Figure 97
Fiddlehead of Scraped Bark on bow and stern of a Montagnais birch-bark canoe at Seven Islands, Que., 1915.
Figure 98
Disk of Colored Porcupine Quills decorating canoe found at Namaquagon, Que., 1898. Within the 4-inch disk may have been an 8-pointed star.
The Têtes de Boule lived in an area where very superior materials for birch-bark canoe construction were plentiful. This, with the need for canoes imposed by the numerous waterways and the demand for canoes from white traders, made many of the tribesmen expert builders. Their small canoes, ranging from the 8-to 12-foot hunter's canoes to the 14-to 16-foot family canoes, were very similar in profile to the canoes of the St. Francis Abnaki. The Têtes de Boule canoes, however, were commonly narrower on the bottom, and in their construction a building frame was always used. The Têtes de Boule model was straight along the bottom for better than half the length and then rose rather quickly toward the ends. Similarly, the sheer was moderate amidships and increased toward the ends. The stems showed a chin and were much peaked at the gunwale ends. Most commonly the midsection had a flat bottom athwartships and a well-rounded bilge, giving the topsides, near the gunwale, a very slight outward flare. Some Têtes de Boule canoes had rather V-section ends in which the endmost rib was "broken" at the centerline. As a result the lines were sharp and the canoes paddled very easily.
Figure 99