General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

birch bark hull/ spruce root lashings/ white cedar ribs, planking & gunwales/ metal nails/ spruce gum seam sealant

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

386.0 cm

Width

81.3 cm

Height

25.4 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Marine Transportation

Category

Vessels

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Unknown

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

1930s to 1950s

Canada

A Canadian made birch bark canoe, used in the Ottawa Valley. The birch bark canoe was the key transportation technology of the people of the Eastern Woodland's First Nations who played such an influential role in the history of early European exploration, settlement and commerce. Early Europeans arriving in what is now Canada relieved heavily on this indigenous technology to pursue their various political and economic objectives. The donor of this canoe, Mr. Ron Lang, acquired it in the late 1980s from a Dr, Blair Coburn, who recalls purchasing the canoe from his brother's father-in-law, a Mr. Arthur Graham, in the early 1940s. Mr. Graham was a member of the Ottawa River Forest Protection Association and apparently knew the Ottawa Valley well. His connection to the region, the general Algonquin style of the vessel and comments made by Dr. Blair's sister-in-law (Mr. Graham's daughter) suggest that the canoe was built in the 1930s, by either Matt (1876-1972) or Tony (1911-1996) Bernard, both of whom were very well-known canoe craftsmen from the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation on Golden Lake. Mr. Graham recalls having learned basic canoe skills from Tony Bernard as a boy attending thr YMCA summer camp at Golden Lake.

Function

Used as means of personal transportation over the surface of water.

Technical

An example of a birch bark canoe made in the general Algonquin style. The birch bark commonly used in canoe construction is that of the white or paper birch tree (Betula papyrifera) which is found widely throughout Canada and which has special properties - most notably its traverse grain - which make it ideally suited for this purpose. Over time reliance on birch bark canoes diminished and serious use was relegated to remote areas and First Nations. By the mid 19th century, the commercial production of canoes fashioned in wood helped fuel a growing appetite for wilderness recreation which, though inspired in part by the romance of the birch bark canoe, ironically limited any renewed demand for the real thing. Still. Respect and affection for the essential techniques and different traditions of birch bark canoe construction has persisted, and has been carried forward to this day in a limited way.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

black lettering on bottom reads `"coke" (nick-name of Dr. Coburn)

Missing

unknown

Finish

brown exterior/ black seam sealant

Decoration

N/A