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Snowshoes One of the earliest ways people moved across snow was by using snowshoes. Archaeologists have not been able to determine when the snowshoe was first used, but it has been found that snowshoes were used over 12,000 years ago. It is said that the invention of snowshoes is as important as the invention of the wheel. The first snowshoe was probably made from bent wood and animal skins. Because the snowshoe is such an old invention, there is not a lot of recorded history to be found. Most of the history of snowshoes, and their use by ancient people, is found in paintings on cave walls. It has been found that about 6,000 years ago people living in Central Asia used snowshoes to migrate east and west. They moved to Alaska and Canada by crossing over the Bearing Strait and to Greenland and Scandinavia. These snowshoes, or “shoeskis,” were made from a solid piece of wood with simple ways to keep them on your feet. The “Shoeskis”
The North American
Indians lived in forests filled with soft, fluffy snow.
Snowshoes allowed them to move around easier while they
hunted buffaloes, and also made it easier for them to do their daily
winter chores and activities. They
found by experimenting with different shapes and sizes of the
snowshoe, that they were able to walk across different types of
snow. Many of the designs were larger versions of animals’ feet,
such as a bear paw or a moose hoof.
Without snowshoes, Native American Indians would not have
been able to survive the harsh winters of North America.
Bear Paw Snowshoes
When European settlers came to America, they learned
from the Indians how to make snowshoes and the settlers developed
their own styles. The
settlers would use the snowshoes to explore the unknown wilderness,
and also during their normal daily activities during the winter. II. Present
Today,
people still use snowshoes, but more for fun instead of needing them
to travel. People have even started snowshoe clubs. The
basic designs of today’s snowshoes are still much like the styles
of the ancient Native Americans and people who lived in Central
Asia. Modern snowshoe frames are now mostly made from
light-weight aluminum that replaces the bent wood. Rubber is
now used instead of animal skins to keep the person on top of the
snow.
Modern
Snowshoe
“Snowshoes’
History.” Shamonta. Copyrighted
image used with permission. 07
November 2004 <www.shamonta.com/uk/histo/histo_bas_d.html> II.
Future
I
think that in the future there will be snowshoes for animals because
when you walk your dog in the snow they usually sink into the snow,
not being able to walk very well. Animal snowshoes would help
our pets to more easily move around during and after a snowfall.
I
think snowshoes will still be used in places that get a lot of deep
snow like Alaska, Greenland, and Canada in North America.
Citations Book Osgood,
William and Leslie Hurley. The
Snowshoe Book. Brattleboro,
Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press, 1971. Online
Resources Calhoun,
Crede and Marylend Friendsville.
“History ~ Types ~ Techniques.”
The Deep Creek Times Scoopon Snowshoeing.
08 November 2004 <www.deepcreektimes.com/kids/january2003.htm>. “History.”
SnowShoe Central.
08 November 2004 <http://www.sunvalleyseasons.com/snowshoeing/history_child.html>. “The
Rise Of The Snowshoe.” Running Deer’s Longhouse.
08 January 2005 <www.runningdeerslonghouse.com/webdoc354.htm>. “Snowshoes’
History.” Shamonta. 07 November 2004 <www.shamonta.com/uk/histo/histo_bas_d.html>. Stensaas,
Mark. “Shoes on the
Snow.” Winter
Travel. 08 November
2004 < http://www.lakesuperior.com/online/205/205snowshoes.html>. Images All photographs of
snowshoes on this page are copyrighted and cannot be used without
the permission of the owners (owners listed beneath each picture).
Email permissions were received for each picture. Copyrighted clip art of the
snowshoe in upper left corner of page from "Microsoft Office
Online" <http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us&cag=1>
(October-March, 2004-2005). Clip art available only to licensed
users for non-commercial purposes. |
