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Building a canoe - noe, nowey
Canoes were constructed of a single sheet of bark tied together at the ends with vines. Bark used to make the canoes came from several trees. However, the specific names of the trees were not recorded in the historical literature. The bark from Grey or saltwater Swamp She Oak, Casuarina glauca, Bangalay, Eucalyptus botryoides, and stringybarks such as E. agglomerata and E. acmeniodies was probably used. Hatchets with stone heads were used to remove the bark from the trees. Damaged or leaking canoes were patched with resin from grass trees, Xanthorrhoea spp., and sometimes with the leaves of the Cabbage Tree Palm, Livistonia australis. In August 1788, Governor Phillip commented that it was the season in which they make their new canoes', suggesting that bark for new canoes was commonly cut in winter. Also, a letter from Mr AE Woodlands of Burnt Bridge, Kempsey, who made two of the canoes on display in this exhibition, refers to the need to wait for the appropriate time when the bark is ready to be stripped from the trees.
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