Excerpt from The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America Bark canoes of the North American Indians, particularly those of birch bark, were among the most highly developed of manually propelled primitive watercraft. Built with Stone Age tools from materials available in the areas of their use, their design, size, and appearance were varied so as to create boats suitable to the many and different requirements of their users. The great skill exhibited in their design and construe tion shows that a long period of development must have taken place before they became known to white men