The indigenous canoe

Indigenous hinterland transport in Guyana has traditionally involved canoes for river travel; in earlier times, the canoe was also used as transport for trade and warfare. Bullock cart, horses or on foot were transport for land travel.

While these remain modes of transportation today in these regions, others now include speedboats, ATVs, bicycles, motorcycles or SUVs, to name a few.

The canoe remains an important mode of transportation for indigenous and non-indigenous Guyanese living in the many remote riverain regions of the country. Many children learn from a very young age to be adept at manoeuvring a canoe.

Where waterways are sometimes the only travel option, in some areas “school canoes” carry some school children to and from school each day in good weather, though motorized vessels are becoming increasingly popular.

Although it is said that a canoe can generally be made of any kind of wood, the hollowed-out stems of the Ité palm are said to be used to make some canoes; the palm’s stem is also split to make paddles. The Manni tree’s trunks are also said to be used to make some dugout canoes and paddles.

Another tree named is the baramali whose bark, among other trees, is said to be sometimes used as raised flooring in the canoe to prevent wet luggage for its occupants should river or rain water collect in the vessel.

In the book “The Guiana Travels of Robert Schomburgk, 1835-1844” the authors states that the Warraus were famed for their ability to fashion a canoe from a single tree trunk, and were the main suppliers of canoes to coastland indigenous inhabitants and foreigners at the time.

In its footnotes it also states that the most popular tree for Warrau canoe-making was the “red cedar” then “white cedar”, though there remains some debate over identifying the exact species.

Some historians note that each area may have a different style from another when making their canoe and as a result its makers can be identified this way.

According to Volume 3: 1986-2013 of “Beacons of Excellence: The Edgar Mittleholzer Memorial Lectures” edited and with an introduction by Andrew O. Lindsay, among the Arawaks there are different styles of men’s and women’s canoe paddles: crafted for heavy work, the men’s are large and sturdy while the women’s paddles are smaller and considered “works of art.”

No one can be certain of the introduction of the canoe to human history, though one, made from pine log, has been discovered in China dated to some 8,000 years ago.

Besides China, evidence of the canoe around the world can also be glimpsed from the traditional African term for “paddling” (with a branch): “poling”.

The canoe is said to have originated from the trunks of fallen trees upon which persons perhaps sat astride and with a branch, paddled from one area to another. These however, had their limitations in rough waters.

Some canoes of the local indigenous were/are made only for the calmer waters of small creeks and rivers. The more seaworthy canoe has its prototype from the nautical vessels of the Carib peoples of the Caribbean, made from large tree trunks dug out, shaped and hollowed to be strong enough for sea travel.

Among the indigenous islanders, seagoing canoes could often carry cargo for trade from one island to another. There are records of early indigenous Guyanese arriving in modern day Trinidad territory in fleets of canoes loaded with vast cargoes of cassava for trade.

Canoes later were made up of “a frame of wooden ribs covered with lightweight bark …” often held together with natural glue.

In modern times canoe building employs modern construction products but bears traditional building techniques passed down over the ages.

The word “canoe” is said to have come from kenu, a Carib word meaning “dugout”. In addition, the Arawak word kanoa is said to mean “a dugout craft used in calm water”.

According to the “Encyclopedia of American Indian History” edited by Bruce E. Johansen Ph.D. and Barry M. Pritzke, “canoe” is derived from the Arawak (Taino) word for “boat”. The Spanish during the time of Columbus’ voyages appropriated the word as “canoa”, to describe the hollowed- out- log-boat propelled by paddles used by the indigenous groups.