The presentation below groups the steps around each of the above-mentioned components, so it is not strictly speaking chronological. It matches the way that Wayne Valliere tends to describe the processes and work involved in making a birchbark canoe. If you would prefer to view the process in a simple (but potentially more confusing) chronology, Click HERE. This will reformat the page with all the steps in strictly chronological order. If you are serious about understanding the construction process, you may want to consult these pages in both forms.
Long lengths of red cedar were purchased from a mill in the Pacific Northwest to serve as the bimikwaanaatigoon (gunwales). Each side of the canoe has three pieces that make up the gunwale assembly: an inner upright piece that runs along the inner top of the canoe (the "inwale"), an outer upright piece that runs along the outside top rim of the canoe (the "outwale"), and a top cap piece (the "topwale") that fits over the top and binds the other two pieces together, sandwiching the birchbark and lashing snuggly inside.
Inwales and outwales installed. (TD)
The Lac du Flambeau canoe style features a longer outwale piece that sweeps upward at the prow and stern, giving the canoe a distinctive profile.
The cedar lengths to be used for the gunwales were partly shaped, tied together, and fastened to bricks to be sunk in a lake near Wayne's house for a month. A thicker piece of pine was included in the bundle to help support the cedar pieces and keep them from bearing the full weight of the bricks. The soaking made them sufficiently pliable to be bent into the shape of the top of the canoe. (TD)
The cedar pieces, pine length, and bricks are ready to be sunk into lake, late July 2013. (TD)
A month later, the gunwales are retrieved from the lake. Late August, 2013. (TD)
The soaked pieces are now richly colored and very pliable, but there is always the chance that they will crack, and so great care must be taken when handling them. The piece of pine helps support the pieces druing transport back to Wayne's garage. (TD)
Lake slime removed so that the pieces are easier to grip. (TD)
A plywood form is secured to the work table with screws. The form is in two halves. Along its outer edges Wayne has made marks to designate where the braces and thwarts should be placed. The use of a table and of a plywood form is an innovation that Wayne and his brother Leon have made to the traditional method of building birchbark canoes by anchoring pieces in a bed of sand. See the TRADITION page for historical films that document past methods. (TD)
Blocks and temporary thwarts permit the inwales to be placed at the height and in the shape they will eventually assume in the finished canoe. (TD)
The gunwale pieces are tied to the temporary thwarts and braces with synthetic twine. (TD)
The cedar manboards (inini-bagoog) have slots on each side where the gunwale pieces will be fit. (These slots make the manboard appear to have a head and shoulders, hence the name.) (TD)
The slots must be cut so that they will exactly accomodate the inwale pieces in terms of height, width, and angle. (TD)
The gunwale piece is carefully fit into the manboard and tied in place. Wayne uses plywood to form the prow and stern piece. You can view the elaborate tradition for forming this nose piece in the archival films featured in the TRADITION page of this website. (TD)
The manboard and gunwales, now carefully fit into place, are tied and left to dry (TD)
Gunwale pieces completed on one end (TD)
Checking the height of pieces. By working on a table, Wayne can achieve a high degree of symmetry and straightness in the finished canoe. (TD)
Once both ends are fitted and tied in place, additional reinforcing braces are added alongside the plywood form to support the inwales at a proper height and curvature as they dry. The braces are secured to the work table with screws. A single screw anchors the inwale pieces to the braces. Temporary thwart pieces are tied in the five spots where permanent thwarts will eventually be placed, ensuring the correct width and shape of the canoe. Strings running above the temporary thwarts tie together opposite braces and reduce the chance that the braces will splay out under the pressure of the drying gunwale pieces. The assembly must be secure and stable so that the gunwales can dry in the ideal shape. WATCH HERE
The process had to be repeated in the woodshop in Madison, where it was important to ensure that the pieces remained in their proper shape and height. Securing the manboards again. WATCH HERE
Securing the gunwales with screws.
Wayne carefully cuts out mortices in the gunwales that will be used to anchor the tenons of the permanent thwarts when these are installed toward the end of the building process. (CC)
A combination of heat and moisture helps ensure that the gunwale pieces do not crack as they are bent into shape. (CC)
The inwales and manboards back in place, with temporary thwarts inserted.
With this work completed, Wayne could move on to the next stage, which was the forming of the bark bottom and sides of the canoe. All of the supports were taken off the table, the manboards, inwales and temporary thwarts carefully set aside, and the plywood form removed. Once the bark for the bottom and lower sides had been positioned on the table, the form, supports, manboards, inwales and thwarts were restored, as you can see below in the section on Bark. Once the side panels of bark were added, trimmed, and sewn together, Wayne could return to the gunwale work by adding the longer outwale pieces and lashing inwales and outwales together as detailed below in the section on Lashing.
Wayne demonstrating flexibility of carefully cut gunwale. (CC)
A key task in creating the sweeping rise of the outwale is a process of "laminating": cutting its ends into a series of narrow parallel strips, almost like long teeth of a comb. These strips then allow the ends to be bent more dramatically without as great a chance of cracking. Wayne took advantage of the tools in the wood shop to accomplish this and other painstaking tasks involved in the construction. At the same time, he was sure to explain to students the older ways of doing things and to demonstrate these as well. Nick Steeves, a talented student training to become a camera man, spent an afternoon filming at the shop. Watching Nick's film, you can see the bustle and activity of the shop as Wayne and associates worked to bring the canoe into being.
With the outwales thus prepared, they were transported back to the lake beside Wayne's cottage, where they could remain underwater until Wayne was ready to attach them to the inwales. In the meantime, Wayne and his assistants began the work of forming the bark bottom and sides of the canoe, which you can read about in the section below on Bark.
The two outwales, carefully tied up at the ends to prevent the laminations from separating or breaking, are brought back to the shop after a long soak in the lake beside Wayne's cottage.
The outwales are attached first at the center of the canoe and then gently bent to follow the contour of the inwale.
The bending entails careful manipulation laterally and upward, particularly as one works from the center of the canoe toward the prow or stern. Note the second outwale waiting its turn to be attached on top of the canoe. (TD)
The end of the outwale is kept tied up and covered with a moist rag until it is time to lash it to the prow or stern. Wayne used screws to secure the outwale to the inwale. (TD)
At this point, it was time to lash to inwales and outwales together using spruce roots. You can read about that process below.
With the outwales now lashed to the inwales for the main portion of the canoe, the final section is ready to be bent upward and lashed in place. Wayne has removed the temporary thwart at the end in order to ease the strain in the inwales and outwales while undertaking this bending.
Once the gunwale pieces had been fully lashed, it was time at last to add the third part of the gunwale assembly, a long piece that would cover the inwales, outwales, and bark sandwiched between them and protect the lashings from the wear and tear of daily use. This was the final step before waterproofing the canoe by applying the pine pitch.
Soaked topwale attached at center of canoe.
The topwale will be laid over the top of the lashings and be snugly pegged into place.
Pegging the topwales with whittled peg inserted into a hole that goes through the topwale and into the outwale in a space between the lashings.
By adding pegs, Wayne worked his way from the center of the canoe toward the edges, bending the topwale as needed.
The topwales were lashed at the sharp bend upward at the prow and stern.
The topwale is lashed again at the very tip of the prow.
Topwales fully installed, pegged and lashed in place.
You can read about the harvesting and initial preparation of the wiigwaas (birchbark) for the canoe in Lac du Flambeau during the summer of 2013 in a portion of the East quadrant of the Medicine Wheel: Click HERE. Wayne and his assistants harvested a sufficient quantity of bark with the proper thickness and pliability to be used for constructing a canoe. Rolls and flat pieces of bark were then transported to Madison, where it was a constant necessity to keep them well hydrated so that they would continue to be useable for the building process. The following images and text follow the bark after its arrival in Madison and trace how it became incorporated into the fabric of the canoe.
Some rolls of bark were kept in the wood shop in rolls. These were kept moist by spritsing them with water at least once or twice a day and keeping them covered in plastic.
(TD)
Pieces of bark for side panels were kept flat on the floor, covered in plastic to help retain moisture and weighted under heavier pieces of wood.
(CC)
The pieces that would become the bottom of the canoe were kept wrapped in old blankets and floating in a lake beside the cottage where Wayne was staying.
Floating roll of birchbark for the bottom of the canoe. (TD)
The rolls are brought into the woodshop. Notice the plywood form standing to the left of the work table, which has now been cleared of all other objects. (TD)
Bark pieces are washed to get off accumulated grime and to rehydrate them further. (CC)
Forming the bark was a tense but exciting process. WATCH HERE Wayne was not sure how workable the bark would be after having been stored in a roll for months between harvest and now. In traditional circumstances, Wayne would harvest the bark and use it in a matter of days. This bark was harvested in July (the time of year when it was best to harvest) but not used until late September when the university was in session.
Once the two bottom pieces were in place, the plywood form could be placed on top and the braces and inwales could be returned to the table alongside the plywood form.
Pieces of the bottom bark extend part way up the sides of the canoe.
The bottom bark is gently pressed together to form the prow and clamped in place.
Now, with the inwales reinstalled, side panels are added to extend the bark from the bottom of the canoe up to the gunwales. These side panels had to be very carefully placed: they should fit snugly against the plywood form and extend straight up to the gunwales. Once the canoe ribs are added, these side panels will be exposed to tremendous pressure, and if the bark is not of sufficient thickness or quality, it will simply split. Wayne took great care to select good side panel pieces that would prove durable, and he added further reinforcement pieces in coming days to ensure a lasting product.
The side panels must extend straight up from the form to the gunwales. Once the plywood form is removed and the ribs are added, they will acquire a graceful bend. The rough surface of the bark, and its lichen, will be hidden behind cedar ribs and sheathing.
Excess bark above the gunwales is cut away.
Trimming bark at prow.
In order to further reinforce the sides, Wayne added additional strips of bark along the top gunwales. Ojibwe artists vary in how they decorate the bottom of such strips, sometimes cutting scallop shapes or half-circles. Wayne prefers a zig-zag pattern that stays flat when drying out and remains snugly against the canoe side as a result.
Wayne and Tom Loeser beginning the sewing work. (TD)
Sewing is an essential and demanding process. Every seam on the canoe has to be sewn together with tight, durable stiches, traditionally made of spruce roots, as detailed in the Lashing section below. Regardless of the materials used, if improperly done, the stitching can tear through the bark, ruining the panel. Traditionally Ojibwe canoe building was a communal or family event, and lots of hands, young and old, joined in the sewing. This was the case with this canoe as well: Wayne was aided by students, faculty, and friends in the long process of sewing. In order to ease the work and ensure that the resulting canoe would be durable for many years, Wayne chose to use a synthetic twine for this work. He used traditional spruce root for the stiching and lashing that would remain visible after the pitching process.
Sewing gets under way. WATCH HERE Wayne uses a two-stranded harness stitch to tightly sandwich the different plies of birchbark together and to ensure that they do not pull apart over time. Holes for the improvized needles are made with a drill or an awl.
The new and the old. Wayne made frequent use of his father's awl in making the holes for the stitches. But instead of whittling out small pegs to help hold the different plies of bark together once the holes have been made but before the stitching has occurred, he used sharpened golf tees.
Sewing continues along the seam between bottom pieces and side panels of bark. (TD)
Once the stitching was completed, Wayne cut away excess bark above the line of stitches. During the cutting, he inserted a piece of bark behind the layer to ensure that the knife did not damage the bark that remained. The stitched seams were then eventually covered in pine pitch to make them waterproof.
Wayne added two outer layers of bark to the prow and stern. On the stern end, he chose to use "winter bark," bark that has been harvested later in the year and retains an extra layer of rind as a result. This additional layer gives the bark a deep, attractive color, which can be inscribed with an awl to make patterns as detailed in the BIRCH section of this website.
Winter bark in place and ready to be sewn and lashed.
The lower portion of the canoe end is stitched in twine; the upper in spruce root.
