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    Passamaquoddy Birchbark Canoe

    Photograph
    Photographs of a birchbark canoe made under the guidance of David Moses Bridges for the Wabanaki Museum in Indian Township, Maine in the early 2000's. This collection of images shows details of the canoe construction, including traditional Passamaquoddy designs incised into the ends and middle of the canoe. Tightly bound spruce root lacing, tapered cedar ribbing, sealed with spruce gum are given a liberal annual coating of bear grease, allowing the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Donald Soctomah to continue to use the sleek and elegant watercraft. Images made by the Dennys River Historical Society for its 2022 summer exhibition are courtesy of the Wabanaki Museum in Indian Township, Princeton, Maine.

    Digital

    David Moses Bridges talks about the history and process of making birch bark canoes.

    Passamaquoddy Birchbark Canoe; Composite image of a birch bark canoe made by David Moses Bridges and others in 2003, at the Wabanaki Museum in Indian Township, near Princeton, Maine.
    Bow of Passamaquoddy Canoe Traditional design on Passamaquoddy Canoe; Detail of the gunwale and patters inscribed on the mid section of a birchbark canoe at the Wabanaki Museum in Indian Township, Maine. Inside view of a Passamaquoddy made birchbark canoe; View of the ribs and interior framework of a birchbark canoe made by Steve Cayard and David Moses Bridges in 2003, at the Wabanaki Museum in Indian Township, Maine Passamaquoddy Canoe displayed by Donald Soctomah; End view of the birchbark canoe made by Steve Cayard and David Moses Bridges for Passamaquoddy historian Donald Soctomah, at the Wabanaki Museum in Indian Township, Maine. Donald Soctomah explaining Passamaquoddy Canoe building to DRHS museum staff.; Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Donald Soctomah discusses birchbark canoe making with Dennys River Historical Society President Ronald Windhorst and Curator Melina Jaques at the Wabanaki Museum in Indian Township in 2018. Tribal members with Passamaquoddy Canoe; Three members of the tribe pose with a life size photographic reproduction of a Passamaquoddy birchbark canoe at an exhibition at the Academy-Vestry Museum in Dennysville, Maine, during the summer of 2022. They are, left to right: Donald Soctomah, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, his grandson Donald Soctomah, and tribal linguist Dwayne Tomah. DRHS President Windhorst and Mary Peabody with the Passamaquoddy Canoe; Historical Society President Ronald Windhorst and Membership Secretary Mary Peabody share a story at the Academy Vestry Museum in Dennysville during the summer of 2022.