How-to make a bark canoe - nawi

A group of artists from Boolarng Nangamai Aboriginal Corporation in Gerringong: Steven Russell, Noel Lonesborough, Kristine Stewart and Phyllis Stewart, together with ethnobotanists and artists Jim Walliss and Diego Bonetto, created a traditional bark canoe - a nawi - at Bundanon. It was the first traditional canoe to float on the Shoalhaven River in living memory. The canoe was constructed in eight hours -- following clear directions provided by Maritime Architect Davis Payne from the National Maritime Museum, and contemporary marine artist James Dodd who had constructed two canoes in 2010. The Siteworks bark canoe was made from traditional materials, using the bark of a stringybark tree and beeswax and resin from the grass tree. It was then launched as part of Siteworks 2011 on the Shoalhaven River.