This canoe was a real step up in size for me, it was made for the Coquille (pronounced "Ko-Kwell") Indian Tribe in 2001. "Aludaq" is a Miluk word for "High-Class" canoe. Miluk is one of the languages spoken by the Lower Coquilles and Coos peoples. Many types of canoes were used in the area of Coos Bay, but this type of canoe was mainly recieved through trade from the Alsea and Chinook tribes from up the Oregon Coast. Although, the "Aludaq" was recieved mainly by trade, it was not uncommon for tribal craftsman to make this canoe. We built the hull as a workshop project. The canoe was built with the taped-seam plywood method. The seats are Port Orford Cedar from Coquille tribal forest lands. Shirod and Jason Younker and Don Ivy worked with me in those sessions. I completed the canoe and Shirod did the carving of the cedar nose and tail. He also carved the traditional Coquille paddles seen in the photo. The design involved quite a bit of guesswork. There are no surviving Coquille open water canoes. The print sources say that the Coos Bay canoes were carved like the west coast types found on the Northern Oregon coast and the Washington coast. I designed the underwater portion of the hull to be the same form as the Quiliute Tabil. I modified the above water shape based on a photograph of a large abandoned canoe in the forest near Tillamook Bay. The normal crew is four pullers. ( Out here on this coast, a crew member of a canoe is called a puller ) In calm waters it can carry a crew of six. In light wind it can be operated by a crew of three. This canoe's longer hull is significantly faster and more stable than my earlier shorter canoes. Aludaq is now at the Coquille Tribal office at Coos Bay Oregon.
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