Ray
Boessel Junior has graciously donated one of his Chippewa-style birch bark
canoes as an auction item for the 2013 CLA show in Lexington. It is a scaled down version (model) of
the larger size he makes at his canoe shop in Northern Minnesota, near the Big
Fork River. It measures five feet
long and almost a foot wide. The
materials in its construction are the exactly the same as his large
canoes. White birch bark is used
for the hull of the canoe with the various pieces stitched together with spruce
roots that have been split for that purpose. The stitched seams are then caulked. The ribs, thwart risers and gunwales
are all made of white cedar.
Ray Boessel
began building bark canoes in 1981 after being taught the craft by his wife
Christy and her grandfather, Bill Hafeman, who produced canoes from 1921 to
1983 through the name of Hafeman Boat Works. Bill and Ray have both received national attention about
them and their craft. Bill was a nationally known and respected bark canoe
builder and in 1982 was interviewed by Charles Kuralt and featured on the CBS
evening news, “On the Road with Charles Kuralt”. In 2008 Steve Hartman did a follow-up on that story for CBS Evening
News, focusing on Ray with this segment.
In the meantime Bryant Gumble also did a special about Ray on the NBC
Today Show in 1994.
Over the years, Ray has made
over 325 full size birch bark canoes, two 26 footers and one twenty footer that
went to the Milwaukee Public Museum.
Of the scaled-down models, Ray said, “I have made at least 100 of
them.” Ray makes a number of
different canoe styles, but the most popular are the Chippewa style which is identified
by the “C” shape of the stern the bow and the Algonquin style, identified by a straighter
bow and stern profile. Ray has
also built Maliseet and Tetes-de-Boule styles.
For
the person wanting to display something from the fur trade era or American
Indian culture, Ray Boessel’s birch bark canoe would make a nice addition in a
home, school, museum or even a place of business.
Ray’s contact information:
Ray Boessel
P.O. Box 121
Big Fork, MN 56628
218-743-3709.
Email: rcboesl@bigfork.com
Copy by Mark Sage.
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