Many Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest traditionally carve canoes from cedar. The canoes are made in several styles and sizes, and the larger ocean-going canoes required multiple people to launch. This image taken in late August 1899 shows a group of Indigenous people dragging a cedar dugout canoe towards the waters of Port Townsend Bay. In the late 19th century, many Indigenous people traveled to Port Townsend to conduct trade on the beach. Canoes were often landed backwards, with the prow facing the water, in order to facilitate the next launching. In areas of frequent launchings and landings, the people cleared the beach rocks away, leaving open "canoe runs," some of which can still be seen on certain Olympic Peninsula beaches.
This canoe is of the West Coast style, as seen by its upturned prow made to resemble a wolf head. West Coast style canoes were first created by the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples of Vancouver Island, but they were adopted by many Indigenous groups across the Pacific Northwest because they were more suited to traveling in rougher waters and open ocean.
Caption information source: "Canoes, Lifeways, Waterways," Simon Fraser University, retrieved from https://www.sfu.ca/archaeology/museum/exhibits/virtual-exhibits/canoes--lifeways--waterways.html
