Tomah Joseph(1837-1914)
Young FDR paddling a canoe built by Tomah Joseph
An aged canoe is now on display on the veranda of the Roosevelt Cottage. Some shots below show a graceful boat that has weathered to a grey patina. Its nailed gunwales and stitched side panels seem to have held up well over time. I doubt my lashed boat will look so good at this age.
On display
Kind of curious, but there appears to be some sort stetched out canvas nailed to the gunwales covering the end thwart. If you look carefully at the pic of Tomah Joseph above, there seems to be something similar attached to boat's stern. It seems to be placed right over the end thwart though I can't imagine why. Maybe a sort of sling seat perhaps? It would explain why FDR is pictured paddling so far astern in his boat. Most solo paddlers today would kneel amidships to allow the boat to sit evenly in the water.
Stetched canvas on stern
If anyone knows more about this canoe and its unusual addition, I'd appreciate some feedback.
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3 comments:
Marat:
I visited Campobello some years ago and noted the following about the two canoes they have on display: The canoe hanging in the visitor's center is credited to Tomah Joseph. As proof of its connection to FDR, they also have on display a huge photo of a young FDR paddling that very same canoe.
The canoe in the visitor's center is unique in several respects. The lashings at the thwarts and the stems were done with rattan -- chair caning material -- not spruce root. Also, the gunwales are held together with screws, not nails. I've seen a lot of old canoes in museums, but not one with rattan and screws as building materials. I believe these were building innovations of Tomah Joseph, identifying characteristics so unusual that they can be used to identify Tomah as the likely builder of other canoes.
As to the silver-gray canoe on the back porch, being left to bleach in the sun, its builder is not identified, implying that the builder is unknown. However, that canoe also has screwed gunwales and rattan lashings. Given the canoe's location, age and unusual construction, it's reasonable to conclude that Tomah Joseph also built that one. But the Campobello curators don't have "proof," so they revere the one in the visitor's center, but let the one on the back porch rot because they don't value it.
As to the canvas covering over the end thwart, I don't recall seeing that when I last visited around 2001. It is probably a makeshift seat, since it appears that FDR is sitting, in the visitor's center photo. It could also be a repair to compensate for the loss of a thwart, put there to simply keep the canoe from deforming.
A few comments about Tomah Joseph himself. He was a Passamaquoddy who lived in the Reserve at Pleasant Point, Maine, across the bay from Campobello. During their summer vacations, he worked for the Roosevelt family for many years as a hunting and fishing guide and general handyman. He was locally famous for his artistic skill with birchbark etchings. The Roosevelt home at Campobello is filled with examples of his etchwork, all highly prized among antique collectors today.
Tomah Joe was a contemporary and possible relative of Peter Jo, the Maliseet/Passamaquoddy builder Tappan Adney met in 1887, and who inspired Adney's love of bark canoes and ultimately his monumental book, The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. Both Tomah Joe and Peter Jo were born at Pleasant Point within less than a year of each other. It is a virtual certainty that they knew each other.
Many thanks for your informative post, Ted. Intriguing to note the use of screws and rattan. Such a shame that the curators don't seem to value this canoe...any birchbark canoe (especially from an innovative builder like Tomah)is worth preserving in my opinion.
The old silver-gray canoe was built by Sylvester Gabriel who some would argue was the last of the truly traditional Passamaquoddy canoe builders. After Gabriel's passing the art of the Passamaquoddy canoe was almost lost, but was revived by exceptional artists such as the late David Moses Bridges and now canoe builders such as Steve Caynard and Ed Bassett. The Silver Gray canoe is either a 1956 or 1958 and i am pleased to announce it is now in safe storage pending efforts to preserve it. We are also looking at some preservation work on the main canoe in the visitor center. Tomah Joseph was actually a Passamaquoddy Chief and lived at Indian Township (Motahkomikuk) when he was not living at his summer camp on Campobello Island, where he worked as a guide. There is evidence that it was Tomah Joseph who inspired the young FDR to eventually run as President of the US and in fact one of FDR's first major acts was the Native American New Deal Act, which while it failed to give true sovereignty to the tribes, it gave ownership of the reservations to the tribes.
The canoe in the visitor center that was presented to FDR as a gift from Tomah Joseph is a testimony to the strength of their relationship, especially as FDR would have been a young man with no indication at that point that he would one day become President. These canoes took up to 2 years to build and it would have been the equivalent of gifting a house to FDR today.
It can be said with confidence that FDR's relationship with Tomah Joseph was life changing and in all probability influenced FDR to go on to become one of the greatest leaders the world will ever see. Whatever your political affiliations, there is no denying that FDR guided the world out of the great depression, World War II etc. all while wrestling with the severe limitations brought on by surviving Polio.
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