The yaghan canoe

Reconstruction of a Yaghan Bark Canoe

On the basis of ethnographic and historical data, the reconstruction of a bark canoe "YAMANA" was carried out. It was used by the "canoe nomads" from the Beagle Channel to the south, an area known as the Cape Horn archipelago, also reaching the Isla de los Estados. It was also used by its neighbors "alacalufes" from western Tierra del Fuego to the north of the Magellan Strait. Towards the north, along the Pacific coast, and thanks to other woods, the Chonians and in the Chiloé region the Huilches used another boat known as "Dalca".

The last bark canoes were seen in the first decade of the 900, at the Harberton Ranch. According to it, “Clarita Bridges saw a dozen canoes enter the bay.

The work carried out was to recover the techniques they used for the construction of the canoe and how they handled the bark. We learned how to use their tools to peel and then soften the bark so that we could shape it and sew the different parts. To seal the joints they used algae and grass from the region. The navigation was very interesting, being able to see how well it slides on the algae of the region. The boat was quite fragile and for that reason they made one or two canoes per year according to their needs. Also the size depended on the needs of each family since they all moved together. This work is published in the book "Los Yamana, first reconstruction of a bark canoe", published by the Maritime Museum.

Currently they are working to make a larger canoe and test its navigability through more inhospitable places.

Reconstruction work of a canoe, extracted from the book Los Yamana

The most delicate task is to obtain the necessary bark for the construction and for possible later repairs. It happens that to detach the bark of the tree, the yamana waited for the sap to rise, abundantly, towards the top of the tree. That way he could separate it into large one-piece girdles. The expected time was spring and it could be spaced until February, but in the autumn and winter months the debarking attempts were totally useless. With the tree standing, three or four men helped each other to make the incisions and remove the bark. For this, a tree of at least 8 m must be had. trunk, thick, straight, without branches and healthy (without bark injuries or diseases). You need 3 strips of bark of about 60 to 90 cm wide and the necessary length that should not be less than about 4 meters and extra bark for the bow and stern triangles. In the photo we see Jorge May and Moreno Preto, debarking. We found it very useful to store spare bark in some peat (acidic water) for patches or if necessary to replace some part. This happened to us and the peat water preservative was perfect. All the hard external part (woody) is removed from this bark and it is made flexible with fire. It practically becomes a marine plywood. This is the moment where the strip of crust that forms the bottom arches forward and stern. Then the sides are sewn after placing two stringers (from bow to stern) that are rods of an inch and a half approximately that are joined at the ends.

This way we have the bark with the shape of the original trunk. To open it, the weakened ñire rods are placed with a longitudinal cut inside. This makes the canoe open, that is to say, separate the two sides, so strongly that the crossbars must be placed immediately (depending on the length of 5 to 8, actually every 50 or 60 cm.). This makes the canoe stabilize the width (beam) of the boat. The stew was done with sea lion skin, guanaco tendons and the most effective thing with whale beard, which was the plastic of the time. The holes were made with a bird's foot bone awl. These were not put in line but alternately so as not to tear the bark. In all these tasks the man was helped by his family. One of the main tasks in which the woman was in charge was the cooking and caulking of the boat. It was caulked with a mixture of clay, algae, moss, tallow, and dry grass. When this stage of the reconstruction touched us, we prepared ourselves with different elements, including the famous -silastic- that every sailor resorts to as salvation, since we doubted that Thomas Bridges' comments were true. Although what did fail was this plastic sealer since you always work with the wet bark. If it dries, it hardens (loses its natural flexibility) and cracks, dries out, chips remain. Another solution was to rub them with fat on the rest of the crust (outer part). We were surprised by the efficiency of the plaster devised by the Yamanas, and we used it to fix small paths that were produced in the bark due to the misuse of the canoe and strandings on stones, beaches or under sea beds.

The navigation tests were excellent. In the attached photo we see Carlos Vairo testing the navigability of the canoe on the shores of Canal Begle. We were amazed at the maneuverability, speed and load capacity. Since being of small dimensions (3.40 meters in length) it allowed the navigation of two people who comfortably exceeded 155 Kg. This size of canoe was taken from the description made by James Weddell, 9 in 1823, when he used one to replace your lost boat. When we tried rowing in a lanceolate way, it was excellent for us to move on the banks of algae "cachi yuyos" (which are well established on the bottom at about 10 meters deep). The oar does not get entangled in them and propels the canoe with much more speed, whose flat bottom makes it slide smoothly over them in a rapid advance. On the other hand, it has the virtue that these algae totally calm the waters, except in raging storms. Thinking that any sailboat or currently motorized boats are trapped by these algae causing many problems, such as plugging the water inlets to cool the engine or plugging the propeller and rudder, leaving it without steering and starting, in those cases you must maneuver while driving back or cut them with a machete. In our case, we tested it in the Beagle Channel in the areas of Harberton, Estancia Remolino, Bahía de Ushuaia, Ensenada, Isla Redonda, Bahía Lapataia, etc. With the reconstruction, already completed and after sailing the bark canoe, we ask ourselves: primitive means of navigation? Canoe? Of course it was a PRIMITIVE VESSEL, totally adapted to the environment and the inhospitable region where this people lived. He was the greatest exponent of his industry. Without metal tools or elements foreign to the forest that surrounded it, he built these canoe boats that had only the name. It was not a hollowed-out TRUNK. This happened with the arrival of the European and the setback that this meant in their way of life that led them to extermination in just under 3 decades. With the ax given by the European they made log canoes. They also learned to use a small candle, which before they were allowed to propel themselves with leafy branches of the beech as a candle. They were no longer naked, keeping their bodies clean by nature itself, now they wore European clothing where dirt and humidity remained for the duration of their lives.

Reconstruction of the bark canoe exhibited in one of the rooms of the Ushuaia Maritime Museum

The working group was composed of Cecilia Illa, Edith Pancotti, Miriam Corsi, Pedro Esteban (Gato) Curuchet, Moreno Preto, Jorge May. Directed by Carlos Pedro Vairo. Financial Support Jorge, Guillermo, Roberto and Eduardo May. It was filmed by a team from POL TEL (Polish Television). The canoe is currently on display at the Maritime Museum of Ushuaia and the documentary is also shown there. Regarding the advice were Lic. Hernán Vidal, Lic. Ernesto Piana and Oscar Zanola, then Director of the Museum of the End of the World. The preparations were made in 1988, with the work being carried out between 1989 and 1990 in Ushuaia. Rio Pipo places with the support of Moreno Preto "Tolkeyen" and Estancia Moat. The work was filmed by a team from POLTEL (Polish Television) and premiered in 1991 on European Television. Dr. Anne Chapman in her lecture held at the Universidad Marítima de Chile, in Viña del Mar in March 2003, refers to the work of "... Carlos Pedro Vairo and his colleagues, who several years ago did everything in their power to rebuild a yagan bark canoe, as the "original" was in its time, ... they had fruitful experiences with the canoe they made, and an interesting and useful contribution to the subject.