Construction
Aboriginal canoes were constructed much more easily than previous types of vessels, such as bark canoes. This ease of construction played a significant role in the dugout canoes’ widespread use. While earlier vessels required a great deal of labor and time-consuming sewing to make, dugout canoes were constructed easily and in a shorter period of time. First, one would have to cut down a tree and shape the exterior into an even form. The sides of the canoe were shaped in one of two ways. They were either carved straight up and down or in a "u" shape, curving in towards the center of the boat. Next, one would literally dig out the inner wood of the log to make space for the oarsmen to sit and paddle. In some early dugout canoes, aboriginals would not make the bottoms of the canoes smooth, but would instead carve "ribbing" into the vessel. Ribbing (literally sections of wood that looked like ribs) was used to stabilize bark canoes, and though not necessary to dugout canoes, was a carryover in the transition from one canoe type to the other. Both the chopping down of the tree and the digging out of the log were easily done with an iron-axe. They also made their canoes out of tree bark, sticky tree sap to hold it together, and fallen tree limbs.
The wood used in the construction of dugout canoes was essential to its strength and durability. A wide variety of trees were used depending upon the location of a particular people, but in most cases the aboriginals used a type of sycamore. Sycamores are strong and extremely durable, making them suitable for use in the construction of dugout canoes.
Read more about this topic: Aboriginal Dugout Canoes
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