Hello Daniel
There is a great image on typology and information on Torres Strait watercraft found here
The Distribution, Design, Construction and Sustainability of Indigenous Watercraft in Australia: Part One.
Regarding your funding support query – if you’re referring to a transition back from motorised diesel dinghies and fishing boats to canoes (and making these more prevalent again), it would be great to understand what the cost would be.
Assumptions regarding funding support from Government are welcome.
Other considerations
1. What are the benefits of canoes as a nature based solution?
2. Do you foresee resistance from community if mainlanders take away their motorised transport? How come we get to use diesel boats and they don’t?
3. Elders and community leaders are eager to see a return to traditional practices and knowledge sharing. Could the renewed presence of canoes, as powerful vessels of cultural memory and identity, offer a practical and deeply symbolic pathway to this revival?
4. What technology could you implement to improve design? i.e. combining cultural knowledge with western science
5. How will knowledge of carving, architecture and craftsmanship be passed down?
6. What’s the impact to infrastructure? Will there be less of a need for piers and maintenance of these assets?
Tom Nguyen