The Algonquians have a special place in the Native American legacy because of their birch-bark canoes (other peoples in western Canada also used birch-bark canoes). These remarkably light, swift, and graceful craft are probably, along with the Plains Indians tipi, warbon-net, and peace pipe, the most well known of all Indian objects. Using the network of rivers and lakes, Algon-quians could travel throughout their territory to hunt, fish, trade, and make war. They could use more than one waterway by portaging their light canoes overland from one body of water to another. And on the trail, the canoes could be used as makeshift lean-tos to provide shelter from the elements.
These canoes were made in a variety of sizes, materials, and styles: with a low bow and stern, offering little wind resistance, for calm waters; or with high ends, which could slice through large waves, for rough waters (such as the Great Lakes). They differed in size: A small river canoe could be paddled by one or two persons, whereas large lake canoes could be handled by eight or 10 persons, four or five to a side. Cedar, which could be split easily and evenly and which held up well in water, was normally used for the framework. Then the bark of the paper birch would be peeled off the tree in large sheets. The paper birch had few imperfections on its surface. Moreover, birch bark did not shrink or stretch. The pieces of bark would be sewn together with spruce roots and shaped around the cedar frame. Then the resins of spruce trees would be spread on the seams to waterproof them. Maple was the wood of choice for the thwarts, the braces that extended from side to side and held the gunwales, or sides, together. Maple was also used to make paddles.
When birch bark was not available, Algonquians sometimes used the heavier elm bark or spruce bark on their boats, or even moose hide. Or they hollowed out the trunk of a single tree to make a dugout canoe. Large dugouts proved more durable in the open sea for those Algonquians along the Atlantic Coast who went on whaling expeditions.
In wintertime, Subarctic Algonquians used toboggans. Unlike Inuit sleds with runners, toboggans have platforms for people or possessions resting directly on the snow. The platform was made of smooth planks curved upward at the front end. Northern Algonquians also used snowshoes to travel in deep snow. Spruce, birch, or willow was usually used to make the snowshoes’ oval-shaped frame, with rawhide webbing strung in between.
Algonquian (Chippewa) birch-bark canoe
World History
