CATALOGUE OF THE WATEECEAFT COLLECTIOiSr. 35 



Originally the birch-bark canoe was one of the most widely used 

 boats in that section of North America embraced under the head of 

 the United States and its territories. The material of which it is 

 formed was easily obtained in what is now the northern part of the 

 United States and also in Alaska, practically to the northern limit 

 of the timber belt. Consequently the birch canoe was in use from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific and is still markedly in favor with the 

 remnants of Indian tribes located in northern States and also with 

 the Indians of that part of Alaska where birch bark is obtainable. 



While there is a general similarity in the form of the birch-bark 

 canoe, there are marked specific differences in sections remote from 

 each other. These are indicated in the descriptions and need not be 

 discussed here. 



In all essential features the birch-bark canoes of British North 

 America are similar to those of the United States, already referred 

 to. The canoe of the Mic Mac tribe of Indians on the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence and of the mountain Indians of Labrador is practically 

 the same as that built by the Indians of eastern Maine, while it is 

 but natural that the natives living along the northern lakes should 

 have boats similar to those built and used by neighboring tribes or 

 members of the same tribe in the United States. In like manner, 

 the canoes of northern British Columbia are in most respects similar 

 to those used by the natives of Alaska. 



Only one form of balsa is found in North America so far at least 

 as the collection shows. It is made of grass or rushes. The general 

 abundance of other material for boat building in nearly all sections 

 of North America is, perhaps, the reason why balsas are limited to 

 one locality and one type. 



The abundance of timber in North America suitable to the con- 

 struction of dugout canoes' has naturally resulted in inducing the 

 Indians of many sections' of the continent to build boats of this 

 kind ; and in no part of the globe, perhaps, is the dugout canoe more 

 extensively used or brought to a higher state of perfection. '\"\^ien 

 America was first settled the dugout canoe was found in common 

 use in many sections along the Atlantic coast of that part of the 

 continent now embraced within the limits of the United States. At 

 the present time few boats of this description are employed by 

 eastern Indians, though in Florida and Virginia canoes are still 

 built by the aborigines. In the extreme northwest of the United 

 States, however, and in Alaska, the dugout canoe is brought to a 

 high state of f)erfection, and is employed by certain tribes of coast 

 Indians, practically to the exclusion of all other types of boats. In 

 early days it was not uncommon to build canoes of large dimensions 

 for war purposes, but the changed condition of the Indians in recent 



