The Iroquois made canoes from the bark of the oak and the red elm. The bark of the oak was considered more lasting. After the rough outside had been removed from the large slabs of bark, they were smoothed and soaked, then stitched to a frame of ash or hickory with basswood fiber or splint. Narrow strips of ash, to serve as ribs, were set across the bottom of the canoe, about a foot apart. The edges of these ribs were tuned up and secured under the rim of the canoe. Each end of the canoe was finished with a vertical prow. Iroquois canoes varied in size from twelve feet, to carry two men, up to forty feet with the capacity for thirty men. In earlier days, the bark canoe was extensively used in the fur trade. |
