What did birch bark canoes look like?

Answer 1

Birch Bark canoes are white on the outside with specks of black. They also can have carvings to represent a certain tribe. On the inside they are a tan or a light brown with carved stripes. It may have a rope on the edge too.

Answer 2

Larger canoes required time and work, although all the materials were ready and available from the surroundings. The task involves: gathering the bark and root lashings, carving the man boards and laminating the prow pieces, bending and lashing the gunwales and inserting the hand-carved thwarts, stitching up the seams and gores, ripping and laying the cedar planking, bending and inserting the 30 or more ribs, and caulking the seams and holes with pine gum, and finally decorating by etching or painting the bark. Much more than a regular day's full of work!

Smaller birch bark or spruce bark canoes used for hunting or warring parties could be made more faster, being built for only one or two men. There was no planking or a fancy prow piece in small canoes. The small canoes were not as durable nor as fancy as larger bark canoes, but with proper storage the little canoes could last five years or longer. Bark canoes could be stored in two different ways: either kept from excessive light and moisture (hung upside-down in the shade under some kind of cover), or completely soaked in a lake or pond with rocks used as weights to hold down. Since it is waterproof it didn't get ruined!

In the early years of European contact in the 1600's , the high ended birch bark canoes of the Algonquin, Ottawa, and related tribes inspired the design of the bigger canoes developed during the French fur trade. However they would use it as it said before for hunting and warring parties.