Canoe carving teaches tribal traditions to youth
Share
Tweet
Wikimedia
The start of a dugout canoe, similar to the one being worked on by Jameson and the Lapwai students.
LAPWAI, IDAHO-How do you help children enjoy a sense of their heritage? Nez Perce Tribe member Julian Matthews thought that enlisting the kids' help in carving a traditional canoe might accomplish the purpose.
Matthews and others first felled a thick fir in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and hauled it down behind Nimiipuu Health. Matthews' friend, carpenter James Jameson, identified the heavy side of the 23-foot log by floating it in water, and then the two men and tribal members from Kalispell, Mont., started the process of shaving the canoe and then carving out the canoe in a tradition...
For access to this article please
sign in or
subscribe.
