Page 109 - CA 2019 Final(3)

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In 1996, he began his study of birch bark construction.
His mother, Hilda Lewis, recalls that when David was little,
he spent many hours with her grandfather, who lived with
them and was one of the last traditional canoe makers.
Pursuing that heritage, David studied his great-grandfather’s
work which was now in several museums, and became an
understudy and then building partner to canoe maker Steve
Cayard at the WoodenBoat School (located in Brooklin).
He began making his own canoes, first from fiberglass, then
birch bark, and before long he was teaching the art at the boat
school. He and Steve began construction of a community
canoe on Indian Island, showing the helpers who joined them
how to do things the old way, such as making strapping from
cedar roots.

The traditional canoe revival drew attention. He made
10 of them for private buyers, and also restored canoes at
the National Museum of the American Indian and Harvard
University’s Peabody Museum. Further interest came from
more museums and educational institutions including the
Portland Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, the Abbe Museum
in Bar Harbor, and others, where he built or restored canoes,
scale models, and wigwams. He gave lectures and led canoe-
building programs for children and adults throughout Maine
and as far away as Bolivia. continued on the next page

A view of the gallery

David, left, collecting birch bark with Steve Cayard. David’s birch bark baskets.
Photo by Darel Gabriel Bridges. Photo by Darel Gabriel Bridges.

David, right, paddling in Passamaquoddy
Bay with his wife, Patricia Ayala Rocabado,
their two children and Steve Cayard.
Photo by Steve Rodewold.

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