David Cook takes the reader on a birchbark canoe journey through the landscape in the context of Northeastern geological development and Indian prehistoric culture. On rivers, lakes, over carries, and through coastal routes, we follow the archaeological and historical record, informed by accounts of early explorers.

First attempted in the early twentieth century, the publication of these ancient canoe routes, in daily use for millennia, is finally accomplished and in its third edition, with translations of Indian place names, a thorough index, notes and bibliography, and a foreword by Penobscot tribal historian, James Eric Francis, Sr. The eminent anthropologist David Sanger, PhD, provides an introduction.

In the summer of 2013 David Cook and Mike Krepner, cofounder of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, traveled one of the ancient canoe routes, and stopped along the way to give talks.

Dave lives in Winthrop, Maine, near the capital, Augusta. A former president of the Maine Archeological Society, he is adjunct faculty member at Central Maine Community College and the University of Maine at Farmington.

The author grew up in the town of Milo, Maine. As a paratrooper in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, he served a tour of duty in South Vietnam. A graduate of the University of Maine, Orono, with a Master’s degree in liberal studies, he chose to live in Maine and taught history at Winthrop High School, where he was chairman of the Social Studies Department. He continues to research and explore the history and ecology of Maine and the Northeast.

To order:

The Native Canoe Routes of Maine by David S. Cook, 32 black and white maps, photos and illustrations, 168 pp, Quality Paperback, ISBN-13: 978-1-882190-69-0
Published by Polar Bear & Company US $12.95 add $4 for shipping and handling in USA.

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