The Indian crafts of William and Mary Commanda

Gidmark, David

McGraw-Hill/Ryerson

In this groundbreaking book, David Gidmark reviews the early history of bark canoes, providing readers with an overview of construction methods and featuring the individual techniques of four traditional 20th-century Algonquin craftsmen and their assistants. Detailed descriptions of their step-by-step construction methods are included, and the adoption of tools and methods from non-Indian culture as shortcuts are noted (such as the use of canvas and roofing tar, duct tape and C-clamps). A chapter on paddlemaking in the native tradition completes the book. 
 Building a Birchbark Canoe: The Algonquin Wâbanäki Tcîmân is one of the most significant studies of Algonquin birchbark canoes and their construction. The author is one of the few outsiders to have learned the ancient craft of birchbark canoe making from the Algonquins, and in Building a Birchbark Canoe, he not only shares this skill but invites readers to appreciate the cultural significance of an elegant and practical craft that might otherwise be lost to history.

Building a Birchbark Canoe: The Algonquin Wabanaki Tciman

Engineering & Transportation

Alsford, Denis

Transportation

Stackpole Books

Discusses the history and cultural significance of Indian crafts and provides instructions for creating several projects

The Indian Crafts of William & Mary Commanda

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Crafts & Hobbies

The Algonquin Birchbark Canoe

Shire Pubns

Thoroughly enjoyable reading. Particularly informative is his depiction of the arduous task of entering another culture and being accepted by its people. The many fine photographs help bring this ancient craft and Gidmark's story to life. David Gidmark's long odyssey, from first watching a canoe built by whites...on the south shore of Lake Superior to his field work among the Algonkin Indians of Quebec, apprenticeship with master canoe builders and final ability to construct one on his own is told in an engaging style.

Birchbark Canoe: The Story of an Apprenticeship With the Indians

History

Americas

General Store Pub. House

Discover the dying art of birchbark canoe building as seen through the eyes of someone who is passionate about it. In this book David Gidmark tells the story of the building of a traditional birchbark canoe and his apprenticeship learning the skills and the language of the Algonquin of western Quebec. 
 Through learning how to do (how to strip the bark from the tree, fashion gunwales from the cedar logs, carve the ribs with a crooked knife and sew the huge sheets of bark onto the frame with spruce root) David Gidmark learns how to see the wilderness and relate to it in Algonquin ways that are very different from ours. As his knowledge increases, so does his respect for the culture and wisdom of native peoples. 
 Part way through this odyssey, he meets his future wife, Ernestine, a young Ojibway woman who was taken at the age of five from her family and placed in a residential school. As she and David made a life together in the woods, she was able to begin relearning her language and culture.

Birchbark Canoe: Living Among the Algonquins

Firefly Books

This book combines practical woodworking technique with practical canoe use experience... [It] covers every single aspect of canoe paddle building. -- Sawdust and Shavings 
 Despite the growing interest in making paddles and canoes, it can be difficult to find reliable information on that craft -- except for this book. First published more than a decade ago and having sold 35,000 copies, Canoe Paddles: A Complete Guide to Making Your Own is the ultimate modern guide to the traditional craft for both the how-to beginner and the skilled woodworker. 
 In Canoe Paddles: A Complete Guide to Making Your Own, longtime canoeist and woodworker Graham Warren provides detailed information and guidance to make a canoe paddle that will be used with confidence and cherished for generations. 
 The book is thoroughly illustrated with photographs, line drawings and plans with measurements for: 
<ul>
<li> How to make a paddle having a single blade, a bent shaft, or double blades</li> <li> How to protect a paddle with oil or varnish</li> <li> What to look for when test-driving a paddle</li> <li> How to decorate a paddle</li> <li> How to care for and repair a paddle. </li>
</ul>
 The authors include an appreciation of the evolution of the paddle plus a special chapter by renowned canoe-buuilding teacher David Gidmark which celebrates paddle-making in the native tradition.

Canoe Paddles: A Complete Guide to Making Your Own

Warren, Graham

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Books by Gidmark, David