover V-formed toward 

 the ends and then spreading the sides of the V with 

 the headboard, thus bringing pressure on the strakes 

 of the sheathing and forcing the sides outward in a 

 slight curve. 



The stem-pieces of the wabinaki chiman were either 

 cut out of a thin board or laminated. In the straight- 

 stem form, only the forefoot part was laminated, and 

 no headboard was used. Ordinarily, however, the 

 rigid headboard with a single strut was used. The 

 head of the stem-piece was carried through the rail 



119 



