More Luc Poitras Paddles

Paddle Maker and blog reader Luc Poitras sent in some pics of his latest designs both made with his crooked knife collection.

The longer one on the right is made from birch and features a leather drip ring and the base of the grip. The shorter is made from tamarack - certainly a type of wood I'd be interested in trying out soon...such a lovely grain pattern. This paddle features a grip with a carved drip ring and chip-carved decorations. Thanks for the photos Luc - Fantastic work!

Luc Poitras' Malecite Paddles

Blog reader Luc Poitras was kind enough to send me some pics of his 3 beautiful Malecite style paddles, complete with incising decorations and carved drip rings.


Luc's 3 Paddles
The short paddle on the left and the one on the right are made from maple. The long paddle in the middle is made from stained cedar. Here are some closeups of the blades and grips. Definitely motivating to try some incising work on some of my future paddles.


Incised Blade details; Grip shapes
Luc also sent a photo of his 3 crooked knives which are works of art themselves. One knife is made from an old straight razor blade and the other two made from files. The bulk of the paddles were carved with these knives and a small spokeshave. Fantastic work Luc!


3 Crooked Knives

Another Luc Poitras Malecite Style Carved Paddle

Paddle carver Luc Poitras sent in pics of his latest Malecite style paddle complete with carved drip rings, blade spine and decorative etching. This beauty is made from yellow birch and carved entirely with a crooked knife...no spokeshave or sanding.









Given my own experience with a tough yellow birch board that was frustratingly difficult to carve, Luc's all hand carved paddle is amazing.

Red Pine Paddle and Canoe Cups from Luc Poitras

Paddle maker Luc Poitras has submitted more photos of his work, including this paddle made from Red Pine:

Here are some of Luc's canoe cups made from various woods...

A crooked knife with etched handle and copper wire wrapping.

Penn Museum Decorated Malecite Blade

Many thanks to blog reader and paddle maker Luc Poitras for once again finding an excellent example of a Malecite paddle online - this one from the collection of University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a full image of the paddle including the grip area, but some low-resolution photos reveal an exquisite carving on the blade

Malecite Canoe Paddle

 Object Number:  NA3900.  Courtesy of the Penn Museum 

Provenience: New Brunswick (Canada)

Materials:  Wood

Technique:  Incised

Description:  Incised Both Sides

Other Number: 593/29 - Field No SF

Blade Closeup

Object Number:  NA3900.  Courtesy of the Penn Museum

Reprinted with Permission as per Penn Museum Fair Trade Use Policy 

Luc P's New Carvings

Blog reader & contributor, Luc Poitras has sent more pics in of his paddle creations...

Here's a set of sorts made from cedar. The two smaller ones were carved for his lucky grandson. The off-white coloured paddle is from spalted maple

Here's a beauty carved from Tamarack that Luc carved with just a crooked knife. Hoping I'll be able to source out a Tamarack log this summer and try to carve a similar one.

Lastly, Luc's wife found an old, 70" paddle at a garage sale. It looks to be a roughly carved blade meant for hard use. Luc mentioned it is likely birch but the paint and varnish job on the blade has really covered up the grain pattern.

Historic Penobscot & Maliseet Paddle Photos

A while back, paddle maker Luc Poitras sent me some wonderful historic images of Wabanaki styled paddles. These tall slender paddles look reminiscent of the collection from the facebook page of the Passamaquoddy Cultural Heritage Museum  posted about here.

Feb 2021 Update: Thanks to a recent comment by E Nicolar, the correct identities of these men have been established. According to this new information, on the left is former Governor (now Chief) Peter Nicolar (1853–1927). The gent on the right is Peter's Father-in-law, Tuester Ranco (1813–1914.).  

Luc also sent me some pics dating to 1903 of William H. Ganong and his canoe mate, Arthur H Pierce on the portage trail to the Miramichi River, New Brunswick. Both photos have fantastic views of their paddles with distinctive roll top, flattened grips, no doubt influenced by the native Maliseet culture of the region.

Arthur Henry Pierce -  August 1903

Portage to the Northwest Miramichi River, Northumberland County, New Brunswick

Dr. William Francis Ganong -  August 1903

Portage to the Northwest Miramichi River, Northumberland County, New Brunswick

Ebay Dragon Fly Diamond Grip Paddle

Blog contributor Luc Poitras just notified me of a unique looking paddle up for sale on Ebay. The listing shows various angles of the paddle which feature a strong spine down the blade and a tiny burning of a dragonfly.

The grip features a very interesting design as well - a sort of oval top with diamond or arrowhead lower section commonly found in Adirondack style paddles. Here are a few more of the seller's photos...

Historic Paddle Illustration: Gabe Acquin - 1883

Karen Perly has prepared a well written biography (*.pdf format) of Gabe Acquin, a Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik) guide who was the first to permanently settle on land that would eventually become St. Mary's First Nation. It's a great read and is loaded with wonderful photos and details.

I've posted a famous photo of Gabe with a canoe paddle on the site before beginning with a 2008 listing on LiveAuctioneers.com which had an original albumen photograph with the hand written caption "Indian Guide, c1870".


Lot 2478: Albumen Photo
American "Indian Guide", 1870
Original Listing
.
At the time, I was unaware who the guide was until blog reader Luc Poitras informed me of the guide's identity. Another black and white image of the same pose is found in the University of New Brunswick archives.

Gabe Acquin (St. Mary's), c. 1866
University of New Brunswick Archives

In 1860, the then 18-year-old Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) visited Fredericton. After paddling by Government House in his birchbark canoe, Gabe was hailed by the prince who is intrigued by the canoe's construction. Gabe casually invited him for a ride and paddled the future king to the mouth of the Nashwaak River before returning. Many years later, Gabe was invited to England in 1883 as one of Canada’s entries in the International Fisheries Exhibition in London.

Subsequently a book was published, Fisheries of the World : an Illustrated and Descriptive Record of the International Fisheries Exhibition, 1883. A sketch was included with the caption "Indian in Birch Canoe, Fisheries Exhibition" and is quite likely an image of Gabe.

 

"Indian in Birch Canoe, Fisheries Exhibition "

 Whymper, F. Fisheries of the World : an Illustrated and Descriptive Record of the International Fisheries Exhibition.  London : Cassell : Co.: Limited, 1883.

 Page 96

SOURCE LINK

The grainy closeup of the image shows quite a distinct Maliseet style paddle with elongated grip and carved ornamental drip ring...

Paddle Closeup

As a comparison, check out this post featuring  some Maliseet paddles dated to circa 1880 at the New Brunswick Museum.

Celebrity Paddles: Gabriel Acquin's Canoe Paddle

A while back, I came across this intriguing print on LiveAuctioneers.com with the listing title of "Original Albumen Photograph American Indian Guide".


"INDIAN GUIDE, c. 1870".
Details from the site mentioned a date of circa 1870. An original period photograph, it measures 2.25" x 3.5" and is housed in a beveled 5.25" x 8.25" period mat. The subject, according to the pencil notation below the image, "INDIAN GUIDE, c. 1870", is seen standing leaning on a canoe paddle. Unfortunately, no details regarding the identity of the subject were available.

Later, thanks to an email from blog reader Luc Poitras, I learned the image is of Gabriel Acquin, a Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik) guide who was the first to permanently settle on land that would eventually become St. Mary's First Nation.


Gabe Acquin (St. Mary's), c. 1866
University of New Brunswick Archives
In the photo Acquin is holding a rough looking paddle with an elongated grip typical of this region. Found a detailed bio page that mentioned some pretty neat stuff about the man. Here's an excerpt...

A turning-point in Gabe’s life occurred in 1860 when the 18-year-old Prince of Wales visited Fredericton. Passing by Government House in his canoe, Gabe was hailed by the prince, who asked for a ride. Against the remonstrances of equerries and household, Gabe paddled the future king across the river and into the mouth of the Nashwaak River before returning. Gabe was subsequently invited to England, first in 1883 as one of Canada’s entries in the International Fisheries Exhibition in London. With his canoe and wigwam and wearing an outfit beaded by his wife, an extraordinarily talented craftswoman, he set up camp on the ponds of South Kensington, renewed old friendships with royalty and officers he had known, and became, in the words of William Austin Squires, “the greatest social lion of the day.” Gabe is reputed to have gone to England again in the 1880s though this claim is undocumented. He was 82 when he took his last trip there, in 1893–94 with Paul Boyton’s World’s Water Show.

Late 19th century unfinished Birch Penobscot

Traditional paddle maker Luc Poitras has come across a fine looking antique paddle for sale on Ebay and sent the info to post on the blog. The seller claims it is a 19th century Penobscot paddle carved in birch. Below is the seller's description:

A Penobscot Native American (Indian) canoe paddle carved in birch. It is a classic form, but more elegant and graceful than usual. The handsome surface is untouched, and some of the tool marks from its construction are still on the blade. It is 63-1/4" long by 4-7/8" wide. There is a bit of wear and roughness at the bottom of the blade, but no other condition issues.

The seller has also postings for a variety of other ethnographic items worth looking at, including many crooked knives and birchbark baskets with porcupine quill decoration.

c1878 York Sunbury Maliseet Replica: Part 1

Another paddle is in the works. For a few months now, I've been intending to replicate the c1878 Maliseet Paddle from the York Sunbury Museum...see posts here, here, and here.



c1878 York Sunbury Maliseet Paddle

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), I made a carving error with yellow birch stock that was originally sourced for this paddle. Instead, I ended up with a custom design influenced by the Maliseet / Passamaquoddy paddle at the McCord Museum.

Luckily, another board of Yellow Birch was on hand and I ended up chopping out the rough outline with the axe. Given the pressure of using up my last yellow birch board, I didn't end up taking pics of the chopping process (most readers have seen enough of those pics I'm sure.) Unlike last time, this board was much easier to work with an axe,  spokeshave and crooked knife without tear out and catastrophic results. After working out the general shape without wrecking the blank and cleaning up the paddle with the spokeshave, the following pic just after Toronto received a paltry speckling of wet snow that was typical of this year's "winter" in the city.






The backyard workshop

Over the next few weeks, the paddle was worked on whenever time and weather permitted. The board stock for this one was originally 6/4 which meant that the paddle started off a little thicker than the usual 5/4 boards I source out. A decision was made to leave the shaft oval shaped rather than round like is usually done with my other creations. Furthermore, the last few paddles have been  thinned and carved to be very flexible as users. Since the original highly-ornamented paddle was likely for ceremonial purposes and not for daily usage, it was  decided to leave  it a little thicker than usual and maintain  a bit more stiffness than what I usually prefer in my user paddles.

Springtime in the backyard workshop

Here's a shot of the wetted paddle. A little bit more scraping to remove the raised grain and she'll be set for the beginning of the decoration phase.

Luc Poitras, a fellow paddle carver, emailed  a question about the woodburning equipment I use so in the future update, I'll be sure to include details and pics of the equipment and technique.

This weekend is a holiday here in Canada and the marks the unofficial start to the canoeing season. We're heading up north as well where my canoes will finally hit the water after a winter of hibernation storage. Hoping to test this one out and get some pics of my last few paddles as well.


Sept 1, 2012 UPDATE: Part 2 has been posted online