Looks very much like a Solomon island canoe, but no, it is a “Tatala” canoe from Taiwan…The history of Polynesia does go through Taiwan.

A scale model built by the author several years ago, commissioned by a visitor to the Fiji Museum in Suva.

One look at the mast head and it is definiyely a Fijian sailing canoe of the type Thamakau or Kamakao. The topmast or " ndomondomo" end is in a typical two-horned "truck”

This is a beautiful and helpful line drawing of a Fiji Drua illustrated in the book VOYAGERS by Herb Kawainui Kane.

The drua was considered one of the fastest ocean going voyaging canoe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji

A ve rare magic lantern slide showing a Fiji drua near a beach in Fiji. Author’s private collection.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Fiji

A small, very old Fijian Drua model

Judging from the high gunwales and 3 outrigger beams, it has all the aspect of an Isle of Pine canoe model and not Tonga, as often described.

Photo postcard 1920. The islands were named “New Hebrides” by Captain Cook in 1774, after the Hebrides in Scotland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatu

This is the last surviving original drua canoe on display at the Fiji Museum., Suva . Suva is the capital of the South Pacific island nation of Fiji.

https://fijimuseum.org.fj/

A canoe of the type “Takia” under sail which is the traditional Fijian outrigger canoe

A small incomplete model canoe. of the type Takia. The railings would indicate it to be Fijian.

The three booms connected to the float with the reverse V arrangement of the pair of stanchions would indicate it to be a thamakau canoe, and not any Samoan type canoe.

Fiji camakau racing or “Veitau Waqa” A Veitau Waqa is an annual event in Fiji that celebrates traditional Fijian boat building and sailing skills, particularly of the camakau (a type of outrigger canoe). The event, organized by the Pacific Blue Foundation, aims to revive and preserve this fading cultural heritage through races, demonstrations, and other activities. 

Fiji voyaging canoe of the type “vakau” displayed in the Fiji Museum, Suva. This type canoe was very common on the island of Lau and built to be used on the high sea.

Fijian Camakau voyaging canoe of the type “Vakau” at the Auckland Memorial Museum. This type canoe was prevalent on the province of Tailevu.

https://www.aucklandmuseum.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailevu_Province

Fiji fishing canoe of the type camakau

This is the Fiji voyaging canoe in the “Fiji House” at the Polynesian Cultural Center, Lai’e, Oahu, Hawaii. The canoe is an old, original Camakau. The author thanks the PCC for allowing the author to take measurements and photos of the canoe , which allowed him to scale replicate the vessel.

https://www.polynesia.com

Fiji Drua acquired by the Stiftung Humbold Forum at Berliner Schloss. Note the drums or “lali” at the foot of the canoe.

One of the ways to find out whether a canoe is of a Fiji type, is to look no further than the masthead, the “ndomondomo,” which looks like a tow-horned spear. But a masthead of the same shape was also seen on some Tonga voyaging canoes.

1920s Photo postcard . Small camakau fishing canoe

The life-size drua on display at the Fiji Museum in Suva is a remarkable example of the most significant and finest sea-going vessel ever designed and built by the indigenous peoples of Oceania prior to European contact. Its construction features an entirely plank-built design, distinguishing it from outrigger boats.

https://fijimuseum.org.fj

Line drawing of a Fijian Camakau or Tamatau.

A famous painting by Herb Kawainui Kane illustrating a Drua sailing on the high seas.

1930s postcard. Fijian fisherman and turtles.

The Sema Makawa canoe at the New Zealand Maritime Museum.

A fishing canoe model with its “PIU” prow replicating those found in the Humboldt Bay, Papua New-Guinea. Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yos_Sudarso_Bay

Humboldt Bay sailing canoe model . This type canoe is described in Hadden in page 314

Beautiful model of a painted Humboldt Bay area canoe.

Large double outrigger Geelvink Bay canoe model. Geelvink Bay is now called the Cenderawasih Bay. This type canoe was mostly built on Japen island.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenderawasih_Bay

A beautiful and well made Fiji double canoe model or “wangga ndrua” in the Otago Museum, New-Zealand.

This picture was taken By F.H. Dufty of NAVUKINIVANUA - “The turner of the land” - one of the last of the great drua or hulled-outrigger voyaging canoes of the nineteenth century, and the last to be owned by Ratu Seru Cakobau, anchored just off Nasova on the eastern shore of Ovalau. Given the prestige and the ceremonial dress of the many high chiefs visible in this picture, the occasion is probably that of 20 November 1877, when Navukinivanua was sailed from Bau to Nasova and symbolically presented by Cakobau, together with a big rootstock of yaqona, to Lady Gordon.
In this picture the kata or hull of the canoe is towards the camera, with the smaller outrigger hull or cama masked by it. The mualevu, or “big prow” is to the right, the mualailai or “little prow” to the left. The coconut leaf matting sunshades which were usually rolled down in port are still rolled up, giving a fine view into the deckhouse, which is open to the kata side, the kata allways being kept to leeward in sailing. The mast or vana has been hauled upright from the raking position it is held in when sailing, and the sail and yards rolled and laid along the deck platform, forming a comfortable seat for Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, eldest son of Ratu Cakobau, who is wearing a white iwabale shoulder sash and has his right leg cocked over a coil of heavy vau bark rope towards the left hand duruduru or pilaster of the deckhouse, with lesser chiefs left of him. A group of chiefs wearing white barkcloth ivauvau hair-wrappers are seated on deck before the deckhouse, the bearded old man to the right of the mast being one of Cakobau’s brothers, Cakobau himself is the old man with the resplendent side whiskers (such as he favoured in 1876-77) wearing a shirt and a smoked masikuvui hair-wrapper, who is sitting just to the right of the lali slit drum that is positioned across the right hand outside end of the deckhouse. Several men stand posing on the prow, pretending to pole the canoe along. [Fergus Clunie, 14/7/2003, from record P.27781.VH, JD 7/1/2012]

Takuu atoll canoe model.

Takuu, formerly known as Tauu and also known as Nukutea, Mortlock Island, or Marqueen island, is a small, isolated atoll of the east coast of Bougainville.

A nice model of a Huon Gulf canoe. This type of canoe is considered one of the most beautiful in Melanesia, known for its excellent nautical qualities. Some of these canoes were up to 60 feet long. On the islands of Tami and Siassi, they were called "wang," but nowadays, we mostly refer to them as "Siassi" canoes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huon_Gulf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umboi_Island

The Takuu canoes are very similar to those from the islands of Leuaniua and Nuku-manu; however, their canoe prows are more elaborate than those of the latter ones

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takuu_Atoll

Outrigger canoe of Luf island, within the Hermit Islands, at the Humboldt Forum, at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

Outrigger boat of Luf Island
This outrigger boat originates from Luf Island, which today belongs to Papua New Guinea. In 1881, the trading company Hernsheim & Co built a trading station on the island. The population resisted. At the instigation of Hernsheim, in 1882/83 soldiers of the Imperial German Navy attacked the island with a “punishment detachment”, destroying a large number of buildings and boats, killing inhabitants and plundering the villages. The building of this big outrigger boat began eight years after this attack. It is said that the men in it wanted to bury their recently deceased leader Labenan at sea. However, this didn’t happen because there were too few of them to get the enormous boat onto the water. Through diseases that were introduced and the consequences of the military attack, the population decreased dramatically. For the next few years, it remained in the boathouse, deprived of its purpose. In 1903, it was acquired by Max Thiel von Hernsheim & Co and sold to the Ethnological Museum in Berlin. The circumstances of the acquisition of the boat on Luf are not documented. The building and acquisition of the boat are the subject of a media station in the “Oceania – people and the sea” room. Interviews of the film maker Martin Maden from Papua New Guinea with Luf inhabitants on the island are also shown here.

The Hermit Islands are a small group of islands in the Bismarck Sea, including Jalun, Maron, and Luf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermit_Islands

The second canoe is that picture is Samoan and there seems to be one from Tuvalu, both Polynesian.

The image title refers to the Luf boat, a large, historic outrigger sailing vessel from Luf Island in Papua New Guinea, which is a prominent exhibit at the Ethnological Museum collection within the Humboldt Forum in Berlin

Map by Holger Behr

A beautiful model of a Hermit island canoe. This type canoe, elaborately decorated, was equipped with two analogous sails.

VIEW OF MURRAY’S ISLANDS , WITH THE NATIVES OFFERING TO BARTER 1814. An engraving by John Pye and W. Finden

This richly decorated canoe, originating in the Torres Strait was mostly adopted by the islanders of Mawata and Kiwai . This type voyaging canoe, but also used for spear fishing,

was named “gul” or “nar” on some Torres Islands, or “motomoto” and “ burai” in the region of Mawata.

Taumako canoe mode of the type Tepuke

Fine Massim, Trobriand kula canoe.

"Trobriand" most often refers to the Trobriand Islanders, Melanesian people of Papua New Guinea known for unique matrilineal culture, the kula shell exchange, and Trobriand Cricket; it can also refer to French naval officers like Jean François Sylvestre Denis de Trobriand, who explored the islands and gave them their name, or his descendant, Regis de Trobriand, a French-American Civil War general

A Massim model of a Kula outrigger canoe.

A Kula canoe is a large, ceremonial sea-going canoe from the Massim region of Papua New Guinea that is used in the Kula Ring, a complex inter-island ceremonial exchange system. These canoes, called “Masawa”, are intricately decorated by men, and used to transport Kula valuable like necklaces and armbands , as well as for secondary trade goods like food and pottery

Kula canoes were made on several islands in Papua New Guinea, particularly the Trobriand Islands, which were a major center for their manufacture and decoration. Other islands involved in the Kula ring, such as Muyua (Woodlark) Island and Fergusson Island, also contributed to the production of canoes

Trobriand Islands: These islands are frequently cited as a primary source of finely decorated Kula canoes, with master carvers creating elaborate splashboards for ceremonial voyages

Muyua (Woodlark) Island: This island was another significant production center for the ornate splashboards used on the canoes, notes Bowers Museum.

Fergusson Island: An example of Kula canoes being made on this island was documented by Travel Obscure.

Iwa Island: The Oceanic Art Society mentions a specific type of canoe, the "tadobu," that was built on islands such as Iwa Island.

Outrigger canoe model, Wuvulu island.

Canoes from Wuvulu and its neighboring island of Aua are called wa. Featuring outriggers, a sleek, pointed profile, and equally pointed vertical spurs on both their prow and stern, there are no canoes quite like them anywhere in Oceania.

A Humboldt Bay canoe model at the Vatican.

TE PUKE type canoe , Duff Island

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duff_Islands

A “vanagi” , small indigenous canoe from the region of Port Moresby, recognizable by its 3 pairs of outrigger beams .

fiji canoe under sail photographed in fiji and published by Kerry & Co.

Side view, Top view, front view and hull construction sketches of a “lia no”, Rossel Island, Louisiade Archipelago.

There is the “ma no” or male canoe, the “pia no (female canoe) and the “lia no” which is the larger sailing canoe onto which women were allowed.

“no” stands for canoe.

The above sketches are based on those by Jean Neyret, Tome !, Melanesian canoes, page 134

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossel_Island

Side view of the Siassi canoe (Tami island) at the Hamburg Foelkermuseum.

A Siassi type canoe at the Voelkerkunde Museum Hamburg, Germany

The deck structure would show a canoe from Tami Island.

A magic lantern slide illustrating a Tami Island type .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tami_Islands

The “Kasali” (Siassi type canoe) beaches at Malalo.

https://malumnalu.blogspot.com/2009/06/rekindling-memories-of-great-sea.html

Magic lantern slide (1920) illustrating a Siassi type canoe, Tami island.

The KASALI sailing canoe near Salamaua.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamaua

Single masted Siassi canoe at Finschhafen

Double outrigger near Wakobi, Umar Bay. Collection of the Dutch National Museum. Haddon located such a canoe along the North East coast of Papua New-Guinea. Notice the 5 outrigger beams. Double outrigger canoes were mostly prevalent in Indonesia, Philippines, Madagascar, Comores, and in the Torres strait.

Umar Bay, known in Indonesia as Teluk Umar, is located in the Nabire Regency of Central Papua, Indonesia. The bay is situated on the island of New Guinea and is part of the larger Cenderawasih Bay region, formerly Geelvink Bay.

Siassi canoes in the water, Cape Merkus. Hand colored magic lantern slide 1910

“Kula” canoe model. Massim culture

Small fishing canoes constructed to be used by children. Notice the simple construction and 5 outrigger beams

Fishing papuans from Tobati villages, Humboldt Bay. Notice the canoe tip or “PIU” at the front of the canoe. The Humboldt Bay is now officially caled Yos Sudaro Bay.

The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island.

A Tikopian canoe model built by the author in 2010.

The inhabitants of this small island are still building this style of canoe today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anuta

A 1933 picture taken by the Templeton Crocker expedition showing Tikopian canoes

Anuta canoe at the New Zealand Maritime Museum

Tama-Moana is a model I made many years ago replicating the double hull voyaging canoe built by James Warren.

The Tama Moana canoe was built to provide independent, self-sufficient sea transport to the islands of Tikopiaand Anuta, allowing them to reconnect with their ancient sailing heritage and navigate between islands for fishing, communication, and transport.

Myself and the canoe model Tama Moana.

Irian Jaya, Indonesia --- Only small, narrow dug-out canoes, made from a single tree trunk, are suitable to move deep in the forest and reach the smallest creeks in the Asmat area of Indonesian New Guinea. Fishing villages are constructed entirely of natural materials, found in mangroves. Structures are constructed on wooden mangrove poles since low and high tide difference is sometimes several meters. From early childhood everybody uses the fragile bridges between the huts and children swim, canoe and fish under their homes. --- Image by © Bojan Brecelj/CORBIS

The new names for the region formerly known as Irian Jaya are Papua and West Papua

The new names for the region formerly known as Irian Jaya are Papua and West Papua

It is definitely a type of canoe built in the Admiralty Islands but I am disturbed by the Museum stating that it was built by the Motu.

The term "Motu tribe" is likely a misunderstanding or mis reference, as there is no single "Motu tribe" in the Admiralty Islands. The user is likely thinking of the Motu-speaking people of Papua New Guinea, who live in the Central Province, not the Admiralty Islands, and have historically inhabited the coastlines and nearby islands of this region. They are a seafaring people known for their traditional trading voyages using large canoes called lagatoi. 

A Mailu, Island sailing canoe, 1922. Photo by Frank Hurley, National Library of Australia.

This looks to be a double-hull canoe of the type “Orou” which could transport up to 20 people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mailu_Island

1920 Post card

A “Te Puke” type canoe from Utupua. The crab-claw type sail is reversed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utupua

Canoe Model, Kwaiawata island

Wuvulu island

A Wuvulu or Aua island fishing canoe

Thakambau’s drua canoe, Fiji 1888,

Who was Thakambau ?

Thakambau(or Cakobau) was Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the powerful Fijian warlord and paramount chief (Vunivalu) of Bau who became the first and only King of Fiji, uniting the islands under his rule in 1871 before ceding sovereignty to Britain in 1874, ending indigenous rule. He's a pivotal figure in Fijian history, known for his efforts to unify warring tribes and establish a kingdom, a goal that ultimately led to colonial annexation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bau_(village)

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ASNB8W1qwFDfr7mf8

Rare lithography illustrating Thakambau’s drua canoe, Fiji 1888 .

“Qua” type canoe, Santa Isabel island.

Double hull canoe of the type lakatoi mostly built by the Motu tribes.

https://navyhistory.au/the-lagatoi-of-the-motu-people-and-the-lalong-of-the-bel-people-of-papua-new-guinea/

Canoes of Vanikoro from Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe, 1833 by Edmond Francois Paris.

It illustrates a voyaging canoe of the type TE PUKE OR LEJU in view of the 6 outrigger beams

Sketch of a Tomako or Tomoko canoe. The Tomako is a large war canoe .

Ulakua likely refers to Ulawa Island, which is an island in the Solomon Islands, located in the Makira-Ulawa Province. This island is near Malaita Island and is known for its connection to the story of Teonimenu, a lost island.

The canoe is named “OLA” in Malaita and Ulawa language.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomako

Ulawa island tomako type war canoe, British Museum

https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000322b.htm

Model canoe of the type “mon”, which was prevalent in the North of the Solomon Islands. From a building point of view, they are nearly identical to the “tamakau or tomako”  in the central Solomon Islands. They distinguish themselves with the raised gunwales at both ends of the canoe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaita

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Islands

kia village traditional canoe with outrigger by Amy Heemsoth

Solomon islands on the globe. Why the name Solomon ?

The Solomon Islands are named after the biblical King Solomon because the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña, the first European to reach them in 1568, mistakenly believed they were the source of the gold King Solomon used for his temple in Jerusalem, as he found some gold there. He called them Islas de Solomón (Islands of Solomon) in the hope of finding great riches, linking the islands to the legendary wealth of the biblical king

Political map of the Solomon islands archipelago, 1989.

The Ratu Finau Tui Nayau Canoe at the Fiji Museum

Image by Brian J.McMorrow

Fiji drua model canoe at the Vatican

Egum atoll canoe

Egum Atoll (or Yeguma) is a large, rectangular reef system in Papua New Guinea's Milne Bay Province, part of the Marshall Bennett Islands, featuring a central lagoon with several islets, known for its rich marine life, unique local cultures (like carvings), and as a destination for remote expeditions and fishing, although technically a reef-topped bank, not a true atoll. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Bennett_Islands

Rare magic lantern slide showing a camakau canoe near the beach

Large “nuatapu” canoe from Manevai village, Vanikoro.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanikoro

Fiji Kamakau model- Bowers Museum

Ulawa island canoe

Buka island canoe model

Sant Cristobal and Malaita island canoe model

San Cristobal (now Makira Island) in the Solomon Islands is famous for its rich tradition of canoe building, especially large, elaborate ceremonial canoes and canoe houses, featuring intricate shell inlay, carved figures of chiefs, and mythological beings (like sea devils or snakes) for bonito fishing rituals, using planked construction caulked with putty nut resin, reflecting deep cultural connections to the sea and ancestors, notes Joel Cooner Gallery, Oceanic Arts Australia, and Ripley Auctions. These canoes, like the tora or vura, were central to trade, warfare, and spiritual life, with ornate carvings often depicting ancestral figures or spiritual guardi

The island in the Solomon Islands known as San Cristobal (now officially Makira) was named by Spanish explorers in 1568, specifically by Álvaro de Mendaña's expedition, after St. Christopher (San Cristóbal in Spanish), the patron saint of sailors, likely due to the perils of their sea journey and the saint's protection. The Spanish explorers charted the island, giving it this religious name, though locals have always known it by names like Hanuato'o. 

An “Ora” type canoe. Small Sant Christobal canoe paddled by 3 occupants. Collection Auckland War Museum

Santa Isabel Binabina canoe 1909

Binabina or biabina is a type of plank boat from the Solomon Islands. It differs from the similar tomako and lisi in that only the stern is upturned, while the bow is horizontaL.

It's called Santa Isabel because Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira named it in 1568 after his ship departed Spain on the feast day of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal (Santa Isabel in Spanish), marking the first European encounter with the Solomon Islands, and giving it the name "Santa Isabel de la Estrella" (St. Elizabeth of the Star). 

Santa Cruz model canoe. Missing sail.

A Mona canoe is a significant traditional, planked outrigger canoe from the Bougainville region of Papua New Guinea, used for trade, fishing, warfare, and voyages, representing pride and seafaring skill, with the annual Mona Festival in Buka celebrating this heritage through canoe races and cultural displays. The canoe is made from planks tied with vine, not a solid dugout, and is central to North Bougainvillean identity. 

Original 1909 photograph of a Solomon Island canoe of the type “Qao” prevalent on Isabel Island. “Qua” are very similar to the “Tomako” war canoe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Isabel_(island)

A canoe model from the Choiseul Island. They are known for their distinctive design, often featuring mother-of-pearl or Trochus shell inlay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choiseul_Island

Marau sound canoe.

Marau Sound refers to a specific place: a beautiful, island-dotted area in the Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal Province) known for clear waters, marine life, traditional culture, and resorts like Tavanipupu, with "Marau" meaning "island in the distance" in the local dialect. It's a place, not just a generic noise, famous for its natural beauty and rich cultural heritage from Are'are settlers.

Nggela islands, canoe of the type “roko” on display at Vunuha, 1930. The “roko” are similar to the “Binabina” canoes, but smaller.

The Nggela Islands or Ngella Islands,[1]previously known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Provinceof Solomon Islands,[2] a sovereign state, since 1978, in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The name Florida Islands fell into disuse following Solomon Islands' independence in 1978.

East Rennel island canoe type.

Rennell Island, part of the Solomon Islands, is known for its unique Polynesian culture and reliance on traditional dugout canoes (lakau) for transport on its large, unique Lake Tegano and the surrounding ocean, with these vessels carved from single trees, ranging from small child-sized ones to large adult versions, representing a vital part of island life and heritage, often featuring unique art like canoe prow carvin

1910, is a large plank-built war canoe from the island of Vella Lavella in New Georgia, at the Britsh Museum. Directly above the waterline on the prow a wood-carving of an anthropomorphic head was lashed onto the prow of the war canoe for each passage. The so-called nguzunguzu (Roviana language),also called “totoisu” had a protective function to dispel the malevolent spirits of the water by always open eyes, so that water and wind would not harm men and boat . Just below the nguzunguzu a wood tablet was fixed which would deflect the sea spray and create a rainbow in front of the travelling canoe. The construction of the canoe with all its technical stages would take up to two years with steel tools, and six to seven years using only stone and shell implements

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vella_Lavella

A Tomako canoe model built by the author in 2005.

Principal canoe culture in the Solomon islands:

Tomako: Famous, crescent-shaped, plank-built war canoes with shell/feather decoration, used by headhunters.

Tepuke: Traditional long-distance voyaging canoes of the Duff Islanders (nearby), built with ancient knowledge.

Anuta Canoes: Traditional Polynesian canoes, some very old and still used for fishing in surf, showcasing rich carving,

Kula Canoe, Kitava Island, Trobiand Islands, Papua New Guinea

A 1920 Keystone stereoview of natives sailing a Kula canoe.

A 1885 albumen photograph of a Lakatoi, near Elevala, Port Moresby, by J.W. Lindt.

Kula canoe model

New-Caledonia double hulled sailing canoe model. Museum of New-Zealand.

This type canoe is a near replication of the Fijian Drua adopted by the the Tongans.

They were apparently introduced to the Iles of Pine by visitors from Tonga neighboring islands like Wallis & Futuna.

Lakatoi canoe. The deck and sail of the canoe

Incomplete lakatoi canoe. Collection of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, New-Zealand.

Two identical huts connected with low banboo hedges were built on top of the deck of such canoes. The huts, with their slide inclination towards the end of the deck served as a shelter whereby the hedge kept children and animals within the enclosure.

This model was constructed in the village of Manu-manu, 16 miles west of Port Moresby, Papua. It was presented to His Excellency the Governor, Lord Rowallan on the 5th January, 1963, by Raho Misi. The leader of the Papua and New-Guinea Contingent of Boys Scouts on the occasion of the Tasmanian Corroboree.

Information from Mr. Graham Hall, Chief Commissioner Boy Scouts Association, Tasmanian Branch

Lakatoi canoe

The Lakatoi canoe was a trading canoe and housed two families- one at either end, the central part of the canoe being shared for cooking purposes. Voyages of up to 500 miles were made for trading. At the time of the year when certain crops could not be grown at Port Moresby, utensils made of a local clay were loaded and traded for food crops from other places in the Gulf of Papua. The column of skoirt like ornaments and other symbols were used to signal the degree of success of the voyage

Liz Tew, curatorial assistant-indigenous cultures. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

An intricate and extremely rare example of a malangan mortuary canoe model of the type found on the Emirau island. Malangan refers to intricate carved wooden sculptures and canoes from New-Ireland.

New-Ireland mortuary canoe model .Side view of an Emirau Island canoe model. The carvings at both ends of the model do symbolize crocodiles jaws.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirau_Island

An Isle of Pine double-hulled canoe.

Note the resemblance to the Fiji Drua

Model canoe , 1800s, Isle of Pine, New-Caledonia

Miniature model

Photographic image. Locals paddling canoes at the entrance to the Tufi Fjords on the Cape Nelson peninsula in the Oro Province of Papua-New Guinea. This type canoe with its extended 3 outriggers was observed in Mukawa.

Photographic image. Canoe rigged with a modern type gaff and boom sail.

A model replicating the old style double-hulled canoes which used to be built among the Loyalty Islands, in particular on the island of Uvea and Grande Terre. A typical feature of this type of canoe was the long railing mounted on the leeward side of the platform.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouv%C3%A9a_Island

Fishing canoe rigged with a sprit sail.

A canoe of the type “takia” used on rivers and along the shores to transport goods. Guided by two men armed with long poles, one at the front and the other at the rear.

Vintage postcard depicting a scene on the Thio River in New Caledonia.

Drawing of a double-hulled canoe by A. de Neuville. Notice the very long railing on the exterior side of each hull typical of New-Caledonian construction.

A double hull canoe rigged with a Micronesian lateen sail.

New Caledonia east coast canoe with leg-of-mutton mounted sail which is a modern type sail adaptation.

A 1920 postcard showing a common fishing canoe rigged with a triangular sail at the very front of the canoe.

Both ends of the canoe are designed to function as the bow. When shunting, all the ropes are untied, the sail is grasped by fluffing it between the arms, and it is carried vertically to the opposite end of the canoe, where it is set up in the same way, by sliding the mast into the hole in the corresponding plank or spreader.

An Ile of Pine double-hulled canoe on dryland. 1920 Postcard.

Notice the railings on the exterior side of both hulls as well as the pointed ends of both hulls. Characteristics typical of canoes built on the Isle of Pine or Grande Isle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Pines_(island)

1920s postcard illustrating an ancient double-hulled canoe certainly built on the Island of Belef or Grande Terre. The sails are mounted on two tandem masts. The halyards pass through a fork at the tip of the mast. The two masts are held by a strong shroud on the windward side and supported by two stays, one foreword and one aft. The sails are of the Melanesian lateen type.

New Caledonian fishing canoe rigged with a gaff and boom sail

Model canoe at the MUSEE D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE DE TOULOUSE, FRANCE

This model is somehow replicating the look at the sailing canoes from the south of Malekula island with their characteristics pair of outrigger beams

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malakula

A “Na-ak “ canoe on the island of Atchin, Malekula, Vanuatu, 1931 by Credig Richards

Notice the single outrigger bean at the front of the canoe, and the pair at the back of it. A characteristic typical to Vanuatu canoes with the V-shaped sail to be found only on Atchin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatu

This photographic postcard of 1930’s captures a historical moment featuring a Vanuatu canoe north of Vate Island.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efate

Vanuatu model canoe. The type canoe built on the isle of Vate. This type canoe was equipped with a sail in the shape of a butterfly wing to be found only in Vanuatu. MUSEE D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE DE TOULOUSE, FRANCE.

1891 photographic view of sailing canoes at Port Havannah on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. The sails are V-shaped of the type “butterfly” typical to the islands of the north eastern coast of Malekula like of Vao, Atchi and Wala

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malakula

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atchin

This image captures a historical moment from ca 1885 depicting a fishing canoe in Southeast Santo, Vanuatu. Vanuatu National Museum.

This type canoe was originally equipped with a “butterfly” type sail.

The image displays a photo postcard depicting a New Caledonia “Kanak” fishing canoe from around 1906. The image is set in Noumea, which is located on the Grande Terre. It is also the location where this type canoe was built.

Drawing of a canoe from Port Dorey dating back to 1826,

Plate 108 from the publication documenting the ASTROLABE expedition (1826-1829) by French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville.

Old traditional Motu trading canoe

1906 photo. by Beattie, JW. Canoe on the river Fly, Gulf of Papua.

Photographic image of a double-rigged fishing canoe in Wakobi, Umar Bay.

Collectie stichting Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen

Photographic postcard of a type canoe mostly bult in the region of Daru, Gulf of Papua, There are 8 or 10 crossbeams and a very long float.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daru

A canoe of the type “WAGA” on Teste Island, also Wari Island, Milne Bay. The above type canoe was a simplified version of the larger “WAHA UE'“

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wari_Island

Kula trading canoe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kula_ring

Canoe of the natives of Tudu Island, Torres Strait.

Tudu Island (sometimes referred to as Toud or Tud) is a low lying cay in the central Torres Strait, historically significant as a warrior base and maritime hub, particularly known for its connection to leader Maino and anthropologist A.C. Haddon. See “CANOES OF OCEANIA”

Toud (Tudu) Island was renowned for its skilled warriors and large double-outrigger sailing canoes in the 19th century. These sophisticated vessels, often over 60 feet long and capable of carrying twenty to thirty people, were essential for hunting dugong and turtle, trading, and patrolling the central Strait, serving as vital, often decorated, "social objects".

Significance of Toud: Toud Islanders were known as masters of the sea, often engaging in long-distance travel and trade with neighboring islands and the Papuan coast.

Canoe Construction: While Torres Strait Islanders built the outriggers and platforms, they often imported the main hulls from Papua New Guinea, as large suitable trees were unavailable on the islands.

Structure: The canoes were characterized by two outriggers for stability, a central cargo/living platform, and often featured three woven sails.

Cultural Importance: These canoes were seen as living beings that needed to be "woken up" before voyages. They were central to subsistence (fishing and hunting) and war.

Torres-Strait islands map

Tudu, Warrior Island

https://www.nma.gov.au/learn/encounters-education/community-stories/tudu

This image is a hand-colored lithograph depicting a traditional Torres Strait islander trading canoe at Erub (Darnley Island) in the Torres Strait, drawn by Harden Sidney Melville in 1844-1845.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darnley_Island_(Queensland)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harden_Sidney_Melville

It is interesting to note at this junction, the connection between the Tudu island, also known as Warrior Island, and Haddon A.C., whose work, “CANOES OF OCEANIA,”  was foundational to Haddon’s shift from marine zoology to anthropology. During his 1888 visit, Haddon met and befriended Maino, the influential leader of Tudu, who provided him with crucial cultural information, artifacts, and access to traditional knowledge, laying the foundation for Haddon’s Pioneering work in the region.

Ninigo Island canoe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninigo_Islands

Canoe model lower Sepik region

Rabaul, Matupi-market canoe

This Te Puke was built by Longopuni, a famous and long-lived voyaging canoe builder of Taumako. The photo location is in the lagoon.

Postcard Suva Harbor canoe, Viti Levu Rewa province

Technical drawings of Ninigo islands canoe after Neyret page 178

A canoe model of the type Mon 0r Muna found the Northern parts of the Solomon islands.

They are distinguished mainly by the presence of raised gunwales at the bow and stern, obviously to increase stability at sea,

The ornamentation is discreet and consists of a few black lines, some showing birds, at the bow and stern