Young folks' history of the United States . LEARNING TO USE SNOW-SHOES. in with a net-work of deers hide. THE AMERICAN INDIANS. fastened to the foot by thongs, only a light elasticmoccason being worn. Thus the foot was supportedon the surface of the snow ; and an Indian could travelforty miles a day upon snow-shoes, and could easilyovertake the deer and moose, whose pointed hoofscut through the crust. The peculiar pattern variedwith almost every tribe, as did also the pattern ofthe birch canoe. This was made of the bark of the Birchwhite birch, stretched over a very light frame of white °^°°®c
Young folks' history of the United States . LEARNING TO USE SNOW-SHOES. in with a net-work of deers hide. THE AMERICAN INDIANS. fastened to the foot by thongs, only a light elasticmoccason being worn. Thus the foot was supportedon the surface of the snow ; and an Indian could travelforty miles a day upon snow-shoes, and could easilyovertake the deer and moose, whose pointed hoofscut through the crust. The peculiar pattern variedwith almost every tribe, as did also the pattern ofthe birch canoe. This was made of the bark of the Birchwhite birch, stretched over a very light frame of white °^°°®cedar. The whole bark of a birch-tree was stripped. BIRCH CANOE. off and put round the frame, without being torn. The how itedges were sewed with thongs cut from the roots of the ^^^^cedar, and were then covered with pitch made fromthe gum of trees. If torn, the canoe could be mendedwith pieces of bark, fastened in the same way. Thelargest of these canoes were thirty feet long, and wouldcarry ten or twelve Indians: they were very light, andcould be paddled with ease. They were often verygracefully shaped, and drew very little water. Thebirch canoe and the snow-shoe are still much in use, i8 YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. Govern-ment. Thetotem. not only among Indians, but among white men, in thenorthern parts of the United States and in Canada. Clans. Many of the Indian tribes were divided into smaller classes, or clans, distinguished by a mark, or totem,tattooed on the breast; such as the wolf, deer, tor-toise, beaver, bear, snipe, heron, hawk. Each classhad one or more chiefs, or sachems, who represented itin the great councils. The sach
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