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Our Canoeing Heritage

Heritage & Builder Resources

Do you want to learn how to build or restore a wooden canoe or kayak -- or are you looking for someone who can?  Are you researching a school or work project?  Or are you just interested in this fascinating area of study?  If so, the Museum has assembled the following selected resources you may find helpful:

Bark Canoes | Fur Trade | Kayaks and Skin Craft | Wooden Canoes | Builders & Restorers

For the most current resources or for more detailed research information, please contact the Museum

Bark Canoes

Selected Bibliography

Adney, Edwin Tappan and Howard I. Chapelle, The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1964.

Gidmark, David. The Algonquin Birchbark Canoe. Aylesbury, Bucks: Shire Publications Ltd., 1988.

Gidmark, David. Birchbark Canoe: Living Among the Algonquin. Willowdale, Ontario: Firefly Books Ltd., 1997.

Kent, Timothy J. Birchbark Canoes of the Fur Trade. Vol. I & II. Ossineke, Michigan: 1997

McPhee, John. The Survival of the Bark Canoe. Toronto, Ontario: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1975.

Philip Shackleton & Kenneth G. Roberts The Canoe: A History of the Craft from Panama to the Arctic. Toronto, Ontario: Macmillan of Canada, 1983.

Raffan, James. Bark, Skin, and Cedar: Exploring the Canoe in Canadian Experience. Toronto, Ontario: Harper Collins, 1999.

Taylor, J. Garth. Canoe Construction in a Cree Cultural Tradition. Canadian Ethnology Service, Paper No. 64. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1980.

Selected Online Sources

NativeTech     www.nativetech.org

Birch Bark Canoes     jumaka.com/birchbarkcanoe/

Canadian Museum of Civilization: Wave Eaters Exhibit (Native Watercraft in Canada)     www.civilization.ca/aborig/watercraft/wainteng.html

Fur Trade

Selected Bibliography

Adney, Edwin Tappan and Howard I. Chapelle. The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1964.

Campbell, Marjorie Wilkins. The Nor'Westers: The Fight for the Fur Trade Toronto. Ontario: Macmillan of Canada, 1974.

Huck, Barbara. Exploring the Fur Trade Routes of North America: Discover the Highways that Opened A Continent. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Heartland Associates Inc. 2000.

Morse, Eric W. Fur Trade Canoe Routes of Canada/ Then and Now. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 1969.

Morse, Eric W. Canoe Routes of the Voyageurs: the Geography and Logistics of the Canadian Fur Trade. Ottawa, Ontario: Royal Canadian Geographical Society, 1962.

Philip Shackleton & Kenneth G. Roberts. The Canoe: A History of the Craft from Panama to the Arctic. Toronto, Ontario: Macmillan of Canada, 1983.

Kent, Timothy J. Birchbark. Canoes of the Fur Trade. Vol. I & II. Ossineke, Michigcan: 1997

Nute, Grace Lee. The Voyageur's Highway: Minnesota's Border Lake Land. St. Paul, Minnesota: The Minnesota Historical Society, 1969.

Selected Online Sources:

The Hudson's Bay Company Archives     www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/

Kayaks and Skin Craft

Selected Bibliography

Adney, Edwin Tappan and Howard I. Chapelle. The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1964.

Arima, E.Y. (Editor). Contributions to Kayak Studies. Canadian Ethnology Service: Mercury Series, Paper 122. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1991.

Arima, E.Y., Inuit Kayaks in Canada: A Review of Historical Records and Construction, Based Mainly on the Canadian Museum of Civilization's Collection. Canadian Ethnology Service, Paper No. 110. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1987.

Brand, John. Part II of: The Little Kayak Book. Colchester, Essex: John Brand, 1987.

Brinck, Wolfgang. The Aleutian Kayak: origins, construction, and use of the traditional seagoing baidarka. Camden, Maine: Ragged Mountain Press, 1995.

Petersen, H.C. Instruction in Kayak Building. The Greenland Provincial Museum & The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.

Zimmerly, David W. Arctic Kayaks in Oracles. Archaeological Survey of Canada, 2000.

Selected Films

Kayak Construction and Use: Hopper Bay, Alaska, 1976-1977. Ottawa, Ontario: National Museum of Canada, 1978.

Between Generations: The Transference of Kayak Knowledge. Toronto, Ontario: Royal Ontario Museum, 1991.

Selected Online Sources

Canadian Museum of Civilization: "The Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic - From Ancient Times to 1902", text by Dr. David Morrison, Archaeological Survey of Canada     http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/inuvial/indexe.html

Canadian Museum of Civilization: Wave Eaters Exhibit (Native Watercraft in Canada)     www.civilization.ca/aborig/watercraft/wainteng.html

David Zimmerly's Arctic Kayak website.     www.arctickayaks.com

Canadian Museum of Civilization: Arctic Kayaks Article in Oracles by David Zimmerly, Archaeological Survey of Canada     www.civilization.ca/cmc/archeo/oracles/kayak/11.htm

Wooden Canoes

Selected Bibliography

MacGregor, Roger. When The Chestnut Was In Flower: Inside the Chestnut Canoe. Plumsweep Press, 1999.

Neel, David. The Great Canoes: Reviving a Northwest Coast Tradition. Toronto, Ontario: Douglas & McIntyre, 1995.

Philip Shackleton & Kenneth G. Roberts. The Canoe: A History of the Craft from Panama to the Arctic. Toronto, Ontario: Macmillan of Canada, 1983.

Solway, Kenneth. The Story of the Chestnut Canoe: 150 Years of Canadian Canoe Building. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Nimbus Publishing Limited, 1997.

Jerry Stelmok & Rollin Thurlow. The Wood and Canvas Canoe: A Complete Guide to its History , Construction, Restoration and Maintenance. Old Bridge Press, 1987.

Selected Online Sources

Bear Mountain Boat Shop     www.bearmountainboats.com

Headwater Wooden Boat Shop    

Wooden Canoes Heritage Association     www.wcha.org

Builders & Restorers

Please note that the Museum neither recommends nor endorses builders. This information is provided for your convenience only.

Birch Bark Builders

Aaron York (Abenaki builder)
Telephone:

Tom Byers
Telephone:

John Lindman
Telephone:

Bill Novacek
Telephone:

David Gidmark

Rick Nash (Dorset Ontario)
Telephone:

Henri Vaillancourt

E-mail:
Web site: www.birchbarkcanoe.net

Canoe and Kayak Builders

Note:  This is a list of selected canoe and kayak builders in Ontario only. For a comprehensive list of Canadian and international wooden canoe builders & suppliers, visit The Wooden Canoe Heritage Association's web site at www.wcha.org/buildsupply

Bear Mountain Boat Shop
Ted Moores and Joan Barrett

Telephone:
Email:
Web site: www.bearmountainboats.com

  • instructions and plans for building canoes and kayaks
  • canoe and kayak building courses
  • Sprint racing canoes C4-C15
  • Model strip canoes and canoe kits
  • Repair and restoration of canoes, kayaks and boats
Fred Forster



Telephone:
  • builder of wood/canvas canoes
  • repair and restorations
Headwater Wooden Boat Shop
Dick and Karin Persson



Telephone:
E-mail:
Web site:
  • builders of wood/canvas and cedar strip epoxy canoes, kayaks and small boats
  • repair, restoration and recanvas of canoes
  • canoe accessories and custom wood working
Ruch Canoes
Will Ruch
Minett Post Office

Telephone: Fax:
  • traditionally built cedar canvas canoes
  • new canoes based on early Peterborough designs, 15', 16' & solo versions
  • restoration of all wood canoes

Waussnodae Canoes
Ron and Linda Squires


Telephone:

  • builders of wood/canvas and cedar strip canoes and rowing skiffs
  • repair, restoration and recanvas of canoes
Windy Ridge Canoes
Susan and Michael Butz


Telephone: ,
  • builders of wood/canvas and all-wood cedar strip canoes and rowing skiffs
Voyageur Canoe Co. Ltd.
Glenn Fallis

Telephone:
E-mail:
Web site: www.voyageurcanoe.com
  • manufacturers of canoes 12-36 feet, including 40-foot dragon boats
  • restorations, repairs, recanvassing
  • canoe building supplies and accessories

Historic Information

Roger MacGregor


Telephone:

Dick Persson
Headwater Wooden Boat Shop



Telephone:
Email:
Web site:

Monday, May 23, 2005

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The Museum houses the largest collection of canoes and kayaks in the world, featuring over 600 watercraft.



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