Apirogue (/pɪˈroʊɡ/ or/ˈpiːroʊɡ/),[1] also called apiragua orpiraga, is any of various smallboats, particularlydugouts andcanoes. The word isFrench and is derived fromSpanishpiragua[piˈɾaɣwa], which comes from theCaribpiraua.
The term 'pirogue' does not refer to a specific kind of boat, but is a generic term for small boats in regions once colonized byFrance andSpain, particularly dugouts made from a log.[2] InFrench West Africa, the term refers to handcrafted banana-shaped boats used by traditional fishermen.[3] In Madagascar, it also includes the more elaborate Austronesianlakanaoutrigger canoe.[4][5]
Pirogues are usually propelled bypaddles that have one blade (as opposed to a kayak paddle, which has two). It can also bepunted with a push pole in shallow water. Smallsails are built by local fishermen and they can also be employed. There are two types of sails with differences in their shapes, the square one is used mainly for fishing near the coast and is only useful fortailwinds, while the triangular-shaped ones are used to transfer goods from one place to another by maintaining a bowline direction.[6] Outboard motors are increasingly being used in many regions.
There are accounts of 17th and 18th centuryCaribbean pirates using pirogues to attack and take by force much larger vessels includingsloops and evenbarca-longas.[7] Pirogues were used extensively by pirates andbuccaneers throughout the Caribbean, the now-Mexican and Gulf Coasts and the East Coast of what is now the United States. For the most part, though, such vessels were used for scouting or astenders.[7]
Pirogues were used by Lewis and Clark on theMissouri River and westward from 1804–1806, in addition tobateaux, larger flat-bottomed boats that could only be used in large rivers.[8] Their pirogues were medium-sized boats of the company carrying eight rowers and a pilot, capable of carrying eight tons of cargo.[9]Henry D. Thoreau writes of using heavy pirogues in his bookThe Maine Woods.
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Pirogues in theUnited States are associated particularly with theCajuns of theLouisiana marsh. The early Creole pirogues were cypress dugouts but today they are usuallyflat-bottomed boats. Pirogues are not usually intended for overnight travel but are light and small enough to be easily taken onto land. The design also allows the pirogue to move through the very shallow water of marshes and be easily turned over to drain any water that may get into the boat. A pirogue has "hard chines" which means that instead of a smooth curve from thegunwales to thekeel, there is often a flat bottom which meets the plane of the side.
In his 1952 classic song "Jambalaya",Hank Williams refers to the pirogue in the line "me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou".Johnny Horton, an avid Louisiana fisherman who celebratedCajun customs and culture, also mentions pirogues in his 1956 song "I Got a Hole in My Pirogue".Hank Williams, Jr. (son of the aforementioned Hank Williams) had a hit song in 1969 "Cajun Baby", which refers to the pirogue in the line "ride around in my old pirogue".
Doug Kershaw's 1961 hit "Louisiana Man" includes the line "he jumps in his pirogue headed down the bayou". Many online lyrics sites misunderstand this line, saying 'hero' or sometimes 'biro' instead.
