Derived from the design of First Nations canoes, Makinaw boats were popular fishing vessels used in Odawa Mnis (Manitoulin Island) before the Second World War. From 1845 to 1939, these boats were built by five generations of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Pottawatomi (Anishnaabe) makers. Makinaw boats were used for long-line, bottom-net, and pond-net fishing, as well as for transporting people and goods across the lakes. Inheriting the flat bottom of its canoe predecessor and the innovation of a retractable rudder, this fishing vessel expertly navigated the shallow shores around the island.  

Odawa artist Angus Trudeau (1908-1984) grew up watching Makinaw boats fill the North Channel of Manitoulin Island. In the later years of his life, he began creating detailed, hand-carved models of these boats, one of which has found its home at the AGO. Displayed on a mirrored plinth in gallery 230, Red Sailboat (around late 1970s – early 1980s) offers visitors a chance to take in the meticulous details of Trudeau’s rendering of Manitoulin history. Read more in this week’s Foyer, linked HERE.