Canoe burn and inaugural powwow connect city to Indigenous tribes

NEW BEDFORD — A four-ton white pine has made its way to the grounds of the Community Boating Center on Padanaram Avenue. The interior of the massive tree, which was originally 100 feet tall, will be slowly burned and hollowed away through a round-the-clock process dating back almost 10,000 years. 

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This is a traditional mishoon or canoe burn, a practice connected to the Indigenous peoples of the Northeast. A tree is slowly hollowed out by burning layers of wood with hot coals and small fires, usually over seven to 10 days, though it can go quicker. The outer parts of the wood are cooled with water to prevent cracking and the charred interior layers are scraped away, to gradually form the canoe shape. The fire tempers the wood and leaves the finished canoe water-resistant. 

The canoe burn began on Monday, Oct. 19, and is expected to be completed this weekend. It comes in coordination with inaugural New Bedford Powwow, set for this Saturday, Oct. 24, at Fort Taber Park and Community Center, from 12 to 5 p.m. 

The powwow will feature head dancers Hartman Deetz and Kuwah Deetz, and Iron River as host drum, or the musical leadership for the gathering. It’ll also include dance competitions and vendors from local Indigenous tribes selling food and other items, such as jewelry. 

Powwow organizer and Wampanoag nation member Isidro Thomas said holding the powwow was crucial considering the number of Indigenous people living in New Bedford. 

“Why do we not have an event like this and other towns do?” asked Thomas, an events coordinator for the New Bedford Parks, Recreation, and Beaches Department. 

He said it made it even more significant that the powwow was able to coincide with the canoe burn, as both are seminal Indigenous practices occurring on Indigenous lands. 

“This was all Wampanoag territory,” Thomas said. “When was the last time this land and skies saw smoke rising from this event? When was the last time we had a Wampanog social gathering here?” 

The canoe measures 20 feet long, will weigh about 1,200 pounds at the end of the process, and will seat four to five people. These creations represent a deep connection to the natural world and also display tribal representation. 

Community Boating Center Executive Director Andy Herlihy said this project, two years in the making, adds another facet to their  goal of getting children to engage with the surrounding South Coast water. 

“It’s a whole other area that we haven’t really spent a lot of time focusing on, with the local Indigenous tribes and really creating this project with them,” Herlihy said. ”When they backed into our lot with this giant tree trunk, it was like, wow.”

Chief Operating Officer Caroline Conzatti echoed that passion for working with children and the community. 

“We’re all about exposing kids to the marine environment, giving them new experiences,” she said, “even potentially exposing kids to a whole new culture.” 

Herlihy said the mishoon will remain in the boating center’s fleet when it is completed. Conzatti said she wants the boat to become a “living thing” at the center, used and cared for over years to come.

“We get kids on all different types of boats,” Herlihy said. “To be able to have this in our fleet of boats, to be able to get kids out on it, it’s going to be super cool,” he said.

Members of the Wampanoag nation will live on the boat center’s campus for the duration of the burn, tending the fire and continuously building out the canoe’s interior, Herlihy said. 

“Just hearing them talk about, as they dropped off the log, the tie-in with nature … it’s going to be really powerful,” Herlihy said.

While the mishoon burn is a one-time event for the boating center, Thomas said he intends for the powwow to become an annual event. 

“I hope that it doesn’t disappear,” he said. “I hope that this sparks more interest.” 

Danielle Bartholet is a journalism intern from Emerson College. Email her at dbartholet@newbedfordlight.org.