Traditional Birchbark Canoes
Built in Malecite, Abnaki, old- form Algonquin and Fur-Trade era styles

Henri Vaillancourt

18 foot Fur - Trade style birchbark canoe
16 foot St. Lawrence River Malecite birchbark canoe		14 foot Abnaki style birchbark canoe

Full size birchbark canoes	Scale model birchbark canoes	The Trust for Native American Cultures and Crafts	Native technology videos and DVDs	Native technology books
Traditional paddles	Crooked knives	Home	Materials	About the builder

Since 1965, Henri Vaillancourt has been involved in the building and research of traditional Indian birchbark canoes and other aspects of Native material culture. His handmade canoes are built along the lines of the birchbark canoes once used by the Malecite , Abnaki , and Algonquin tribes , as well as those developed by the French during the Fur Trade period . They are sought after by museums and collectors throughout the U.S.,Canada, Europe, and Japan and are known for their elegance of line and fineness of construction. He also makes scale model birch bark canoes, as well as traditional hand carved paddles with incised line decoration in the Malecite tradition. In 1977, he and his associate Todd Crocker founded the Trust for Native American Cultures and Crafts for the purpose of recording the rapidly disappearing material culture of the northern Native people. Working among the Cree, Montagnais, Attikamek and Algonquin tribes, they documented on video, in still photographs, and in field notes the making of traditional birch bark canoes , snowshoes, toboggans , moccassins and other leather work, the tanning of hides, as well as the day to day life in the winter hunting camps. This material is available in VHS and PAL format video tape, DVD, and in books and pamphlets .

 

Ordering Information

For more information not included on this website:

email henri5@birchbarkcanoe.net 
phone 603-878-3616

or write Henri Vaillancourt
PO Box 142
Greenville, New Hampshire, 03048

Website by Rick Blanchette