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Actions Displays	Canoe paddle Remove from selection Add to selection Reproduction Download mediaDownload as zip file Object number17203 TitleCanoe paddle DescriptionCanoes and kayaks have a long and varied history associated with the First Peoples of Canada and North America. Whether used for travelling or trade, competition or for pleasure, they all required skilled use of this object – the paddle. Dating from the 19th century, it has been hand crafted from wood, its leaf-shaped blade tapering to a pointed tip. The decoration has been painted in a striking red and black: depending on which way you look at it, could there be the image of a person, portrayed with a powerful stance? Despite its beauty, the paddle is a tool, whose form follows its function in much the same way as the boats it was used to propel. Across Canada and North America, people built and used boats which worked best for the climate and waterways of the area in which they lived. They used local materials with great skill and ingenuity. In the cold waters of the far north, closed-deck kayaks were essential; large, heavier dug-outs were suitable for ocean travel on the West Coast; light-weight bark canoes, which could be lifted and carried around rapids or waterfalls, were the preferred choice for the continent’s great lakes and rivers. Production placeSolomon Islands Object nameCanoe paddle

Reproduction

Download mediaDownload as zip file

Object number17203

TitleCanoe paddle

DescriptionCanoes and kayaks have a long and varied history associated with the First Peoples of Canada and North America. Whether used for travelling or trade, competition or for pleasure, they all required skilled use of this object – the paddle. Dating from the 19th century, it has been hand crafted from wood, its leaf-shaped blade tapering to a pointed tip. The decoration has been painted in a striking red and black: depending on which way you look at it, could there be the image of a person, portrayed with a powerful stance? Despite its beauty, the paddle is a tool, whose form follows its function in much the same way as the boats it was used to propel. Across Canada and North America, people built and used boats which worked best for the climate and waterways of the area in which they lived. They used local materials with great skill and ingenuity. In the cold waters of the far north, closed-deck kayaks were essential; large, heavier dug-outs were suitable for ocean travel on the West Coast; light-weight bark canoes, which could be lifted and carried around rapids or waterfalls, were the preferred choice for the continent’s great lakes and rivers.

Production placeSolomon Islands

Object nameCanoe paddle