Building a Birchbark Canoe: The Algonquin Wabanaki Tciman [Paperback]

I found it most interesting historically. It answers all my questions about the origins of birchbark canoes. (Sue Russell Georgian Bay Today 20020600)

Meticulously detailed chapters on the techniques used by each of the four master canoe builders... clear step-by-step instructions. (Bushwacker's Wilderness Journal )

Fascinating reading for those interested in native culture as well as those considering building a canoe. (Wave Length Magazine )

In this groundbreaking book, David Gidmark reviews the early history of bark canoes, providing readers with an overview of construction methods and featuring the individual techniques of four traditional 20th-century Algonquin craftsmen and their assistants. Detailed descriptions of their step-by-step construction methods are included, and the adoption of tools and methods from non-Indian culture as shortcuts are noted (such as the use of canvas and roofing tar, duct tape and C-clamps). A chapter on paddlemaking in the native tradition completes the book.

Building a Birchbark Canoe: The Algonquin Wâbanäki Tcîmân is one of the most significant studies of Algonquin birchbark canoes and their construction. The author is one of the few outsiders to have learned the ancient craft of birchbark canoe making from the Algonquins, and in Building a Birchbark Canoe, he not only shares this skill but invites readers to appreciate the cultural significance of an elegant and practical craft that might otherwise be lost to history.

"With Building a Birchbark Canoe, David Gidmark continues his already significant contribution to material culture studies of Algonquin tribes in northeastern North America. Meticulously detailed descriptions of the step-by-step construction methods of traditional builders provide a penetrating insight into regional variations of the basic Algonquin repertoire. Particularly noteworthy is the adoption of tools and methods from the dominant non-Indian culture as shortcuts in building -- the use of canvas and roofing tar, for instance, to seal stitching in the canoe in place of the aboriginal deerskin and spruce gum pitch or the acceptance of duct tape and C-clamps by a builder still employing the crooked knife. A rich glossary of native terms, useful bibliography and generous photographic illustrations complete this fine study." Thomas Vennum, Jr. Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies Smithsonian Institution

David Gidmark is the coauthor of Canoe Paddles: A Complete Guide to Building Your Own, and author of Birchbark Canoe: Living Among the Algonquins, both published by Firefly Books.