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| Barb Koehn, and SRAC's Don Hunt & Tom Vallilee stand below the suspended canoe |
(WAVERLY, NY) Visitors to the Susquehanna River Archaeological Center(SRAC) in Waverly, NY now will be able to enjoy an up close view of an over 100 year old Native American birch bark canoe. Birch bark canoes were being used by the people who inhabited the Great Lakes region since around 1500AD. Just as they were made centuries ago, the canoe at SRAC was created solely with hand carved split spruce, sheets of birch bark, spruce root strapping and sealed with a mix of spruce gum and charcoal. Surprisingly, the canoe is over 13 feet long but only weighs only about 70lbs. This made it the perfect way for the Native Americans to travel where they had to cross from portage to portage, meaning that the canoe would be carried over land to different streams that lead to their destination. As a result, the birch bark canoe was superior to the dugout canoe and any boat that the early Europeans brought to America for travelling on our streams, rivers and lakes.
SRAC’s Deb Twigg explained, “The canoe was donated in 2008 by Waverly native Les Rolfe and until now was not able to be safely displayed. Recently, we had brought the canoe down for a local school field trip, and we decided that moving it around for special occasions was just not a good idea anymore. At that point we contracted with Barbara Koehn who is known well for her work at the Don Merrill Museum, to help us figure out how to suspend the canoe safely. The result is a glimpse into our past that will stay with people long after their visit.”
SRAC is located at 345 Broad Street in Waverly, NY and is open from 1-5pm Tuesdays through Fridays and Saturdays from 11am-5pm. To learn more, visit www.SRACenter.org.
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