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Here are the northwest coast Native American
canoes that we have made at Applegate Boatworks. The first two were
made for my family's use. The rest of them were all made for various
tribal organizations. The principle type of organization of the
tribes in dealing with canoes is the Canoe Family. The Canoe Family
is an ancient institution that creates and manages canoes in the
tribe. I am not a Native American and at the request of several
tribal members and Canoe Families, I am not offering these canoes or
the plans for them for sale to the general public.
The replicas are made with the taped seam plywood technique. Plywood panels are joined with strips of
fiberglass to form a seamless hull with no ribs or framing. The
original West Coast style canoes were carved from Coos Bay Oregon up
to Nootka Sound B.C. They had flat bottoms and flaring straight
sides. Since I can make a rounded fiberglass chine joint between the
flat sides and bottom, I can approximately duplicate the traditional
shape. I have also had an opportunity to carve two dugout canoes.
Together with members of The Confederated Tribes of the Lower Rogue I
carved a traditional Southern style river canoe from a redwood log.
We also carved a Kalapuya canoe from a red cedar log with members of
the Kalapuya Tribe.
I try to make the plywood replicas to be as close as possible to the
traditional canoes. I use historical and academic sources, oral
histories and measurements from existing dugout canoes where
possible. When someone from a particular tribe asks me to make a
canoe, I try very hard to find a design of that tribe or as close as
we can get. I want them to not only look like the originals but to
act and perform like the originals. One of the keys to making a
successful replica is to make it with the same weight and weight
distribution as the original cedar dugout version. The thick bottoms
of the dugouts served as ballast. This allowed the traditional
carvers to make canoes that were narrow and sleek but also stable and
safe. I use very thick plywood for the bottom plank to get these same
qualities. I make the nose and tail and gunwales of these canoes out
of Western Red Cedar so that they can be carved into traditional
forms with traditional tools.
These replicas are not intended to replace the traditional dugout
canoes. The replicas are more economical to build and easier to
transport. This means that more people can have a chance to see them
and paddle in them. They are serving to raise the awareness of tribal
culture among tribal members and young people as well as non-native
people.
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