Bark Canoes : The Art and Obsession of Tappan Adney

"This handsomely illustrated work presents a clear and succinct review of the talented, driven, and irascible [Adney]... Recommended." — Choice

The bark canoe was the method of water travel for centuries by native people in North America, making possible hunting, trade, and communication between native groups. Edwin Tappan Adney singlehandedly preserved the fading history of Indigenous bark canoe construction in North America, building 110 historically accurate canoe models, many based on canoes that were the last remaining example of their type. Adney calculated that his canoe models consumed over 20,000 hours of detailed drawing, research and building.

Born in the United States in 1868, Adney lived much of his adult life in Canada, his last years spent almost penniless in a small bungalow in New Brunswick. Canoe research and model building were only one of the passions that drove this extraordinary man. Respected by scholars for his work with canoes, ethnography and Native languages, he struggled against enormous odds to create and preserve his models and papers.

Now owned by the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, 110 of his beloved canoe models have been photographed and are presented here in splendid color. This book is a great resource for anyone interested in the history of North American Indigenous people and how they lived.