Chinook Indian Talk

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Answer to the above Quiz......

From:
Date: 1/11/2002
Time: 10:11:16 PM
Remote Name: 204.245.228.217

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The Chinook did not always paint their Cedar canoes. The everyday work boats were often very plain, with little or no finish work, paint, or decoration. However, when the Chinook did paint one, the two basic colors were black on the outside and red on the inside. The paint pigment for the black was charcoal (from burnt wood) and the red pigment came from either red clay (powdered) or, in some cases, a dye made from red berries. The inside of the canoe was red for the the same reason that a pair of boxing gloves are red. They don't show blood. Oftentimes the inside of a canoe could be awash in fish blood from a days' fishing and cleaning. So the inside was most always red. The Chinook built the finest canoes that Lewis & Clark had ever seen. They were carved from a single Cedar log, with the sides carved and smoothed down to an incredible 5/8ths of an inch thick. This was done by (as they say) "by feel"--which makes the canoe construction even more remarkable. There were certain Chinook families that were "canoemakers", being highly skilled in their craft. These skills were handed down from father to son(s) through the generations. To spread the Cedar log to shape after the inside was hollowed out, the canoe was filled with water, and the water was boiled by dropping many rocks into the water, that were heated in a fire. As the water boiled and steamed, longer and longer boards were forced into the center section of the hull to widen the opening out. When the desired hull shape was obtained, everything was allowed to cool, and then the finish work began. The Chinook were very good at "inletting" where bright Mother-of-Pearl "buttons" were set into the canoe, along the outside of the upper rails, for instance.

Next: The Giant War Canoes of the Chinook........

Steady Eddie

Last changed: January 11, 2002