The exterior of the canoe is of birch bark while the frame, thwarts, etc. are of white cedar. The seams are covered with gum from pine trees. The bark has been painted in red and black designs. There are 7 thwarts with seven paddles made of maple. Each is painted, mostly with red paint. The figures are carved of Bago wood; each clothed in cloth leggings and singlets. There are designs or motifs painted on the faces and bodies of the figures. Each figure has a feather headdress.

The canoe and figures are carved from wood.

The persons represented by the carved figures are:

1) Mokomanish: a warchief who distinguished himself in the War of 1812

2) Blackbird: a very distinguished orator

3) Cub-Bear

4) Bird of Day

5) Clap of Thunder at Night: a great warchief noted for his exploits, foretelling of the future by his dreams, his great jealousy and love of liquor.

6) Craw-Fish: carries public dispatches from Post (?) to the seat of Government in Upper Canada (York Ville).

7) A seventh figure appears to have been lost: Esh-quoi-can-nai-be

There are possibly symbols of the thunderbird or the underwater visible on the canoe. There may also probably be the vault of heaven, presented as clouds [or] by the scalloping affect. The use of the colours red and blue on the canoe, as well as seen on the leggings and vest worn, and on the backs of the heads of each man is also likely symbolic. Possibly there were more feathers on the heads in 1823. Some figures can be seen wearing a scarf, the body of one is painted, and another has a red painted arm. The man at the back is wearing moccasins. Alan Corbiere says that in documentary art you don't see this kind of clothing. "When on the war path, men went as lightly clothed as possible.... Four legged creature on the canoe, [has]no tail. Possibly a deer. No lightning, no scaled back on an animal or horns to indicate an underwater being. But they might have painted these to appease the being, to have safe passage on the water....". Medals: chiefs went to the British to get them to recognize the chiefs they had already chosen, to get the British to give them the medals to acknowledge them. So it wasn't necessarily the British who were choosing the chiefs. [The model of the canoe] is the depiction of the group of leaders who brought their men to fight in many canoes. It is a representation of who the war chiefs were. But when you read the documentation, it does sound like it is one war canoe.

(CMH record) NOTE: Catalogue information is taken from notes accompanying the canoe which was apparently contained in a birch bark letter relating to the canoe. Attempts to receive a copy of the contents of this letter have failed (see additional resources). It is impossible to accurately co-relate the descriptions with the carved figures. The males run A-F, and the figures appear to be numbered 1-7. This plus the fact that there are 7 paddles, and 7 places marked on the thwarts of the canoe suggests that at one time a seventh figure was part of the model but is now lost.

(GRASAC research trip) This canoe and the figures are an historical representation of actual people. Allan Corbiere sees it as a diplomatic gift, not made for trade or as a souvenir per se. The figures had their hair plucked when they went on the war path as was the custom. M. wrote a letter on birchbark, 1823, saying he carved this and he wrote that his wife made the leggings and clothing. This letter is in Library and Archives Canada. This canoe and figures depicts 7 war chiefs. The name Mokomanish means Black Hawk or a Black Thunderbird. M. was one of two brothers whose names were both translated into Blackbird. They both fought with the British and distinguished themselves. There was a third brother who sided with the Americans. There is a notion that all the Odawa fought with the British, but there is documentary evidence that even in this one family, some sided with the British, some with the Americans, and some stayed neutral. The British burned the Odawa Fort, and the Odawa remembered this., the Miami affair. The British were concerned in the early part of the war that the Odawa would turn against them. In the letter there is biographical information about these chiefs. M. was an orator; sometimes the orator could be the war chief or the business chief. Alan gives the names of the different chiefs. Details re some of the chiefs adopting Christianity.

Flint Institute, March 1973-July 1973

Art Gallery of Ontario, "From the 4 Quarters", 19 March 1984 - 23 May 1984

Canadian Museum of Nature, "Ethnographic Models", 14 January 1985 - 11 March 1985

Canadian War Museum, "1812", 12 June 2012 - 6 January 2013

1) Taylor, G. "Assiginack's Canoe": Memories of Indian Warfare on the Great Lakes. Beaver. Oct/Nov 1986: 50-53. (see additional resources)

2) McClurcken, James M. GAH-BAEH-JHAGWAH-BUK/The way it happened, A visual cultural history of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa. East Lansing, Michigan, 1991, cover and p. 8.

3) Kent, Timothy J. Birchbark Canoes of the Fur Trade, Vol II. Ossineke, Mich.: Silver Fox Enterprises, 1997, 196-238. Illustrated and detailed notes.

Assiginack, Jean-Baptiste. "Assiginack's Canoe Jiimaan" GRASAC ID 1058 . Located in the Canadian Museum of History, catalogue number III-M-10 a-n.

This record was augmented by Shamina Vastani in February 2024.