Large-scale Birch Bark Canoe Model
Native American birch bark canoe models that were made in the 1800s to early 1900s were accurate replicas of a tribe’s full-size birch bark canoes. The scholarly book titled The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America by Edwin Tappan Adney and Howard I. Chapelle (Smithsonian Institution, 1964) has numerous detailed drawings and descriptions of traditional birch bark canoes and their construction. The authors document the characteristics of many different tribes’ canoes, which makes it possible to attribute a birch bark canoe model to a particular tribe.
This early 20th century model has the shape and characteristics of an Abnaki canoe. The Abnaki Indians included some Malecites and Penobscots, as well as members of southern and central New England tribes including those in New Hampshire and Vermont. Eventually this group settled on the St. Francis River in Quebec, so Abnakis were also known as St. Francis Indians.
The various tribes making up the Abnaki group each had its own traditional style of canoes, but by the 1850s when they were living together in settlements along the St. Francis River they produced distinctive canoes that were an amalgam of different tribes’ designs. Known for their excellent quality, these canoes sold well to sportsmen who used them for hunting and fishing.
Fisherman and guide in a St. Francis Abnaki canoe (Adney & Chapelle)
Birch bark canoes were made from the outside in, starting with a sheet of birch bark spread out on the ground so that the interior of the tree bark became the exterior of the canoe. If more than one piece of bark was needed, pieces were stitched together and the seams sealed with softwood pitch, which is visible along the seams in our canoe model:
This series of photos from Adney & Chapelle’s book shows the initial phases of shaping the birch bark exterior of a canoe:
The bark was then lashed together at the ends and to the gunwales with split spruce root. Our model also uses traditional lashing material made from the fibrous roots of spruce trees.
Ojibway man carrying bundles of spruce roots (Adney & Chapelle)
Cedar sheathing (planks) and ribs were shaped, bent and then inserted to form the canoe’s interior. This photo shows an Abnaki canoe model under construction, with ribs in the process of being molded to fit inside the assembled bark shell.
Abnaki canoe model (Adney & Chapelle)
The headboards in this canoe model, the v-shaped pieces of cedar inserted into the bow and stern, also mirror those in full-size birch bark canoes. They are narrow and pushed toward the far ends of the canoe.
While it is not uncommon to find scale models of traditional birch bark canoes made by Native Americans, they are typically in the range of 1’-3’ long. At 6’ long, our Abnaki canoe model is much larger than average, so it has a lot presence in a room display. The convergence of decorative appeal with historical authenticity of materials and construction techniques makes antiques like this canoe model valuable additions to a home collection.
