: Ok, I'll bite, I'm not up on Californian history, what's this
: about?

: Bill H.

Well, I went to that link Matthias supplied in the OP, and learned that these reed boats were used by native Californians. On closer examination this morning, it says used to cross lakes, rivers, marshes, bays. I don't reckon they'd have been useful in the open Pacific, but the stuff on that web page is the extent of what I know about these. Being that they were used in California, and that the painting by Louis Choris, on a casual observation last night, appeared to me to be possibly offshore, I naturally remembered Duane Strosaker's encounter with the Great White shark, and thought that those sharp paddles might be useful for discouraging interested predators. Possibly also for securing dinner. I don't know, it was just a connection. It was late last night, I'd been working, and only had one beer before making random posts on the internet.