| So we've been discussing 16th century Native American life, |
| and today we're gonna focus on the Iroquois and Huron peoples. |
| They lived in the northeastern Great Lakes region of North America. |
| Now, back then, their lives depended on the natural resources of the forest, especially the birch tree. |
| The birch tree can grow in many different types of soils and is prevalent in that area. |
| Now, can anyone here describe a birch tree? |
| Umm, they're tall? |
| And... white? The bark, I mean. |
| Yes, the birch tree has white bark. |
| And this tough protective outer layer of the tree, this... this white bark, is waterproof, |
| and this waterproof quality of the bark... |
| oh, it made it useful for making things like cooking containers... |
| a variety of utensils. |
| And if you peel birch bark in the winter, we call it the "winter bark" |
| another layer, a tougher inner layer of the tree adheres to the bark, |
| producing a stronger material... |
| so the "winter bark" was used for larger utensils and containers. |
| Umm, I know people make utensils out of wood, but... utensils out of tree bark? |
| Well, birch bark is pliable and very easy to bend. |
| The Native Americans would cut the bark and fold it into any shape they needed, |
| then secure it with cords until it dried. |
| They could fold the bark into many shapes. |
| So, if they cooked in bowls made of birch bark, |
| wouldn't that make the food taste funny? |
| Oh, that's one of the great things about birch bark. |
| The taste of the birch tree doesn't get transferred to the food, |
| so it was perfect for cooking containers. |
| But the most important use of the bark by far was the canoe. |
| Since the northeast region of North America is... |
| it's interconnected by many streams and waterways, |
| water transportation by vessels like a canoe was most essential. |
| The paths through the woods were often overgrown, so... so water travel was much faster. |
| And here's what the Native Americans did... |
| they would peel large sheets of bark from the tree to form lightweight yet sturdy canoes. |
| The bark was stretched over frames made from tree branches, |
| stitched together and sealed with resin, |
| you know that, that sticky liquid that comes out of the tree, |
| and when it dries, it's watertight. |
| One great thing about these birch bark canoes was, they could carry a large amount of cargo. |
| For example, a canoe weighing about 50 pounds |
| could carry up to 9 people and 250 pounds of cargo. |
| Wow! |
| But how far could they travel that way? |
| Well, like I said, |
| the northeastern region is interconnected by rivers and streams and the ocean at the coast. |
| The canoes allowed them to travel over a vast area that... |
| that today would take a few hours to fly over. |
| You see, the Native Americans made canoes of all types, |
| for travel on small streams or on large open ocean waters. |
| For small streams they made narrow, maneuverable boats, |
| while larger canoes were needed for the ocean. |
| They could travel throughout the area, only occasionally having to portage - |
| - to carry the canoe over land a short distance - to another nearby stream. |
| And since the canoes were so light, this wasn't a difficult task. |
| Now, how do you think this affected their lives? |
| Well, if they could travel so easily over such a large area, |
| they could trade with people from other areas, which I guess, would lead them to form alliances? |
| Exactly. |
| Having an efficient means of transportation, well, that helped the Iroquois to form a federation, |
| linked by natural waterways, |
| and this federation expanded from... |
| what is now southern Canada all the way south to the Delaware River. |
| And, this efficiency of the birch bark canoe also made an impression on newcomers to the area. |
| French traders in the 17th century modeled their... |
| well, they adopted the design of the Iroquois birch bark canoes |
| and they found that they could travel great distances - |
| more than 1500 kilometers a month. |
| Now, besides the bark, Native Americans also used the wood of the birch tree. |
| The young trees were used as supports for lodgings, |
| with the waterproof bark used as roofing. |
| Branches were folded into snowshoes, |
| and the Native American people were all adept at running... running very fast over the snow in these... |
| these birch branch snowshoes, which, if you've ever tried walking in snowshoes, you know isn't easy. |