Royal Trust circa 1860 Mi'kmaq Paddle Reproduction

The British Royal Family has recently consolidated all of their acquired artworks and historic gifts into a new collection called the Royal Collection Trust. Included in this monumental global collection of artefacts are First Nations items gifted to various royal members during their visits to Canada.

A fascinating set is a Mi'kmaq sourvenir bark canoe that came with two dolls, two pair of paddles, a fishing spear and miniature basket. The set was presented then 18 year old Prince Albert Edward (the future King Edward VII) during his first visit to Canada in the summer of 1860.

Mi'kmaq Model canoe and dolls  1860

RCIN 84332

Royal Collection Trust

© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016

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The paddle set showcases two similar designs which look like two larger stern paddles and two smaller paddles with pole grips used by the bow paddler. Both feature a pointed spear-like tip

Mi'kmaq model paddles 1860

RCIN 84332

Royal Collection Trust

© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016

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While the model canoe is obviously not a true replica, being decorated with dyed porcupine quills and lacking an accurate number of ribs, the paddles do match some existing artworks from the era.

Paddle Detail from Wigwams at Pointe de Levy, Lower Canada

ca. 1836

Artist:  Whitmore, George St. Vincent, 1798-1851.

Credit: W.H. Coverdale Collection of Canadiana

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I decided to reproduce the larger stern paddles with the flattened grip section adjusting to my preferred paddle length and scaling the grip width down to more realistic dimensions. The spear tipped blade is very quiet in the water compared to wider blade tips creating much less splash during each paddle stroke. As the originals were left un-decorated, I simply burned the paddle details into the face of the blade.

Antique Oar & Paddle Set

Unfortunately, no details on this set of antique paddles / oars found on a stock photo site...

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Musee de Quai Branly Cree Replica

Back in the summer I was working on three more historic replicas. One of the paddles was a reproduction of a pole-grip, Cree paddle dated to circa 1930-1935. The original with a black painted blade is in the Musee de Quai Branly in Paris, France.

Pagaie

Géographie :  Amérique –  Amérique du Nord –  Canada

Culture :  Amérique –  Cree

Date :  1930-1935

Dimensions et poids :  158.5cm  x 12.5cm, 647 g

Donateur :  Paul Coze

Précédente collection :  Musée de l'Homme (Amérique)

Numéro d'inventaire :  71.1931.44.155

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My version was made from a nearly flawless piece of spruce, hewn down with an axe and finished with a crooked knife. It turned out ok except for a cumbersome knot at the top of the pole grip which created a slight bulge in an otherwise straight shaft. Since coming back in the city, the blade has been painted to match the original. In a bit of new twist, I left a portion of the blade fast natural where the paddle details were burned.

The plan is to include this interesting design in a future display of more historic paddle designs, similar to the one made in 2018 for the WCHA Assembly

1837 "Indian" Canoe paddle - Michigan

Found on a past listing on LiveAuctioneers:

A 19th Century Native American Michigan Canoe Paddle.  Old hand written note attached that reads "Indian Canoe Paddle 1837 Found in Grand River near mouth of Bellamy Creek, by T.B. North…of 1837-16 Years old at that time".  Very worn with some separation and losses.  57 1/2" long.  

c.1914 Smithsonian Chippewa Knotty Spruce Paddle Replica

It's been over 10 years since I built a small birchbark canoe and the spruce board building bed has been sitting idle in the cottage garage since then. With space running out, a decision was made to cut up and use some of of the wood and see if more paddles could be carved. Back then, the boards were simply selected for to be free of warping. Plenty of knots didn't matter. As such, there really wasn't any clear sections with grain ideally suited to an attractive looking paddle.

However, I recall posting about a paddle described as a "Chippewa Woman's Paddle" listed in a dated publication from the Smithsonian's Bureau of American Ethnology.

Bureau of American Ethnology

BULLETIN 86 - Chippewa Customs

1929

Plate 53

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The original caption from the bulletin also included the following description:

The specimen illustrated is a woman's canoe paddle (pl. 53, a) and is 4 feet 10 inches long, with blade 22 inches long and 4 1/4 inches wide. A man's paddle is usually heavier, longer, and of a somewhat different shape...

The Smithsonian also has the original black & white photo used in the publication. While the bulletin and article was published in 1929, the archival record mentions the photo is dated to 1914.

Negative 596 D 79, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Creator:   ANONYMOUS

Title:   Canoe paddle (left) and snow shovel (right)
Provenance:   Submitted by Frances Densmore.
Culture:   Chippewa, Ojibwa Indians
Local Number:   NAA INV 9277300
OPPS NEG 596 D 79

This 100+ year old knotty paddle was the inspiration needed to use some of the plank boards. I started with a 60inch piece of the board and used a saw to cut various stop cuts along the shaft and blade. Then hacking away with the axe, the basic paddle shape emerged...

The blade was also thinned down with an axe and then the rest worked down with my home-made crooked knife that has served well over the years. The knots certainly dulled the blade and made carving a bit tricky, but in a leisurely afternoon a functional paddle emerged from the wood stock.

In keeping with the rough nature of the original inspiration, I smooth the carving as best as I could but left all the knife marks on the paddle. It won't be sealed so it the surface can develop a weathered patina, but a description of the paddle has been burned onto the blade face...