The “Wagush” Dugout Canoe is back on display at the Toledo History Museum.
Dugout canoes are boats made from hollowed-out trees by Native Americans across North and South America.
Information passed down with the canoe said “wagush” was a word in the Wyandot language that means “friend.” The word is painted on the side of the canoe. But, some historians contend the word may have its roots in the language of the Chippewa or Ojibwe . For more information about the history of the canoe click here.
Originally donated to the Toledo Zoo by the Whitmore family in the 1940s and later moved into the Toledo History Museum’s collection, the “Wagush” dugout canoe is thought to have been purchased in the 1820s by Luthor Whitmore, Sr., however there is no record of who built the canoe or who sold it to him.