Watap, watape, wattap, or wadab ( or ) is the thread and cordage used by the Native Americans and First Nations peoples of Canada to sew together sheets and panels of

birchbark Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''. The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, craftin ...

. The word itself comes from the Algonquian language family, but watap cordage was used and sewn by all of the people who lived where the

paper birch ''Betula papyrifera'' (paper birch, also known as (American) white birch and canoe birch) is a short-lived species of birch native to northern North America. Paper birch is named for the tree's thin white bark, which often peels in paper like ...

tree grows. The cordage was usually manufactured from the roots of various species of

conifers Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extan ...

, such as the

white spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce ('' Picea'') and may refer to: * ''Picea glauca'', native to most of Canada and Alaska with limited populations in the northeastern United States * '' Picea engelmannii'', native to the ...

black spruce ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labra ...

, or

Northern whitecedar ''Thuja occidentalis'', also known as northern white-cedar, eastern white-cedar, or arborvitae, is an evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is native to eastern Canada and much of the north-central and northeastern ...

, but could originate from a variety of species that sprouted root fibers with sufficient

tensile strength Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), often shortened to tensile strength (TS), ultimate strength, or F_\text within equations, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials t ...

for the required purpose. In a typical manufacturing process, the roots would be debarked, subjected to a lengthy soaking process, and then

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

ed or

boil A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, which is an infection of the hair follicle. It is most commonly caused by infection by the bacterium ''Staphylococcus aureus'', resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by an ...

ed to render them pliable for

sewing Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabr ...

. The roots could be left whole and used as cords, or divided into smaller fibers for

twine Twine is a strong thread, light string or cord composed of two or more thinner strands twisted, and then twisted together ( plied). The strands are plied in the opposite direction to that of their twist, which adds torsional strength to the co ...

.Willow, Anna J. Winter 2010. Cultivating Common Ground: Cultural Revitalization in Anishinaabe and Anthropological Discourse. American Indian Quarterly. Vol 34. No 1. pages 33-60.

Uses

Sewn birchbark panels were employed by the native North Americans of the Upper Great Lakes for a wide variety of purposes; the best-known, and one which required among the highest degree of craftsmanship, was the manufacture of light

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

s. Panels of bark, sewn together with watap and

caulk Caulk or, less frequently, caulking is a material used to seal joints or seams against leakage in various structures and piping. The oldest form of caulk consisted of fibrous materials driven into the wedge-shaped seams between boards on ...

ed with tree resin, could be used to create a vessel that would resist leakage to the point of being almost waterproof. The watap could also be used as part of the joinery for the structural elements of the canoe. Watap-sewn bark sheets and panels could also be used to make vessels and utensils for food storage and other household use. Examples of this packaging were called '' wiigwaasi-makakoon'', and the watap stitchery was often used as an element in the decoration and unique identity of the package. The peoples initiated into the heritage of the

Midewiwin The Midewiwin (in syllabics: , also spelled ''Midewin'' and ''Medewiwin'') or the Grand Medicine Society is a secretive religion of some of the indigenous peoples of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North America. Its prac ...

, or ''Great Medicine Society'', kept records and aids to memory through birchbark scrolls sewn together with watap.

Linguistic heritage

The word "watap" entered European languages through

Canadian French Canadian French (french: français canadien) is the French language as it is spoken in Canada. It includes Varieties of French#Canada, multiple varieties, the most prominent of which is Quebec French, Québécois (Quebec French). Formerly ''Can ...

, and ultimately derives from the

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

word ''watapiy''. The wide use of the term in Cree indicates the importance of birchbark craft to that nation and the widespread presence of the paper birch and spruce in their historical homeland. The

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...

peoples also extensively harvested and manufactured watap.

Geography

''Watap Lake'', also called ''Watape Lake'', and the adjacent ''Watap Portage'' are key elements in the

Grand Portage Grand Portage National Monument is a United States National Monument located on the north shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota that preserves a vital center of fur trade activity and Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritage. The area became one ...

from

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

to the interior of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The lake and portage were of such historical importance that the boundary between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

follows the length of the lake and portage today. ''Watab River'' in

Stearns County, Minnesota Stearns County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,292. Its county seat and largest city is St. Cloud. The county was founded in 1855. It was originally named for Isaac Ingalls Stevens, th ...

, served as a boundary separating the

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...

peoples from the

Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

people per the 1825

First Treaty of Prairie du Chien The Treaty of Prairie du Chien may refer to any of several treaties made and signed in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin between the United States, representatives from the Sioux, Sac and Fox, Menominee, Ioway, Winnebago and the Anishinaabeg ( Chippew ...

References

{{reflist American Indian relics Anishinaabe culture Cree culture Primitive technology Fibers

Uses

Linguistic heritage

Geography

See also

References