Dugout - Hull Of An Outrigger Canoe
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1 Apr 1895
name: label: Collector
content: Mr. Harry J. Moors
label: Donor Name
content: Mr. Harry J. Moors
notes: label: Notes
content: Anthropology Conservation Lab records from 7/1978 on this artifact note that old numbers 159943 and 71743 were written on this artifact. Collins Ms. p. 1357 describes this canoe (under old Division of Engineering number 159943): "Samoan Dugout Canoe. A type of outrigged canoe very commonly used at the Samoan Islands. Full size. Apia, Samoan Islands, 1893. Gift of H. J. Moors. An open, keeless, round bottom dugout; one end [the bow] sharp and nearly vertical, the other having a long overhang and somewhat of cigar shape in form, rising up in a long easy curve from bottom [the stern]. Dimensions of canoe: Length, overall, 17 feet 4 inches; width, extreme, 12 inches; between gunwales, 9 inches; depth, 10 5/8 inches." Collins Ms. also lists accession number of 29233.
label: Notes
content: Catalogue card erroneously lists Peter R. Trone, Quartermaster of Marines, in collector section. Curator Dr. Saul Riesenberg noted on the card that the canoe was catalogued as from Samoa, but Peter R. Trone had commented that he had seen a boat like this at Kapingamarangi, Caroline Islands. Riesenberg goes on to say that Trone "... evidently had gotten mistaken as to the place because the type of boat is distinctly Samoan (different from the Micronesian type)." This information is also on the card: "Cross section is so narrow that a man can only get one leg in as he sits on the gunwale."
label: Notes
content: Canoe has a patch/native repair towards the stern end. Adze marks are visible on interior of dugout canoe hull.
label: Notes
content: In 2018, an outrigger float/balance log and two booms were found stored as part of canoe # E160416, but were determined most probably to belong with E307212 instead, and have been so labelled.
label: Notes
content: The Wa'a Project, established by Joshua Bell, Curator of Globalization (NMNH), included a Recovering Voices Community Research Visit June 16-27, 2018. The visit brought master and apprentice Hawaiian and Māori canoe carvers and builders to study E164016-0, a historic Hawaiian wa'a (canoe). The group included: Raymond Bumatay, master Hawaiian canoe carver; Alexander 'Alika' Bumatay, master Hawaiian canoe carver; James Eruera, master Māori canoe carver; Bryce Motu, apprentice Māori canoe carver; Leslie 'Les' Matiu (O'Connor), apprentice Māori canoe carver; Kālewa Correa, Curator of Hawai'i and the Pacific at Smithsonian's APAC; Alexis Ching, apprentice Hawaiian canoe carver and documentary book maker; Dino Morrow, documentary photographer; Shannon Hennessey, APAC intern. Ray Bumatay and James Eruera noted that this is a fast canoe due to the line and the high breakwater. There is a slight curve to the bow that allows it to move quickly. They believe this is the canoe that the long black "false mast" belongs to that was erroneously included as part of E160416-0 (the Hawaiian wa'a). They believe the "false mast" is actually the ama/float for this canoe.
label: Notes
content: Dimensions match almost exactly those given by Buck (1930: FIgure 219) for the Paopao canoe (small outrigger - common, and apparently no special rituals associated with their construction (vs. elaborate plank canoes/bonito canoes).
label: Record Last Modified
content: 14 Mar 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 4
place: label: Place
content: Apia, Upolu Island, Samoa (Western Samoa), Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Samoan
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 029233
label: USNM Number
content: E307212-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Canoe
physicalDescription: label: Height - Object
content: 43 cm
label: Depth - Object
content: 33 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 531 cm