The canoes in the Cannery Boat Museum in Glen Haven illustrate the evolution of small watercraft beginning centuries ago when humans first used the Great Lakes water for transportation. The top canoe is a wood dugout canoe most likely from the early 20th century. A dugout is made by hand from a single log. This type of canoe was often purposefully sank and weighed down with rocks when not in use to preserve the hull and prevent it from cracking. This particular canoe was found submerged in Platte Lake. It was made by the local Anishinaabek who lived around Platte Lake and used it for transport and fishing and harvesting wild rice. The yellow canoe is a 20th-century recreational double-ended canoe. The canoe is commercial made, constructed on a cedar frame covered with painted canvas. The interior is varnished. The lower boat is a flat-bottomed wood skiff meant to be rowed. This type of boat was probably locally made and often used for fishing. Local residents, including farmers, fished on the inland lakes and close to shore on Lake Michigan. |
Last updated: October 21, 2020