Pickway and quiver

A pickway is a tall narrow container that was used to harvest fir gum. When the Huron-Wendat built a bark canoe, they used this sticky substance to caulk holes and make repairs. Craftspeople mixed fir gum with bear grease to make a resistant water-proof lacquer. A pickway is one of the objects found in our exhibition “The Canoe: A Bearer of Traditions”.

A quiver is a case for carrying an archer’s arrows and sometimes the bow itself. These cases were often made of animal hide and fur. Bows were used for centuries by many Indigenous peoples, and they remained in use even after guns appeared with the arrival of the Europeans. Bows were better adapted to Indigenous hunting expeditions and warfare strategies than the guns of the day.