An Ethnobiological Look at Snowshoes (Northwestern Canada)

Snowshoes are a key technology for getting around in places with significant winter snowpack.  I examine materials, designs and traditional tools for making snowshoes in northwestern Canada.  My presentation will focus on snowshoe design and materials for the Witsuwit’en and Gitxsan of Northwestern British Columbia, the Teslin Tlingit of the Yukon and the Gwich’in from Teet’lit Zheh, Northwest Territories.  The paper is based on interviews with two snowshoe makers and several other knowledgeable Elders, examination of extant snowshoes of various designs, and examination of traditional snowshoe netting tools in the (then) Canadian Museum of Civilization.  Shapes, types of wood, and netting materials are key variables.  Snowshoe frame materials included Douglas maple (Acer glabrum var douglasii), pine  (Pinus contorta) or spruce, (Picea sp.) and birch (Betula papyrifera).  Webbing included cowhide, deerhide or caribou hide babiche, or sinew. Linguistic data on terms for snowshoes, materials and snowshoe tools were also collected.