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artwork PublicSecwépemc Nation (sample)

A Cottonwood Dugout Canoe at Soda Creek

A dugout canoe carved from a single cottonwood log, photographed by Harlan I. Smith in 1913 on the bank of the Fraser River at Soda Creek, British Columbia. Soda Creek is the home of the Xatsull First Nation, the northernmost community of the Secwepemc Nation, and Smith noted the same canoe type in use upriver in Dakelh (Carrier) communities at Quesnel and Fort George. Cottonwood dugouts were the workboats of the upper Fraser, carved with adze and fire.

Provenance & attribution

Attribution
Harlan I. Smith, Canadian Museum of History, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
License
CC BY-SA 4.0
Rights holder
Canadian Museum of History
Contributed by
A community memberJuly 4, 2026
Approved
July 15, 2026Reviewer not recorded

Sourced for demonstration, pending community review. This openly licensed material stands in for community content until an Elder or community authority reviews it. It is not presented as authoritative culture and can be removed or revised on request.