In Pictures: The vanishing art of making a sturgeon-nosed canoe
By David F. Rooney Shoppers at Saturday’s Farmers’ Market had an unexpected treat: a chance to see master canoe builder Wayne Louie create a classic sturgeon-nosed canoe. So named because its bow and stern resemble the snout of a white sturgeon. This kind of watercraft once plied the rivers and lakes of Southeastern BC. Now it is rarely seen. A native family approaches a lakeshore in a traditional sturgeon-nosed canoe sometime in the early part of the last century. Photo courtesy of the Columbia Basin Trust “I’m probably the last Ktunaxa making sturgeon-nosed canoe,” said Louie, who came here from Creston with apprentice Iris Caye to create a canoe for the School District 19 Aboriginal Education Committee. “I learnt from when I was a young boy. I learnt from my elders.” Sadly, although he has an apprentice in the person of Iris Caye, no young people he knows of are interested in learning how to build this kind of canoe in the old way. In fact, Louie said he thinks his craft might vanish after he passes from this world. His canoes are hand-made with sheets of water-resistant white pine bark, maple and cedar lathes lashed together with cedar roots, and bitter cherry bark. There are no metal or plastic parts in the finished product. “I’m going to retire this year,” he said. “Over the next five years I’m going to talk to elders about (trying to preserve this ancient art).” Local students helped them create the framework of the canoe at RSS last week. Then Wayne and Iris put in hours of work at the market to largely complete the canoe. They have some finishing touches to add to it and will return to Revelstoke in a couple of weeks to present it to RSS. You can learn more about Wayne Louie and his art at his website. There is also a video about Wayne’s sturgeon-nosed canoes at the end of the photo feature. Here are the photos of Wayne and Iris working at the Farmers’ Market that I hope you’ll enjoy:
If you were down at the Farmers’ Market on Saturday you might have seen Wayne Louie and Iris Caye making a sturgeon-nosed canoe. Michelle Cole (left making video of the project) of the School District 19 Aboriginal Education Committee, told The Current that the canoe makers had been commissioned to build the canoe for RSS. David F. Rooney photo Louie, a member of the Ktunaxa band at Creston, is the last member of his tribe who knows how to hand-make this type of canoe using local woods, bark and roots. He makes his canoes without resorting to screws or metal or plastic materials of any kind, except for a metal needle and a couple of strips of duck tape. (The duct tape is used to temporarily keep two of the canoe’s ribs lashed together to form a handle for carrying the craft.) In this image you can see him stitching the canoe’s skin, a huge sheet of white pine, to the canoe’s frame with a fine, almost thread-like, cedar root. David F. Rooney photo Wayne reaches into a bucket for a another root. He uses cedar roots and bitter cherry bark as lashings. David F. Rooney photo Wayne and Iris attracted a lot of attention from passers by as they worked on the canoe just outside the perimeter of the Farmers’ Market. David F. Rooney photo This canoe is about 8 feet long, about half the size of a working model of the craft. Aboriginal students at RSS helped him crate the frame, which is constructed of cedar and maple lathes. David F. Rooney photo Wayne carefully threads a cedar root so he can lash the outside-in sheet of bark to the framework. David F. Rooney photo It took Wayne and iris most of Saturday morning to reach this point in their project. David F. Rooney photo The materials Wayne used were all fresh. Here he strips the bark from a length of white pine so he can stitch to the left-hand nose of the canoe. David F. Rooney photo That fresh sheet is pressed into place. David F. Rooney photo The nose piece is carefully stitched into place. It takes a surprising amount of force to thrust the needle through the bark. Wayne actually broke the tip off this one and had to replace it with another. David F. Rooney photo Irish hold the nose piece in place as Wayne reaches for the root and needle he had just pushed through the bark. David F. Rooney photo Finally, the canoe is largely finished. There are a few wood fittings to attach to the craft and it still needs to be sealed with pitch. However, most of the work is now done. The completely finished canoe will be presented to RSS in a couple of weeks. Ginger Shoji photo
