bark canoe

Birch bark canoe model. Original labelling on the birch bark canoe glass says: "A Design Triumph, The best canoes were made from bark of the white brch, growing only in Canada and N.East USA. The frame work was made from white cedar, split with hammers and wedges, then covered with lrge sheets of bark laced together with roots and waterproofed with resin from the black spruce. Light enough to be carried, it could take a load of 1,800kg. It was instantly adopted by European explorers and the fur traders from 1600s."

Made for tourists c.1900

Collection Information

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