American history is filled with different groups of people, big and small, who helped shape the country in one way or another.
Each section of the country has their own unique cultures, which developed from the land around them like these amazing Native American tribes.
Being that the American South has so many different rivers and waterways, it would make sense that it plays a big role in their cultural identity.
People have traded through the river, traveled along it, and relied on it to catch food. Some even chose to live on the river, constructing little shacks that also doubled as boats that float along the currents.
These 'river people' are not frequently mentioned in American history, especially if they were part of an underrepresented minority group.
But one artist and his crew are traveling down the Tennessee river, hoping to shed light on some of its forgotten history — and they're doing so in a homemade boat!
Check below to learn about this cool project and see pictures of the self-made "shanty boat."
[H/T: Daily Mail]
Traveling along the Tennessee River, artist Wes Modes and crew are swimming through the South in completely self-constructed boat.
He is making the trip in his homemade "shanty boat" to make a statement about certain forgotten individuals in American history.
"Shanty boat" comes from the term "shanties," which are crudely built huts, cabins, or houses.
These little huts would travel along rivers like little makeshift houseboats.
Constructing his hut entirely from reclaimed materials, Modes set out on the journey, called "The Secret History of American River People."
On his excursion, he will learn about and talk to people living along the river, who are often absent or misrepresented in our nation's history.
Shanty boaters on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers have been part of the American South's story for decades, living along the edge of its many rivers and experiencing the trade and travel that went on.
Modes hopes to gather history and information from this specific sect of people, especially women, native people, and people of color.
"I'm really interested to talk to people who don't represent the mainstream cultural story," Modes explained to Alabama.com.
He states: "Rivers are more gentrified than they have ever been. Rivers become white and increasingly monied, and that means the river communities that contained a more diverse population — poor people, people of color, native people — those stories are lost."
After hearing their accounts and collecting stories, the crew will end their journey in Paducah, KY — where the Tennessee River meets the Ohio River.
Living like the "river people" did on their boats in the 1940s, he is bringing a part of Southern history to life both physically and metaphysically through the accounts that he will collect.
His ragtag river crew includes five other travelers: Jeremiah Daniels, Lauren Benz, Adrian Nankivell, Penske Pocketknife, and even a dog named Hazel!
Their acquired amenities include a stove, a sink, a table, and an old leather couch, as well as the crew's personal items and other necessary river tools.
Whatever else they need, they extract from what is around them — much like what their turn-of-the-century counterparts would have done!
Modes' journey and research can be be tracked online</a>; the project's webpage offers more about the boat and the history of the shanty boat lifestyle.
Their Instagram also chronicles the crew's journey through stunning shots of the South and various landmarks that the shanty boat sails past.
Through this interesting excursion, the crew is helping commemorate forgotten people who helped shape history.
They also are helping groups of people who are frequently overshadowed in many other contexts in the country.
Check out the video below to learn more about the shanty sailing.
If you would ever live in this little shanty houseboat, please SHARE on Facebook!
