pirogue, in its simplest form, a dugout made from one log, but also a number of more elaborately fashioned boats, including various native canoes, the structure and appearance of which generally resemble those of a dugout. The pirogue is widely distributed and may be found as a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Mexico; as a shallow-draft boat that is used to maneuver through the Louisiana swamplands; and as a boat used by the Indians of Guyana. Pirogues may be broadened by constructing them from two curved pieces or deepened by affixing planks to their sides. Compare canoe.