Canoe - The canoe was one of the most impotant gifts from the Indian to the white man and to civilization.  The birch bark canoe was light and easily carried over ;ortages, drew very little water, and so could be paddled in shallow streams.  the method of paddling the canoe enabled the Indian to move quietly and stealthily

The framework of the canoe was of spucewood; the covering was of white birch bark, sewed together and made watertight with pitch.  The inside, or toughest part of the bark, was outside, instead of the "pretty side" being outside as usually is pictured.  The canoe was pointed at both ends with the bow and stern greatly rounded up.

Canoes were used on rivers and streams east of the Rockies and especially in the Great lakes region.  They varied in size from small river canoes, which were handled by two men, to the Montreal, or voyageur's canoe, which was thirty-five to forty feet in length.  this latter canoe was must used on the Great lakes, and was handled by from eight to ten men.  a smaller canoe than this, twenty-four feet long, was used on inland lakes and rivers, and usually handled by four or five men.

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