Canoes: A Natural History in North America

Neuzil, Mark; Sims, Norman

Mark Neuzil and Norman Sims

2016

This is the story of the canoe, that singular American artifact so little changed over time. Featured here are canoes old and new, from birch bark to dugout to carbon fiber; the people who made them; and the adventures they shared. With features of technology, industry, art, and survival, the canoe carries us deep into the natural and cultural history of North America.

Follow author Mark Neuzil on Twitter: @mrneuzil

A painting of about eight figures (some babies or children) paddling a canoe.

Canoe of the Indians

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Eastman Johnson, Canoe of the Indians, ca. 1856–1857.

In 1939, Ojibwe tribal members at Grand Portage, near the border between the United States and Canada on Lake Superior, completed a birch-bark canoe in the traditional manner as part of a Works Progress Administration arts program. Here a headboard is installed.

Installing the Headboard

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

In 1939, Ojibwe tribal members at Grand Portage, near the border between the United States and Canada on Lake Superior, completed a birch-bark canoe in the traditional manner as part of a Works Progress Administration arts program. Here a headboard is installed.

A black and white photograph of seven men standing or sitting in a small fleet of birch-bark caones by a dock on a lake.

Expedition to Michican's Upper Peninsula and Lake Superior

From Chapter 2: Birch-Bark Canoes

Photograph of an expedition to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Lake Superior, ca. 1868. Photographer unknown.

Canoes: A Natural History in North America

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Canoe of the Indians

Installing the Headboard

Expedition to Michican's Upper Peninsula and Lake Superior