Wabasca Canoes
Greetings from Camrose Alberta! I can tell you a little bit about the Wabasca Canoe but others will know far more. I worked with the Bigstone Cree First Nation from 2002 to 2005...I was helping with some of their innovative health programs at the time. Wabasca is located about 4 hour drive north of Edmonton and is the traditional territory of the Bigstone Cree and they have 5 Reserves in the area. It's lovely forest/parkland country with nice lakes but, in addition to the work challenges, I really went to Wabasca to see if I could locate the Chestnut moulds that were rumoured to be there. Apparently the moulds were sold/donated to the band's Economic Development office after Chestnut went under but others will have more details. I later found out that the moulds were shipped off to places unknown long before I got there and I do hope they didn't end up in a bon-fire. Some of the Bigstone folks I worked with actually built those canoes and several recounted their time in the shop working with mouthfulls of canoe tacks! In terms of wood used, one chap mentioned the boats were made of local tamarack but I don't know whether this is true...northern Alberta has a lot of pine, spruce, poplar and birch so tamarack is a definite possibility: We don't have cedar in the area. They apparently made a number of boats including canoes and freighter-style boats intended for northern customers and every now and then you see them on the WCHA site. Other members of WCHA will be able to provide more details.
For more info on the Bigstone Cree and the Wabasca area, check out their website and hopefully it'll contribute to your own paddling enjoyment. Cheers,