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This information was automatically generated from data provided by MOA: University of British Columbia. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Description

Carved wood paddle with a diamond-shaped blade. The blade and the lower shaft are painted red while the upper shaft is painted black. Handle grip mortised and nailed onto the shaft and painted red. Black painted panel on the blade contains designs of a raccoon in grey and a curved shape in orange. These designs appear on both sides of the blade.

History Of Use

Anthropologist Homer Barnett notes that: "Paddles were made of yellow cedar, yew and maple. Those of maple and cedar were painted, the mem's being black, the women's red. A smoky pitch fire and oil gave an impenetrable black. Ocher or an alder-bark infusion supplied the red. Practically, the colouration protected the wood and, so some say, prevented the glint of sunlight on a moving paddle (1955:116)."

Cultural Context

water travel

Narrative

This is a man's paddle. Its diamond shaped blade differentiates it from the woman's paddle which has a round or pointed end, while river paddles are distinguished by a triangular notch cut into the bottom of the blade (see Elmendorf 1960:188-189).

Item History

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