expansion westward. It has long been true that the 

 Ojibway canoe can be one of at least three forms, 

 depending upon which area of their territory is being 

 discussed. 



What is belie\ed to be their old tribal form was a 

 high-ended canoe in all respects very much like the 

 high-ended Algonkin type. This was the model used 

 by the Lake Nipigon Ojilnvay, north of Lake Superior 

 in Ontario, and by those of the same tribe that once 

 lived near Saginaw, Michigan, as well as by the 

 Menominee of Wisconsin. At the late period, from 

 the middle of the 19th century onward, for which 

 information was available or in which investigation 

 was possible, it appears that the Ojibway canoes of 

 this high-ended model were built in larger sizes than 

 contemporary Algonkin canoes of like design. The 

 Ojibway canoes had the same end structure as these; 

 the early examples found had "chin" in the end pro- 

 files and the tumble-home of the stem was straight, 

 or nearly so, between the large curve of the forefoot 

 and the very short hard curve at the stem head. The 

 Ojibway used the same inner stem-piece, laminated 

 and brought downward abaft the stem-head and 



then inboard so that the end fitted into a slot in the 

 headboard a little above its midheight, at which 

 point was fitted a strut from the headboard to the 

 back of the stem-piece. The midsection of the 

 Ojibway canoe was very much like that of the 

 Algonkin; it had a narrow bottom somewhat rounded 

 athwartships, a well-rounded bilge, and flaring 

 topsides. 



A small Ojibway portage canoe built in the middle 

 of the 19th century had an end profile somewhat 

 different from that described above; the ends were 

 well rounded and had a heavy chin, the stem was 

 carried into the tumble-home with a full rounded 

 curve all the way to the stem-head, where the stem 

 piece was bent in and downward very sharply and 

 then inboard sharply again, so that the end pierced 

 the vertical headboard at sheer height. The S-curve 

 was so located that the main gunwales could be 

 lashed to the stem piece at the point where they 

 paralleled it well below the stem head. In these 

 canoes the Ojibway followed Algonkin practice in 

 ending the gunwales; there was, therefore, no strut. 

 Where this canoe was built is uncertain. 



. ml ,, I., I 



J_ 



^ fa/ho/T? OySway //c/n/fr'j Canoe^ OM Moc^f/, 6u'/^ /e73 

 Seofn J/^ ', //?j/e^e ovntt^a/rs JO " 



Ojibway 2-Fathom Hunter's Canoe, used by the eastern tribal groups. 

 Probably the ancient model. 



123 



