The word “canoe” comes from the word kenu, which means “dugout”. The first canoes in history were created and developed by Native Americans over thousands of years. These canoes were made from large tree trunks, shaping them and making them hollow. It was also verified that they were strong enough to travel from one island to another.
A more efficient and well-known version of the canoe was developed by the North American Indians. They made a frame of wooden ribs and covered them with light birch bark. This simple design hasn’t changed much over the years and has remained more or less unchanged. White pine roots were used to hold the joints of a canoe together and then hot pine was applied to make the joints waterproof.
The need for canoes increased significantly in the middle of the 18th century. In fact, the first known canoe factory was founded in 1750 by the French in Trois-Rivieres in Quebec. These canoes were used by fur traders and could carry up to 12 people, including a load of about 2400 kg.