The White Birch Tree

Preferring sandy soils and the colder climates of the northwoods, the White Birch had unique qualities that Native American Indians put to everyday use. Distinguished by its peeling white bark, a white birch with about nine layers of bark stripped off in one piece was ideal for forming the "skin" of a handmade canoe. These "birch bark canoes" were the invention of the nomadic Ottawa tribe who inhabited the northern Great Lakes area. Smaller pieces of the bark, laid like shingles for watertight construction, were used to make the walls of wigwams and baskets. And the flexible, yet strong, wood itself was fashioned into spears, bows, arrows, sleds and snowshoes. Whatever was left over became kindling that would burn even when wet. By providing materials for shelter, transportation, implements and fuel, this particular birch tree served the woodland tribes well. With ingenuity and little waste, they knew well how to use the natural resources around them. The White Birch is also known as Paper Birch or Canoe Birch. Its scientific Latin name is 'Betula papyrifera.'