What Is The Largest Haida Dugout Canoe?

The largest Haida war canoe, the Lootaas, is 17.56 feet long and is the only surviving Haida war canoe. The largest dugout canoe, built by Bill Reid in Skidegate, British Columbia, Canada, is 15.24 meters long and was completed in April 1986. The canoe, named Lootaas, was inspired by two basic designs that dominated large, 10 to 15 meter sea-going canoes.

The Haida traditionally navigated the Hecate Strait, a 100 kilometers of shallow, rough ocean separating the archipelago from the mainland. Every coastal First Nations group designed and built dugout canoes based on available resources and suited to their purposes and environment. One of the largest dugout canoes in existence, the Great Canoe, was carved from a single Western red cedar tree in the 19th century and shows design elements from both the Heiltsuk and Haida Nations of the Pacific Northwest.

The Haida of Haida Gwaii reputedly made the biggest ones, some 60 feet (18 meters) long. Betty Lowman Carey became the first white canoe maker in 1937. The largest dugout canoe, the Lootaas, was built by Bill Reid in Skidegate, British Columbia, and completed in April 1986.

The intrepid Haida seamen dominated coastal trade, and their canoe was the most prized object of trade with the mainland First Nations. In 1986, nearly fifteen years after Victor Adams carved the Eagle canoe, renowned Haida carver Bill Reid carved Lootaas, a Haida dugout canoe.

The biggest canoes, up to 20 meters in length, came from Haida Gwaii.