Straight Up Kayaks

When did Indians start making Birchbark Canoes?

Well my teacher is making us do a paper and I was wondering when did the indians like invent the birch barkk canoe? Help PLease? thanxs

Public Comments

1. They were doing it when the Europeans arrived, and wood/bark doesn't last too long, so it's a matter of conjecture, (guesswork). It was a 'mature technology`, (the design was pretty refined), so it must have been a couple of hundred years before the '1600`s.
2. The nearest I can get is this link from Minnesota State regarding the Algonquin peoples. The date is vague, listed here as about 1,000 Before the common era (BCE), but it refers to their cultural presence, rather than any specific date where they began to use canoes. Birchbark and wood, though, don't really lend themselves to archaeological dating.