Whaling Canoes of the Makah
"Probably the most important factor in the whaling industry of the Makah is the canoe. They procure their food supplies for the most part from the open sea. In the…
From: 1920 C.E. To: 1920 C.E.
Location: Cape Flattery, Washington, United States of America
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From The Whaling Equipment of the Makah Indians by Mr. C. Peterson of Neah Bay and T.T. Waterman, 1920.
The “Chinook” Canoe
Probably the most important factor in the whaling industry of the Makah is the canoe. They procure their food supplies for the most part from the open sea. In the latitude of Cape Flattery the Pacific Ocean is very boisterous, and good boats coupled with good seamanship are essential for a seafaring life. The hunting grounds for whales lie along the shore, and the great animals, especially certain species, sometimes come quite close in, but on the other hand the hunt often takes the Indians entirely out of sight of land.
The halibut banks, also, which are the mainstay of their existence, and more important from the point of view of their food economy than is the killing of whales, lie from five to thirty miles off shore. Under these circumstances, specialization in matters connected with the canoe takes on the very highest importance. Better canoemen than the Makah have probably never existed. I learn also that their boats deserve the very highest place for staunch seaworthiness, coupled with great manageableness and speed.
The Makah use only one type of craft, the so-called "Chinook" canoe.
This type of canoe is a dugout, hewn, except for a superimposed bow and stern piece, from one cedar log. The particular model which is popularly spoken of as the "Chinook" canoe, is illustrated in Figure 2, b. The use of this model is characteristic of the whole of Puget Sound, and of a region stretching some distance to the north and south along the coast. I am not familiar with the exact limits of the area, but the Columbia River is included in it. The use of this canoe characterizes the whole coast of Washington, and a large part of the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The Nootka and Clayoquot, near Nootka Sound, use imposing specimens made along this model. In fact, there is evidence that this type of boat originated with them. They manufacture a large number of the boats which are in use at the present day, and supply them to the tribes on Puget Sound and southward, either directly, or through the Makah.
As pointed out by Swan, the Makah themselves do not make canoes to any great extent, because their territory does not furnish the best cedar. They, however, depend upon the canoe for all purposes, including the winning of their livelihood. The "Chinook" type of canoe used by them in common with other tribes has never been adequately described, so it may appropriately be taken up in detail here. It is as much used by the Makah, and as skillfully handled, as by any tribe, even though they do not as a usual thing manufacture their own boats.
The Name “Chinook”
This word, "Chinook," holds a high place in the affections of the Northwest. Primarily the name of one small sub-tribe, living at the mouth of the Columbia River, it has become associated through historical accident not only with a type of canoe, but also with a certain "jargon language," and with a warm southwest wind. The wind does not concern us here; but the jargon language which passess commonly under the name "Chinook," is, like the canoe, the product primarily of the Nootka, living on the west coast of Vancouver Island, many hundreds of miles to the north of Chinook territory. The term Chinook has long been in use, in connection with the "jargon," and the canoe, and I think this usage, in spite of its inaccuracy, deserves to be followed.
Comparison With Canoes of Other Parts of the Pacific Coast
There is a good deal of similarity in the dugout canoes used by the various tribes along the whole Pacific Coast, including the tribes of Southern Alaska, those of Northern California, and all the coast tribes in between. South of the Columbia River, however, Indian boats are not very large, nor are they at all seaworthy. They are built on what the northern Indians would call a "shovel-nose" model. The bottom, that is to say, is rounded in cross section, but somewhat flatter toward the bow and the stern, which are cut off square, as in the "punt" of civilized communities.
These squared ends are crowned up in a sort of peak, to relieve their clumsy appearance, and among the California tribes a carven ornament rides upon the prow. Such boats are excellent for quiet water, and are quite speedy, but the Indian takes his life in his hands if he goes very far to sea in one of them. This is the type of craft which the great Vancouver mentions, in connection with his exploration at Port Orford, in Oregon, in the year 1792:
"Their canoes, calculated to carry about eight people, were rudely wrought out of a single tree; their shape much resembled that of a butcher's tray, and seemed very unfit for a sea voyage or any distant expedition."
This type of boat is the one used at the present time by the Yurok along the Klamath River, in Northern California, and by their neighbors. Figure 1 shows a characteristic Yurok specimen. This is exactly what we would expect to find, if a knowledge of navigation, and a specialized industry in canoe-making, had become gradually diffused southward from a center somewhere north of the Columbia River.
The same general type of craft is known along the coast of Washington, and a close relative is found among the tribes of British Columbia, but it is used only in navigating estuaries, rivers, sloughs, creeks and other quiet waters. In other words, as we go southward, the size of canoes diminishes and we find fewer models in use, until in northern California but one type, and that a relatively poor one, has survived.
The "Chinook" canoe is in many ways an excellent model. It is very large, is pointed at both ends, and carries lofty carved prow and stern pieces. It is perfectly "fit" for use on the high seas. On the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, and northward among the Indians of the British Columbia coast and Alaska, a slightly different type of canoe is in use. This northern craft differs enough in externals of design from the one last mentioned to be easily distinguishable. If we call the second the "Chinook" model, we may speak of this third type perhaps as the "Northern" model.
These "Northern" canoes, of which the Haida make probably the best specimens, are very large in size, exceeding the "Chinook" specimens (though the latter in extreme cases reach a length of fifty feet or more). The northern boat is also more elaborately ornamented. The main differences in shape are that the northern model has a vertical cutwater, and an oblique stern, while the Chinook model has a sloping cutwater, and is vertical at the stern. These differences are illustrated in Figure 2.
The difference just mentioned has been pointed out by previous writers. Niblack in Plate 3 of his "Coast Indians of Southern Alaska," illustrates it with a plate. In his drawing, however, he has turned his Haida boat end for end, placing the stern where the bow ought to be. This misrepresentation may be the error of his draftsman. Niblack's own remarks, however, seem to indicate that the two ends of the boat are confused with each other in his memory. The bow of the Haida boat, as may be noticed in Figure 2 on this page, does at first glance seem to be designed for a stern.
The best canoes in this Northwestern region, whether of the northern or the Chinook model, show an outward "flare" in the side just below the gunwale. The Makah boats exhibit this feature, and Curtis mentions it as characterizing the canoes of Puget Sound. Its purpose is to keep waves from curling into the boat in rough weather. It hardly seems that so slight a protection could have much effect, yet I am assured that the presence of the flare makes the boat behave quite differently in a sea. The Makah say that the "northern" or Haida boats lack this feature. Niblack, on the other hand, says that the northern models have it, while the Makah or "Chinook" specimens lack it.
The truth very likely is that the use of this flare depends upon the skill of the individual carpenter. The only Haida canoe which I have had a chance to examine (a University of Washington specimen), did not have this feature. I doubt, however. in view of Niblack's remarks, that the lack of it is characteristic of any particular tribe. The "northern" boats, says Niblack, "have projecting prows, high, spur-shaped sterns, flaring gunwales, and a gracefully rounding or curving cross-section, although without any distinct keel.
The latter have the blunt, straight stern, a gracefully curving bow, but a flat bottom, with little curve in the cross-section." This type is "heavier, roomier, stronger, less cranky, and more durable than the Haida type, but the latter is swifter, handier, and more buoyant." The present writer's Makah informant says that the Haida canoe is not so "dry" as the Makah boat, nor is the Haida boat, they say, so easy to handle. The Makah canoe ships no water except in the wildest weather, and is even then easily kept free with a bailer. The Haida canoe, possibly on account of its high stern, is said to be particularly good in a following sea "rating" of canoes
“Rating” of Canoes
As remarked above, most of the tribes of the Pacific Northwest have various styles of craft, for use under special circumstances. For example, they often have flat-bottomed and blunt-nosed canoes for use in still waters, and along creeks and rivers. The Makah spend their time in the turbulent waters around their cape, and use their sharp-nosed sea-going Chinook canoes practically to the exclusion of everything else. The only variant is a small wide boat, "with a stern at both ends," which is used by young people before they can be trusted to handle the big canoes. They use, however, various sizes of canoes. The general term for canoe is tc'?'p.?ts (Chap-ats, in the notation given by Swan).
Niblack mentions four ratings as generally recognized among the Indians:
Hunting and fishing canoes
Family and transportation canoes
Voyaging canoes
War canoes.
Swan groups the canoes of the Makah into four classes. The spelling and accent of the native terms for these ratings differ on different pages of this work. They are as follows:
The whaling canoe, pa-dau-t'hl, pah-dow-thl;
The canoe for six persons, bo-kwis-tat;
A smaller canoe, a-tlis-tat, ar-tlls-tat
A very small canoe used for fishing, ta-ka-au-da, ta-kaow-dah.
Note—Swan's pa-dau-t'hl is probably pada'wL, outfit or equipment. The term probably refers to the equipment of floats, lines, tow-ropes, and harpoons, with which the whaling canoe is laden. His term for the second type, bo-kwis-tat. is explained by my informant as bu-kyi'st, bu = four, kyist = inside. It would seem to be properly a descriptive expression for canoes carrying four persons, not six. His term a-tlis-tat, I cannot identify. His term for the "very small canoe," te-ka-au-da. is apparently tek'eodi'yak (i.e., in the middle one sits). The craft was so small that one could not sit in the stern without capsizing.
Curtis mentions two sorts of canoes, the whaling canoe, "oo'tahsets," and the war canoe, "wi-tuk-ests."
According to my informant there are seven "ratings " as follows:
The "freight" canoe, ci'tLats. This craft is the largest made. Such canoes are employed when people are moving their effects from one locality to another. In some cases even the house timbers are loaded into the canoe, or towed along behind. Occasionally two or three canoes are lashed side by side, and the house planks laid across them to make a platform, spaces being left between the planks to accommodate the paddlers. The Makah do not often resort to this device. If a squall comes up the lashings have to be cast off, or the canoes soon fill.
The "war" canoe. wit?'ks?ts (t?kwi'dak — war). This is given by' Curtis as wi-tuk-ests. The craft is also known as the tLe'iks (expedition or errand boat). It is somewhat smaller than the preceding, and has much less width of beam, in proportion to its length. It is used in warfare, for making ceremonial visits, in connection with marriages and feasts, and is employed for all extended trips. Canoes of this kind combine seaworthiness with speed, but could not carry much cargo without great inconvenience.
The "whaling" canoe. The bottom of this craft is 4 ½ "stretches' of the builder's arms in length.
The "three people" canoe, atL?'kwodiyak. This term is said to be descriptive of the position of the men in the canoe, namely, two men forward, paddling, with a steersman in the sternsheets.
The "sealing" canoe. ye'cab?q?ts ("for two men"). In pursuing the seal, one man paddled while the other planted himself in the bow with the harpoon in readiness. This general method is the one employed by civilized sealers at the present, each boat carrying a "boat-puller," and a "hunter, " the latter with a rifle. The sealing canoe is carefully designed so that it does not splash the water as it surmounts the waves. It carries a "knife-blade" at each end, which cuts the water. The seal are very alert and a boat which squatters over the swells causes them to take alarm. This canoe measures along the bottom 3 1/2 "stretches" of the arms, from tip to tip of the fingers.
The "one man" canoe, tek'eodi'yak (in the middle one sits). This is mentioned in the note above. It accommodates one person only.
The "children's canoe," hupi'duwac (<hu'ped — salmon-trout). This craft is small and, as the Indians say, "has a stern at both ends." In other words, both stern and bow are finished off with a carven piece like the one represented in Figure 1. This boat is paddled about by children, for practice.
Waterman, T.T. The Whaling Equipment of the Makah Indians. University of Washington, 1920.
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