A Solomon Island Plank-built Lashed-lug Canoe in the Canterbury Museum Collection, Christchurch

Authors

  • Paul Clark Flinders University

Keywords:

Austronesian watercraft, Solomon Island canoes, tomoko, plank-built canoes, stitched-plank canoes, sewn boats, lashed-lug frames

Abstract

This paper presents an acquisition history of a 7.3 m six-frame canoe from Sasamunga, Choiseul Island, collected by the Canterbury Museum in 1968. Purpose-built for the museum by local craftsmen in 1967–1968, the vessel presents the observer with a wealth of information on the methods and technology of “plank-built lashed-lug” canoe building from the northwestern region of the Solomon Islands. As well as interpreting information supplied by the master builder at the time of procurement, this paper also discusses some of the structural components and patterns of frame and plank attachment that embrace this finely crafted maritime artefact. Apart from documenting the canoe’s description and provenance for public record, this paper also suggests a possible method for classifying similar plank-built lashed-lug watercraft found in the region.

Author Biography

Paul Clark, Flinders University

Paul Clark is a semi-retired museum curator with 30 years’ experience at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin. Currently a PhD candidate in maritime archaeology and museum collections in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Flinders University, South Australia, his academic background includes a BA from Auckland University, a graduate diploma in maritime archaeology from the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University) and an MA by research from Charles Darwin University. His research interests include colonial collections, maritime material culture, pre-modern and historic watercraft from Southeast Asia and Oceania, shipwrecks, rock art and colonial photography with maritime history themes.

Front cover of December issue

Downloads

Published

2023-12-21

Issue

Vol. 132 No. 4 (2023): Waka Kuaka | The Journal of the Polynesian Society

Section

Shorter Communications

License

Copyright © 2024 by the Polynesian Society (Inc.)

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

Inquiries should be made to:

Dr Marcia Leenen-Young, Editor
The Polynesian Society
c/o School of Māori and Pacific Studies
The University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019, Auckland
New Zealand

email: m.leenen@auckland.ac.nz