canoe maker

Historic Paddle Illustration - Women Collecting Wild Rice

On Archive.org I came across another work of Henry Schoolcraft entitled The Indian tribes of the United States: Vol 1 (1884). The detailed text contains lots of info regarding history, religion, arts, language, etc. Included amongst the many illustrations is a drawing of three Indians in a canoe along a shoreline gathering wild rice.


Collecting Wild Rice
One holds a very long paddle, probably used for poling in the shallows, while the others use tools to beat grains of rice from their stalks. The grip is also a simple flattened taper, more evidence that this style of grip seems to be commonly used in the past and forgotten by today's manufacturers.


Paddle closeup
Apparently, the image was originally painted by Seth Eastman in 1857 and originally titled, Chippewa Women Gathering Wild Rice. Found a link to one watercolour version here...


Chippewa Women Gathering Wild Rice, c 1857