Gibban

Found another great resource of First Nation art which features many examples of the double curve motif often used to decorate paddles and bark canoes - Symbolism in Penobscot art (1927) by Frank Gouldsmith Speck published by the American Museum of Natural History. This wonderful resource discusses some of the origins and significance of these motifs in Penobscot Culture. It contains some sketched representations of various forms as well as some black and white photos of baskets, garmets, knife handles and other objects. Here's an example: What caught my eye however is a tiny photo and caption on page 43 which describes a piece of birchbark used as a stencil template to make symmetrical patterns on a paddle blade. It seems so obvious and practical instead of drawing these things freehand but it never occurred to me to simplify the decoration process. Anyway, for folks wishing to replicate these intricate designs hope this paddle resource is useful to you.

I recently received a comment from blog reader ManX who provided a link to his paddle project. The original forum post needed to be translated from Italian and from what I gathered, he split a plank from a log of Black Cherry ( P. Serotina ) wood back in 2012 and just recently finished carving a paddle inspired by the c1900 Antique Penobscot paddle posted back in 2011. Penobscot Carved Wood Paddle circa 1900 length: 77 inches His post features plenty more photos but here are few showcasing his work... P. serotina log split 2 cleaned planks End sealed with birch tar The completed paddle Grip Decoration closeup Completed Paddle Oiled In the end he opted for a more ottertail style blade in his final creation. It must have been very satisfying to go from log to paddle after a 3 year wait. Well done ManX!