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The Native People of the Eastern Woodlands built two types of
canoes: dug-outs, fashioned from tree trunks, and more lightweight
canoes made of bark, preferably birch since it was easier to
form. The men in The Agile Bark Canoe are in hunting canoes of
a style attributed to the Passamaquoddy&hibar;but perhaps these
Indians traded for them, as was done frequently. They were as
light as an autumn leaf upon water, with the ability to navigate
rivers, shallow streams, marshes and moderate rapids. Being extremely
light enabled easy portage between waterways and yet they were
capable of carrying heavy loads. A canoe this size (12 feet long
by 30 inches wide at its center) could be lifted with one hand
and was very stable when fully loaded. The bark canoe was fast
and infinitely more versatile than any small craft of the European
settlers. |