Dugout Canoes from Lakes of the Adirondack Uplands

We describe here four dugout canoes that have been retrieved from three water bodies in the Adirondack uplands during the last half century. Two dugouts from Lake Placid and Lake Ozonia, which are kept at the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center and Adirondack Experience, respectively, were made by Indigenous or Euro-American people equipped with metal tools and are probably no more than 4 centuries old. Two other dugouts under private ownership that were retrieved from Twin Ponds were almost certainly made by Indigenous artisans with traditional methods. The larger of the two is 6 m long and up to 5 centuries old, possibly the oldest boat known thus far from the Adirondack uplands. All of these dugouts were probably built, used, and stored at the lakes they were found in. The great size and weight of the larger Twin Ponds dugout in particular suggests long-term use at the discovery site and therefore challenges persistent claims that Indigenous people did not live in the Adirondack uplands