
Bill Gould, a member of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, and Reid Schwarz, a woodworker and toolmaker, launched their first birchbark canoe onto local waters in New Hampshire in the spring of 2021. Over this past summer, the pair built a second birchbark canoe. Twelve feet long and weighing 42 pounds, the canoe took the pair just over 130 hours to craft, from selecting and harvesting the bark, to shaping the ribs and gunwales, to gathering spruce root to lash pieces together. These images offer glimpses into the progression of their work. Bill and Reid have started a third canoe build and are posting their progress on Facebook.
Read our full Community Voices interview with Bill Gould here.
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