![]() The Tête de Boule people still live in this area today with about four to five thousand living on the three reserves: Manawan, Opticiwan, and Wemotaci. The area they inhabited is ancestral land they called Nitaskinan, which translates to Our Land. The Tête de Boule, or Atikamekw as they are also known, lived in the upper Saint-Maurice River Valley of Quebec. This, in combination with the high demand for canoes from French fur traders, meant that many of the Tête de Boule were experts in the construction of birch bark canoes. Similar to the Athabascan people, the Tête de Boule lived in an area where they had access to superior birch bark. Athabascan Canoe, 1931, Courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum and Park (accession #1940.0220.000001A).Īdney’s model of a Tête de Boule canoe showcases the type of birch bark canoe that the Tête de Boule people used in their daily lives and constructed for French fur traders at the height of the fur trade in North America. Athabascan Canoe, 1931, Courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum and Park (accession #1940.0220.000001A). As better manufacturing materials became available, and a higher demand for these canoes was made as Europeans moved into the Athabascan territory, the Athabascan people could not keep up with production.Īthabascan Canoe, 1931, Courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum and Park (accession #1940.0220.000001A). Although a popular and useful type of canoe, Adney notes that his model represents an ancient and long discontinued form. This portion of the boatbuilding was typically done by the women, as was patchwork and repairing. This side view is a great angle to show the gunwales. To help keep them waterproof and prevent any water from getting into the canoe, the seams of the boat would have been sealed with pitch, a tar-like substance made from the tree sap of a spruce tree. The final look of the design is a long, flat bottom, with wide sides that sharply narrow at the bow and stern. The ribs holding the boat together were often made from cedarwood. The boatbuilders would cut down birch trees, and shave off long strips of the bark, which would be attached to the ribs and hull of the canoe. #Ojibwe style canoe skin#The bark was used as the outer skin of the canoe. Birch was a great boat building material for the native people. The Athabascan Indigenous culture extends from Alaska into parts of Canada and the Northern United States where birch trees are native. This Adney model from our Collection was built in 1931 and represents the birch bark canoe, used in the Athabascan culture for hundreds of years. Courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum and Park. Upon his death, Adney’s son donated all his papers, notes, sketches, and writings to the Museum.įrank Atwin, Passamaquoddy, with his model. The Museum’s buyers heard about this, paid off the loan and the $424 interest (!). Adney ended up using them as collateral for a $1,000 loan. ![]() He then attempted to sell the models to several different museums, but again, he had no takers. Unfortunately, the Depression meant that there were no backers for his idea. This is an outstanding photograph, showing the size of the models.Īdney’s plan was to use the models to illustrate a book about the canoes. For example, Frank Atwin, Passamaquoddy, was one of his teachers. He learned some of the building methods from Native builders. The models were made ¼ sized and sometimes ⅕ sized. ![]() He felt that it was his duty to document as many of the boats as he could. For Adney, building canoe models was not a hobby. He was from the United States but fell in love with canoes when he was on vacation in Canada at the age of 19. ![]() Welcome to one of the Interpretation Department’s obsessions! The Edwin Tappan Adney collection at The Mariners’ Museum and Park include 120 canoe models. ![]()
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