Snowshoe#Post-American-contact

File:Snow Shoe Maker between ca. 1900-1930.jpg

Before people built snowshoes, nature provided examples. Several animals, most notably the snowshoe hare, had evolved over the years with oversized feet enabling them to move more quickly through deep snow.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

The origin and age of snowshoes are not precisely known, although historians{{who|date=July 2023}} believe they were invented from 4,000 to 6,000 years ago, probably starting in Central Asia.{{cite web|url=http://www.gvsnowshoes.com/eng/hist_raq.html|title=Raquettes GV – Fabricant de raquettes à neige|work=Raquettes GV|access-date=2009-01-08|archive-date=2009-02-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213093745/http://gvsnowshoes.com/eng/hist_raq.html|url-status=live}} British archaeologist Jacqui Wood hypothesized that the equipment interpreted to be the frame of a backpack of the Chalcolithic mummy Ötzi was actually part of a snowshoe.{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/the_hitch/article516866.ece|title=The Times – UK News, World News and Opinion|access-date=2008-08-02|archive-date=2019-12-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218032027/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/|url-status=dead}} Strabo wrote that the inhabitants of the Caucasus used to attach flat surfaces of leather under their feet and that its inhabitants used round wooden surfaces, something akin to blocks, instead. However, the "traditional" webbed snowshoe as used today had direct origins to North American Indigenous people, e.g., the Huron, Cree, and so forth.{{cite web|url=http://www.snowshoemag.com/2012/06/17/snowshoes-and-the-canadian-first-nations/|title=Snowshoes and the Canadian First Nations|work=Snowshoe Magazine|date=17 June 2012|access-date=10 February 2016|archive-date=29 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129233135/http://www.snowshoemag.com/2012/06/17/snowshoes-and-the-canadian-first-nations/|url-status=live}} Samuel de Champlain wrote, referencing the Huron and Algonquin First Nations, in his travel memoirs (V.III, p. 164), "Winter, when there is much snow, they (the Indians) make a kind of snowshoe that are two to three times larger than those in France, that they tie to their feet, and thus go on the snow, without sinking into it, otherwise they would not be able to hunt or go from one location to the other".

File:Ojibwa dance.jpg performing a snowshoe dance. Note double-pointed snowshoes. Drawing by George Catlin]]

File:FMIB 41386 Types of snowshoes used in the Yukon Valley The smaller sized ones are used when breaking a trail The broken portion shows.jpeg.]]

File:Beaver-tail snowshoes, Montagnais, 1800s, wood, gut - Château Ramezay - Montreal, Canada - DSC07387.jpg Beaver-tail snowshoes. Note fine weave.]]

[[File:Traditionally crafted Athabascan hunting-style snowshoe using local birch for the frames. The red paint on these snowshoes is in (4a44247d-1720-46c1-bfe9-05866a1f4ead) (cropped).jpg|thumb

|Modern Athabaskan hunting-style snowshoes]]

File:RBCM - Dene Snowshoes.jpg snowshoes]]

The Indigenous peoples of North America developed the most advanced and diverse snowshoes prior to the 20th century. Different shapes were adapted to the different conditions in each region.{{cite news |last1=Gillespie |first1=Craig |title=A Look Back – An Overview of Traditional Snowshoe Design In Canada |url=https://www.snowshoemag.com/a-look-back-an-overview-of-traditional-snowshoe-design-in-canada/ |work=Snowshoe Magazine |date=18 October 2004 |access-date=8 January 2023 |archive-date=8 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108223931/https://www.snowshoemag.com/a-look-back-an-overview-of-traditional-snowshoe-design-in-canada/ |url-status=live }} Despite their great diversity in form, snowshoes were, in fact, one of the few cultural elements common to all tribes that lived where the winters were snowy, in particular, the Northern regions. Nearly every Indigenous peoples of the Americas culture developed its own particular shape of shoe, the simplest being those of the far north.[https://www.penn.museum/sites/journal/184/ "Snowshoes"] The Museum Journal vol II #4:82-94 (December 1911) Penn Museum

The Inuit have two styles, one being triangular in shape and about {{convert|18|in|cm}} in length, and the other almost circular, both reflecting the need for high flotation in deep, loose and powdery snow. However, contrary to popular perception, the Inuit did not use their snowshoes much since they did most of their foot travel in winter over sea ice or on the tundra, where snow does not pile up deeply.

Southward the shoe becomes gradually narrower and longer, one of the largest being the hunting snowshoe of the Cree, which is nearly {{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=on}} long and turned up at the toe.

Athapaskan snowshoes are made for travelling quickly on dry powder over flat, open land in Alaska and the Canadian northwest. They were used for keeping up with dog sleds, and breaking trail for them. They can be over {{convert|7|ft|m|abbr=on}} long, and are narrow with an upturned toe.

Ojibwa snowshoes were designed for manuverability, and are pointed at both ends, making it easier to step backwards. They are also easier to construct, as the outer frame is made in two pieces.

Huron snowshoes are tailheavy, which means they track well but do not turn easily. They are broad enough that the maximum width has to be tucked against the tail of the other snowshoe with each step, or the straddle will be too wide for the wearer. They are also meant for open country, and can carry heavy loads.

Snowshoes developed by the Iroquois are narrower and shorter, reflecting the need for maneuverability in forested areas.

The Bearpaw style was widely used in the dense forests of Quebec and Labrador. It has no tail, and turns easily.

The Plains Indians wore snowshoes on their winter season bison hunts before horses were introduced.

{{multiple image|

image1=Prehistoric and Medieval Skis from Glaciers and Ice Patches in Norway Fig 3 The Lendbreen ski-snowshoe.png|caption1=Prehistoric (791–540 BCE) solid-wood "ski-snowshoe" found in the mountain glaciers of Norway. The carved horizontal hole was used to tie it onto the foot, as in traditional European skis (which seem to have been far more common); the bottom is unworn, so it was probably covered in fur for grip.:Wikisource:Journal of Glacial Archaeology/Volume 3/Prehistoric and Medieval Skis from Glaciers and Ice Patches in Norway

|image2=Snow shoes, Siberia, Russia, No. 1880.04.0463 - Etnografiska museet - Stockholm, Sweden - DSC01256.JPG|caption2=Similar 1800s Eastern-Siberian footwear, Chukchi people. Note fur ski skins.

}}

In 2016, "the oldest [extant] snowshoe in the world", found in a melting glacier in the Dolomites in Italy, was dated to between 3800 and 3700 BCE. It was a crude frame snowshoe.{{cite news |last= Squires|first= Nick |date= 2016-09-12|title= World's oldest snowshoe found on a glacier in Italy's Dolomites|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/12/worlds-oldest-snowshoe-found-on-a-glacier-in-italys-dolomites/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/12/worlds-oldest-snowshoe-found-on-a-glacier-in-italys-dolomites/ |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper= The Telegraph|access-date= 2016-09-13}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |author1=H. Steiner |author2=Catrin Marzoli |author3=Klaus Dieter Oeggl |title=A neolithic snowshoe from Gurgler Eisjoch (3134m) in the Pfossental/Schnals (South Tyrol) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316213712 |website=ResearchGate |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108225403/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316213712_A_neolithic_snowshoe_from_Gurgler_Eisjoch_3134m_in_the_PfossentalSchnals_South_Tyrol |archive-date=Jan 8, 2023 |language=en |date=January 2016 |url-status=live |url-access=registration}}{{cite journal |title=Una ciaspola tardoneolitica dal Gurgler Eisjoch in Val di Fosse/Senales |journal=Air.unimi.it |url=https://air.unimi.it/handle/2434/671009 |access-date=2023-01-08 |archive-date=2023-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108225413/https://air.unimi.it/handle/2434/671009 |url-status=live }}

Solid-wood "ski-snowshoes", essentially short, wide versions of traditional skis, were used in Eurasia. They were made of light woods such as pine. Slender skis seem to have been more popular. Both types of footwear were lined with furs for climbing.

In Northwest North America in the early twentieth century, Roald Amundsen compared the solid-wood Norwegian skis he used with the local snowshoes worn by his travelling companions; he judged the skis faster in some conditions and the snowshoes faster in others.{{cite book|title=The North-West Passage; Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship 'Gjöa'|url=https://archive.org/details/roaldamundsensth002amun|date=1908|location=New York|publisher=E.P. Dutton and Co.|volume=2}}