Traditional Birch Bark Canoes 
Henri Vaillancourt

Scale Model Birchbark Canoes

 

12 foot half-scale model of 24 foot Algonquin fur-trade style canoe

 

Since 1965, Henri Vaillancourt has been involved in the building and research of traditional Indian birchbark canoes and other aspects of Native material culture. His handmade canoes are built along the lines of the bark canoes once used by the  Malecite , Abnaki , and Algonquin tribes , as well as those developed by the French during the Fur Trade period . They are sought after by museums and collectors throughout the U.S. ,Canada, Europe, and Japan and are known for their elegance of line and fineness of construction. He also makes scale model canoes, as well as traditional hand carved paddles with incised line decoration in the Malecite tradition. In 1977, he and his associate Todd Crocker founded the Trust for Native American Cultures and Crafts for the purpose of recording the rapidly disappearing  material culture of the northern Natives. Together they documented the making of traditional canoes , snowshoes, toboggans , moccasins and other leather work, the tanning of hides, as well as the day to day life in the winter hunting camps. These skills are available to the public as videos and books.