Joe Seliga (11 April 1911 – 18 December 2005) was a master builder of wood-and-canvas

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 ter ...

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Ely, Minnesota Ely ( ) is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,268 at the 2020 census. Located on the Vermilion iron range, Ely once had several iron ore mines. It is an entry point for campers and canoers into the Bo ...

. Joe Seliga was born to Steve and Anna (Vasko) Seliga in Ely, Minnesota and graduated from Ely Memorial High School. Seliga was inspired by the Morris canoes, which were built by B.N. Morris Canoe Company of

Veazie, Maine Veazie is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,814 at the 2020 census. The town is named after General Samuel Veazie, an early lumber baron and railroad operator. Veazie was originally part of Bangor, using P ...

from 1887 to 1920. As a child, Seliga's family owned two Morris canoes, a 15-foot and an 18-foot. His first experience in canoe construction came when his family's 18-foot canoe was severely damaged, requiring twenty-one new ribs and a new cover. Seliga built his first canoe form and completed his first canoe in 1938, which he immediately sold. Seliga built canoes from before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

until his death at the age of 94, only stopping from 1942 to 1945, when he was forced to work as a miner. He worked in the Zenith Mine and at Reserve Mining. Over his career, he built 621 canoes, 237 of which were sold to the

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Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW or BWCA) is a wilderness area within the Superior National Forest in the northeastern part of the US state of Minnesota under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service. A mixture of forests ...

and

Quetico Provincial Park Quetico Provincial Park is a large wilderness park in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, known for its excellent canoe camping, canoeing and fishing. The park shares its southern border with Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which ...

. Seliga's wife, Nora, also assisted in building canoes. In Jerry Stelmok's book, ''The Art of the Canoe with Joe Seliga'', Sam Cook's foreword reads in part: On February 4, 1994, a fire destroyed Seliga's shop. However, by that September, he had begun building canoes again. Seliga sold many canoes to Camp Widjiwagan, the St. Paul, Minnesota

camp, outside Ely. Upon his death, Camp Widjiwagan received Seliga's canoe form. In the early 2000s, Bell Canoe Works began manufacturing the 'Bell Seliga', a

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canoe based on the Seliga form.Bell Canoe Works — Seliga inspired canoe
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References

External links

Joe Seliga article (PDF)

Joe Seliga's Canoe

Seliga Canoe Enthusiasts

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seliga, Joe American boat builders American woodworkers 1911 births 2005 deaths People from Ely, Minnesota