Presentation Abstract

Faculty's Name: Robert Goodby

Co-registrant Names:

Type of Presentation: Research Paper Presentation: One or more registrants presenting a research paper

Presentation Title: "Paddling Through Time: The Long History of Canoes in New England"

Abstract:

For thousands of years, canoes were central to the lives of Native Americans in New England. Travel by canoe connected people within and between the major watersheds, creating social and economic alliances and distributing scarce resources to far-flung communities linked by ties of kinship and common culture. European settlers, traders, and explorers adopted Native canoe technology in the 17th and 18th centuries, and a few dozen dugout canoes have since been recovered from the bottoms of ponds and lakes across northern New England. Radiocarbon dates on seven dugout canoes recovered in Vermont and New Hampshire, including two housed at Franklin Pierce University, provide evidence for the survival of this ancient technology into the 20th century in rural areas of northern New England. The use of dugout canoe technology in poor, upland areas of New England by both Native and non-Native people and directions for future research are discussed, along with the recent discovery of another submerged canoe in central New Hampshire.

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