加州840英里长的海岸线, extensive network of rivers, and huge freshwater lakes inspired some of the state’s Native American tribes to develop highly advanced boatmaking skills. 充分利用当地可用的天然建筑材料, 部落的工匠们建造了诸如独木舟之类的工艺品, reed boats, and plank canoes that allowed them to move more freely and at greater distances through their worlds, 有时甚至在远离海岸的地方. 这些船只增加了捕鱼和贸易机会, 他们的建设发展成为重要的文化传统.
Like many indigenous lifeways, boatmaking nearly became a lost art as California’s tribes were decimated by disease and displaced from their lands following the arrival of Spanish expedition parties and American settlement. But in recent years, an active effort to preserve and promote boatmaking for future generations has gained momentum. 让bbin游戏官网来看看加州本土的造船传统, as well as ways that you can experience this unique aspect of the state’s Native American heritage.
Redwood Dugout Canoes
The basic approach to building a redwood dugout canoe might seem simple: Cut a large redwood log into two half circles, carve out the inside wood, 把原木做成经得起水的独木舟. 但这个过程要求很高，需要高超的技巧，既是工艺，也是神圣的艺术. 因为对于北海岸的人来说 Yurok, Hoopa, and Karuk, these canoes have a living spirit and ceremonial significance that’s central to their cultures.
As one U.S. 林务局的一篇文章谈到了独木舟对Yurok的重要性, “Losing the materials and knowledge for making redwood canoes would be catastrophic for their culture.”
Canoe builders search for logs free of burn scars and with a tight grain that limits water seepage. 他们先烧小块木头，逐渐挖空圆木, 然后用电铲刮去烧焦的地方, an axe-like tool. Once the log is carved out to a depth of around two feet or more to create the high-sided canoes, fire is used again, 这次是用木材本身的天然树脂来密封木材. 整个过程可能需要几个月, 一艘完工的独木舟可能重达500磅，可伸展20英尺.
多年来，独木舟的制作面临着许多挑战, both because so few people understand this ancient technique and due to the scarcity of suitable redwood logs. Canoe makers only use fallen logs instead of cutting trees down and strict regulations limit the use of wood found on public land.
By most accounts, 只有大约10艘可用的独木舟存在, 使它们成为“世界上最稀有的船只”,Yurok部落的一名成员告诉记者 Los Angeles Times. But such master carvers as the Hupa-Yurok artists and craftsmen George Blake and George Wilson of the Yurok tribe have kept the tradition alive, 现在新一代的人正在学习这门艺术.
一对独木舟是用来引导的 Redwood Yurok Canoe Tours, during which visitors can spend either two or four hours traveling with expert guides up a stretch of the Klamath River. The tours offer a one-of-a-kind opportunity to directly experience the remarkable performance of these timeless canoes as guides introduce aspects of Yurok tribal culture and describe the ecology of the river and forest from a native perspective.
Tule Reed Boats
用芦苇建造小船和独木舟是一种跨越文化的古老习俗, 从中东到加利福尼亚海岸, 北加州的部落在哪里 Coast Miwok, Ohlone, and Pomo 使用这些植物几千年了吗.
Tule reeds work especially well for boat construction because the reeds are lightweight and flexible, 茎的海绵状内部充满了气囊，增强了浮力. 但用这么多的秸秆来制作一艘经得起水的船是一项艰巨的任务. The typical boat requires hundreds of reeds, which are harvested in a time-consuming process. 从造船的角度来看，并不是所有的土都是一样的. 建造者需要在收获时又高又绿的规则. 但在加州的许多地区，芦苇因干旱而变得矮小和干燥.
而在加州湖泊的海岸线上，曾经有大量的芦苇, estuaries, and wetlands, 这种植物的生长范围已大大缩小. 许多芦苇仍然生长的地区都在受保护的公共土地上, 因此限制了它们用于造船的可用性.
After the harvest, reeds are trimmed of flowers and any snags before they’re dried in the sun for several days, or even weeks, to prepare them for assembly. Traditionally, cordage made from tules, grapevines, or cattails was used to bind the reeds into tight bundles to minimize leakage—but not so tightly that the stalks would get crushed, thus destroying the air pockets.
Builders sometimes use lengths of willow saplings to add a simple structural framework as the individual bundles are trussed together. The front ends of the bundles are typically bound into a raised configuration to create the boat’s bow. Some tribes, such as the Kumeyaay in San Diego, also historically used naturally occurring tar-like substances to keep tule boats from taking on water.
一艘制作精良的帆船是一种了不起的船, 土著人用它们穿越湖泊, bays, and sometimes out onto the ocean. 部落和组织，包括 Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe, an Ohlone tribe, have launched programs to teach tribal youth this boatmaking technique. Farther south, Dr. 斯坦·罗德里格斯，导演兼总裁 Kumeyaay Community College on the 库梅亚耶族的司库部落 reservation east of San Diego在世界冲浪联盟(World Surf League)期间，他举办了一个造船工作坊 Rip Curl WSL Finals at Lower Trestles in Orange County.
“这是bbin游戏官网的人民自古以来就做的事情. 这是bbin游戏官网文化的一部分，”罗德里格斯在活动上说. “So when we do this today, bbin游戏官网重新认识到bbin游戏官网在海边的地位, on the coast, in the ocean, 复兴一门几乎失传的本土有机科学.”
In most summers since 2001, the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians 举办为期三天的图勒船节 Clear Lake State Park 向公众开放，有造船、比赛、部落舞蹈和工艺示范. Check the tribal website for schedule updates.
Tomols and Ti’ats
On some days along the Santa Barbara waterfront, you might spot a large canoe that seems to have appeared out of the distant past. 重750磅，长约25英尺, 五六个桨手齐刷刷地划桨, the canoe is a tomol, the traditional craft of the Chumash people. The Tongva他的祖先的土地在更远的南方 Los Angeles建造了他们自己的木板独木舟，他们称之为 ti’ats.
Considered one of North America’s oldest forms of ocean-going craft and one of the most advanced technological achievements of indigenous people on the continent, 工具和工具允许楚马什人和通瓦人进行贸易, fish, and hunt widely along the coast. 这也使他们能够在陆地上建立村庄 Channel Islands.
而其他树木有时也会被使用, redwood logs that had drifted down the coast were the preferred building material for the canoes. The logs were sawed into planks using wedges made from antlers or whale bone before builders pieced the planks together with yop, a blend of pine pitch and the tar-like asphaltum that occurred naturally along the shore. To further strengthen the canoes, builders drilled small holes and used string made from plant fiber or animal sinew to keep the planks connected.
The builders sanded the wood with sharkskin before painting the canoes and adding such decorative touches as abalone shell inlay. 这一过程可能需要6个月才能完成.
楚马什文化的重要组成部分, tomols是由Tomol兄弟会的成员建造的, 部落精英由一个被称为"altomolich.
But the 1,500-year-old tradition nearly died out and few tomols were constructed for nearly 150 years until Chumash tribespeople revived this essential part of their heritage. At the 圣巴巴拉自然历史博物馆’s Indian Hall, you can see a historically significant tomol built around 1913 with the guidance of a Chumash elder, 他是当时少数懂得传统建筑技术的人之一. 通常在9月，丘马什人会划23英里到圣克鲁斯岛. 虽然没有固定的时间表，但你可以在网站上查看更新 Channel Islands National Park and the proposed 丘马什遗产国家海洋保护区. Paddlers also sometimes take tomols out between Santa Barbara’s West Beach and Leadbetter Beach.
