Indians 101: Model canoes (museum tour)

by Ojibwa for Native American Netroots

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Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019 Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019 at 8:30:06am PST

One of the galleries in the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma contains a collection of model canoes.

With regard to the collection, the display states:

“This exhibition shows the Washington State Historical Society’s collection of model canoes carved as representations of larger vessels and as art created for purchase by tourists, most notably around the turn of the 20^th century. Several different tribes, art styles, and canoe designs are represented here, many of which date to the late 1800s.”

According to the display:

“Rivers, streams, and oceans were once as well-traveled as Washington’s roads are today. Coastal peoples used the canoe as one of their primary means of travel to move from place to place. Canoes were used in transport, in trade, in war, and sometimes to bury the dead. The carving of a canoe was a spiritual experience from the moment of a tree’s selection until the time it was made into a finished craft that reached the water. The knowledge and skills to create canoes were passed down across generations from carver to carver.”