The Dugout Canoe in Ontario

Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents data on the age and origin of the dugout canoe in Ontario derived from Indian informants and Euro-Americans, from the literature, and from information in the files of the Department of Ethnology, Royal Ontario Museum, University of Toronto. Accounts of two dugouts from Ontario have been published, but the problems of the age and origin have not been investigated. Indians and Euro-Americans both made and used dugouts during the last century and the first part of this one. It is suggested that the Euro-Americans brought the idea with them from Europe. The Indians, it is believed, adopted the dugout either from the Euro-Americans or from Indian immigrants from the south, where the dugout is known to have existed since the time of contact. The Indians were now leading a more sedentary life, negating the necessity for an easily portable craft, such as the birchbark canoe. Another factor was the increasing difficulty of getting adequate supplies of birchbark for canoe-making because of the destruction of the forests by lumber companies. Furthermore, the recently acquired iron tools facilitated their manufacture.