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Canoes: A Natural History in North America

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

ISBN(s)

9780816681174 (hardcover)

Subject

Citable Link

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Filtering by: Creator Role illustrator

Start Over

An idyllic painting of two men and a dog in a birch bark canoe on the glassy surface of a lake. The lake reflects the image of the men in the canoe, and their paddles send ripples across the surface.

Evening on a Canadian Lake

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Frederic Remington, Evening on a Canadian Lake, ca 1908. Library of Congress.

A black and white illustration of two men sitting in a birch-bark canoe on the reflective surface of a lake. One man is sitting in the front of the canoe with a gun, and the other is standing in the back of the canoe with his mouth to the cylindrical moose horn.

Calling Moose with the "Moose Horn"

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Tappan Adney, Calling Moose with the “Moose Horn,” ca. 1896

A color illustration depicting two men in a birchbark canoe. One man sits in the front with his head turned down from the viewer. The other man stands in the back of the canoe, starting out of frame, with a cylindrical moose horn in his right hand, and an oar suberged in water in the right.

The Moose Call

From Chapter 8: Canoe Tripping

Tappan Adney, The Moose Call, 1902.

A black and white illustration of three men hauling a canoe containing the body of a killed moose to camp.

Taking the Moose Back to the Camp

From Chapter 8: Canoe Tripping

Tappan Adney, Taking the Moose Back to the Camp, ca. 1896