Mashpee Wampanoag dugout canoe on way to Smithsonian

PLYMOUTH — On a visit to the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian four years ago, it was something missing from the collection that made the biggest impression on Darius Coombs.

"They had birch bark, kayak and grass boats, but you didn't see a dugout boat — a mishoon," Coombs, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and associate director of the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at Plimoth Plantation, said.

Today, a journey of nearly 500 miles begins to change all that.

Coombs, Phillip Wynne and Brian Bartibogue will deliver a 16-foot mishoon, a type of canoe, crafted by the men in the traditional Wampanoag way to the Smithsonian's Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Md., for a ceremony Friday. Along with the mishoon, the crew from Plimoth Plantation will deliver a documentary produced by Plymouth Area Community Television featuring tribe members Ramona Peters and Earl Mills Jr.

"It's huge," Coombs said of the honor of having the Smithsonian accept the mishoon. "We've always been on the map, but a lot of people think of the Indians as only being in the West."

The 16-foot, three-person boat was built from a white pine donated by Gurney's Saw Mill Inc. in Freetown. Tribe members went to Freetown, where the process of crafting the mishoon began while the tree was still in the ground. Fire was used to burn off the bark, then the trunk was surrounded in clay so the roots could be burned away, Coombs said.

The rest of the work was done as part of the exhibit at Plimoth Plantation's Wampanoag Homesite. Coombs, Wynne and Bartibogue used a controlled burn to carve out the middle. The detailed work of scraping the boat of charcoal is done using quahog shells. Once finished, goose and black bear fat is rubbed on to prevent cracking.

Indians have been using the same technique for hundreds of years, Coombs said. Boats 600 to 700 years old have been found submerged in water, which is how they were stored by tribe members, he said.

"The controlled burn is the No. 1 technique in woodworking," Coombs said. The work is easier than using steel or stone hatchets to carve the hollow into the white pine, chestnut or red oak typically used for the boats, he said.

Wampanoag would traditionally do the controlled burn 24 hours a day until the mishoon was completed.

Workers at Plimoth Plantation did one that way several years ago ,and it took 4½ days, Coombs said.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at the plantation. Each year, tribe members who work at the homesite make two or three mishoonash as visitors watch and ask questions.

A mishoon was one of the only forms of transportation for the Wampanoag on rivers and lakes. The boats were used for commuting and trade because horses weren't introduced until the 1630s, he said.

Tribe leaders are expected to be on hand for Friday's ceremony in Maryland, Sarah MacDonald, a spokesman for Plimoth Plantation, said.

Wynne, 25, a historian and artisan in the Wampanoag Indigenous Program, said he respects the tribe's traditions and elders who have passed the techniques on to him.

"I'm stoked," he said of making the trip. "I'm overwhelmed and incredibly excited. It's almost surreal. I can't smile enough about it."

The 400- to 500-pound mishoon is scheduled to be loaded onto a truck this morning and will make the trip south on Route 95 today in preparation for Friday's festivities.

"Having a national presence is huge for us," Coombs said.