Tipatshimuna 
Description:
A rough, temporary wooden thwart made of white spruce, with steel nail. It is a long, roughly-rectangular piece of wood, slightly bowed, and formed by splitting a log along the grain of the wood. It has two notches cut across its width, both approximately 2.8 cm across and 1.8 cm deep. The notches are presumably where the thwart fit over the gunwales, and show signs of wear (friction). A 1½ inch steel nail is driven through the top of the thwart and out the other side, into one of the notches for the gunwales.
Other Info:
This is a crudely fashioned, temporary tool (“thwart”), used to hold the gun whales (minikukanashkᵘ) in place as they are drying. The two lengths of gun whale are assembled on the ground, their ends fastened together and placed in an elevated position on wooden stakes hammered into the ground at the bow and the stern. Heavy rocks are placed in the centre of the gun whale frame so that the bow and stern portions are bent upwards to give the canoe, when completed, some rocker. Later, once the gun whales are attached to the ribs, and permanent thwarts bolted to the gun whales, these temporary thwarts will be removed. When making one of these tools, square grooves are cut in two places on a roughly hewn stick so that it can be placed snuggly over each gun whale. Two nails are hammered gently through the stick and onto the gun whales on each side to hold the frame securely in place. Five of these temporary thwarts are used to hold the gun whales in place. Peter Armitage (note 25 August 2004)