Nowadays, most are made of aluminum or fiberglass, with polystyrene floats in the bow and stern. But their form is still identical with the Indian birch-bark canoe. Native Americans kept little that we can call written records, and, since canoes were completely biodegradable, we have no archaeological remains either. Our earliest records of canoes are sketches left by the first European explorers. They show this ancient craft only fluctuating about one nearly perfect design.
Canoes are shallow-draft boats whose delicate shape has much in common with Viking ships.
One advantage over a rowboat is that the paddler faces the direction of travel. Emptied, even those canoes could be portaged by just three people. The old canoes had tough light wooden frames with a skin of bark, usually birch. Sometimes the bark was put on in one piece and pleated to take up slack as it was contoured. Sometimes it was sewn in sections and caulked with spruce gum.