22 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
fishing- canoe is 15 to 20 feet.* There is a marked family likeness in all these canoes, so 
far as form and construction are concerned, but in addition to the difference in size just 
alluded to, they also vary somewhat in details of shape, or, as one might say, in model. 
An indigenous, coniferous tree {Abies sitkensis ), a species of pine, is used to a 
large extent in the manufacture of these boats, while the giant cedar ( Thuja gigantea) 
is also utilized for the same purpose. Of the latter Elliott says : 
The wood is light, durable, and worked very readily; but it is apt to split parallel to its grain. 
This constitutes the only solicitude of the Indian’s mind. He keeps the canoe covered with mats and 
brush whenever it is hauled out, even for a few days, to avoid this danger, for whenever a canoe is 
heavily laden, and working as it will do in a rough channel, it is in constant danger of splitting at 
the cleavage lines of its grain, and thus jeopardizing its living as well as dead freight. 
Accordiug to the same authority only the largest canoes are made of cedar, prole 
ably because of the danger from splitting; the medium-sized and smaller boats are con- 
structed of pine, the Douglas pine (A. douglasi) being extensively used on Prince of 
Wales Island, where this species grows in profusion. 
The method of construction is essentially the same as that adopted by the Makah 
Indians and need not be repeated in detail. The natives of Alaska employ lire in 
excavating their canoes. They first dig a small trench longitudinally through the 
middle, and having made sufficient chips for the purpose, they set fire to them in one end 
of the boat. When the wood in that end is charred enough to make the working of it 
comparatively easy, the fire is transferred to the opposite end and the workman proceeds 
to excavate the part that has been burned. This process is repeated over and again 
until the bulk of the interior wood has been removed. It would not be safe to use fire 
too long, for in the last stages of the work the boat might be ruined by being burned 
through. The adze is therefore depended upon to complete the work of excavation 
and to bring the boat down to the requisite thickness. 
To obtain the desired pliability, so that the boats may be spread out and thus 
made wide enough to insure the necessary stability, they are steamed by first filling 
them about one-third full of water and then putting hot stones into the water, care 
being taken to cover the boat with cedar mats to prevent the escape of the steam. 
When this process has been continued long enough the gunwales are forced apart and 
to hold them in proper position the thwart-sticks or gunwale spreaders are inserted 
and securely lashed in place. After this the canoe is painted or otherwise ornamented. 
Elliott says : 
Canoes are smoothed outside and painted black, with a red or white streak under the gunwale in 
most cases; inside they hear the regular fine tooth-marks of the excavating adze, and are smeared 
with red ochre. The paddles are usually made of yellow cypress, and a great variety of small wooden 
hailing dippers are also provided, one or two for each canoe, because the water often slops over the 
gunwales in had weather. The canoe itself is never suffered to leak. The average size is one of 
15 to 20 feet in length, which will carry from eight to ten savages, with baggage. One having a length 
of 30 to 35 feet carries as many men. The smaller canoes of from 12 to 13 feet are usually used by 
one or two savages in their quick irregular trips to and from the village, and are easily launched 
and hauled out by one man. 
Tlie special features that characterize the canoes of the Sitkan region are easily 
recognizable, although, perhaps, not entirely confined to boats of this locality. Its 
chief peculiarity is in the bold upward curve of its ends, and particularly in the 
’Elliott tells me that the great war canoes that were formerly made, and which often were 50 to 
00 feet in length, are no longer built, since for many years there has been no use for a boat of this 
kind. He thinks it is seldom that a canoe exceeds 25 or 30 feet in length at the present day. 
