Canoes: A Natural History in North America

Neuzil, Mark; Sims, Norman

Mark Neuzil and Norman Sims

2016

This is the story of the canoe, that singular American artifact so little changed over time. Featured here are canoes old and new, from birch bark to dugout to carbon fiber; the people who made them; and the adventures they shared. With features of technology, industry, art, and survival, the canoe carries us deep into the natural and cultural history of North America.

Follow author Mark Neuzil on Twitter: @mrneuzil

A black-and-white photograph of two people poling a dugout canoe on the Columbia River in 1900.

Log Canoe on the Columbia River

From Chapter 1: Dugout Canoes

Lee Moorhouse, Log canoe on the Columbia River, ca. 1900.

A black-and-white photograph of six dugout canoes of various sizes along a beach at Songhees Reserve.

Dugout Canoes on the Beach at Songhees Reserve

From Chapter 1: Dugout Canoes

Dugout canoes line the beach at Songhees Reserve in Victoria, British Columbia, 1868.

A black-and-white photograph of a family of three in a dugout canoe: two adults and one small child. One of the adults is throwing a double pronged sealing spear into the water.

Kwakiutl Family

From Chapter 1: Dugout Canoes

A Kwakiutl family navigating the waters of Quatsino Sound.

A color photograph of three decorated dugout canoes on a rocky beach.

Three Cedar Canoes at Skidegate

From Chapter 1: Dugout Canoes

Three cedar canoes on the beach at Skidegate.

A black-and-white photograph of Bill Reid and several other people using steam to spread the sides of a hollowed dugout canoe.

Bill Reid and Associates Creating a Dugout Canoe, 1985

From Chapter 1: Dugout Canoes

Bill Reid and Associates Creating a Dugout Canoe, 1985.

A color photograph of a painted dugout canoe.

Haisla Dugout Canoe

From Chapter 1: Dugout Canoes

Haisla dugout canoe carved and painted by David Shaw in 1934, overpainted by Bill Reid in 1967.

A black-and-white of a figure paddling a dugout canoe.

Into the Shadow

From Chapter 1: Dugout Canoes

Edward S. Curtis, Into the Shadow, 1910. Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia.

A black-and-white photograph of a couple in a canoe. Several boxes and packages are being transported in the canoe as well.

Kutenai Canoe

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Phyllop Peter and his wife paddle a Kutenai canoe on Kootenay Lake in 1922.

Restored Chestnut Canoe

From Chapter 5: Wood-and-Canvas Canoes

Chestnut canoes continue to be one of the most popular styles among paddlers. Mike Elliot of Kettle River Canoes in British Columbia restored this Chestnut Bob’s Special model.

In 1967, these paddlers reenacted part of the 1793 Mackenzie Expedition, paddling from Ft. St. John, British Columbia, to Expo ’67 in Montreal, Quebec.

Mackenzie Expedition Reenactment

From Chapter 8: Canoe Tripping

In 1967, these paddlers reenacted part of the 1793 Mackenzie Expedition, paddling from Ft. St. John, British Columbia, to Expo ’67 in Montreal, Quebec.

Canoes: A Natural History in North America

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Log Canoe on the Columbia River

Dugout Canoes on the Beach at Songhees Reserve

Kwakiutl Family

Three Cedar Canoes at Skidegate

Bill Reid and Associates Creating a Dugout Canoe, 1985

Haisla Dugout Canoe

Into the Shadow

Kutenai Canoe

Restored Chestnut Canoe

Mackenzie Expedition Reenactment