Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library
This one person sneak boat, used to hunt wildfowl in the early 1900’s, holds stories of craftmanship, subsistence, colonialism, environmental collapse, and enduring hope. It is the best-preserved sneak boat in Nova Scotia and the only one from the North Shore.
While the Gooseboat of Merigomish is held in the collection of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, a 3D render can be viewed in-person at the Murray Family Public Library (Pictou).
Katherine Knight, a photographer & documentary film director, worked with Nick Rocha (3D artist & designer), to create an immersive, interactive way to share the story of the Gooseboat of Merigomish. A large digital screen (located in the Pictou Library Technogy Area) displays the century-old sneak boat. This digital touchscreen allows users to interact and view the boat from any angle, including its internal mechanisms.
Learn more by exploring a series of interconnected stories about the Gooseboat of Merigomish. Stories include: the boat, Brant Geese, Merigomish Harbour, the Migratory Bird Act Treaty, eelgrass then and now, and social & cultural changes over the past century.
These stories include imags, video, and more!
Explore the Gooseboat of Merigomish3D models (.stl) of the Gooseboat of Merigomish and the brant goose, are now available to download. Print one yourself, or stop by one of our Library Makerspaces and print from our 3D printers.
Download: Goose Boat of Merigomish (.stl)
CC BY-NC 4.0 - for non-commercial use and attribution © Katherine Knight
This scale model adapted for 3D printing by removing the propeller and other mechanical parts and filling in the hull.
The original boat was abandoned in 1918, stored for decades in a barn on Big Island and donated to the Maritime Museum of Atlantic in 1988. Artifact #M85.63.1, Nova Scotia Museum, Marine History Collection.
CC BY-NC 4.0 - for non-commercial use and attribution © Canadian Museum of Nature
This scale model was created from a specimen in the Canadian Museum of Nature / Musée canadien de la nature.
Atlantic Brant Geese populations decreased in 1930 when a wasting disease destroyed the eelgrass they like to eat. Eelgrass recovered, but not many Brant come to Merigomish anymore.
More about the Gooseboat of Merigomish: Coming Soon to NovaStory.ca
Explore more about Katherine Knight & her work: KatherineKnight.ca
Access to books, magazines, online databases, movies and more.