1.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
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The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian peoples of the Americas and their descendants. The term Amerindian is used in Quebec, the Guianas, Indigenous peoples of the United States are commonly known as Native Americans or American Indians, and Alaska Natives. Application of the term Indian originated with Christopher Columbus, who, in his search for Asia, eventually, the Americas came to be known as the West Indies, a name still used to refer to the islands of the Caribbean Sea. This led to the blanket term Indies and Indians for the indigenous inhabitants, although some indigenous peoples of the Americas were traditionally hunter-gatherers—and many, especially in the Amazon basin, still are—many groups practiced aquaculture and agriculture. The impact of their agricultural endowment to the world is a testament to their time, although some societies depended heavily on agriculture, others practiced a mix of farming, hunting, and gathering. In some regions the indigenous peoples created monumental architecture, large-scale organized cities, chiefdoms, states, and empires. Many parts of the Americas are still populated by peoples, some countries have sizable populations, especially Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Greenland, Guatemala, Mexico. At least a different indigenous languages are spoken in the Americas. Some, such as the Quechuan languages, Aymara, Guaraní, Mayan languages, many also maintain aspects of indigenous cultural practices to varying degrees, including religion, social organization, and subsistence practices. Like most cultures, over time, cultures specific to many indigenous peoples have evolved to incorporate traditional aspects, some indigenous peoples still live in relative isolation from Western culture and a few are still counted as uncontacted peoples. The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the dates and routes traveled, are the subject of ongoing research. According to archaeological and genetic evidence, North and South America were the last continents in the world with human habitation. During the Wisconsin glaciation, 50–17,000 years ago, falling sea levels allowed people to move across the bridge of Beringia that joined Siberia to northwest North America. Alaska was a glacial refugium because it had low snowfall, allowing a small population to exist, the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of North America, blocking nomadic inhabitants and confining them to Alaska for thousands of years. Indigenous genetic studies suggest that the first inhabitants of the Americas share a single population, one that developed in isolation. The isolation of these peoples in Beringia might have lasted 10–20,000 years, around 16,500 years ago, the glaciers began melting, allowing people to move south and east into Canada and beyond. These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct Pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets. Another route proposed involves migration - either on foot or using primitive boats - along the Pacific Northwest coast to the south, archeological evidence of the latter would have been covered by the sea level rise of more than 120 meters since the last ice age
2.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
3.
Iroquois
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The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy. The Iroquois have absorbed many other peoples into their cultures as a result of warfare, adoption of captives, the historic Erie, Susquehannock, Wyandot, and St. Lawrence Iroquoians, all independent peoples, spoke Iroquoian languages. In 2010, more than 45,000 enrolled Six Nations people lived in Canada, the most common name for the confederacy, Iroquois, is of somewhat obscure origin. The first time it appears in writing is in the account of Samuel de Champlain of his journey to Tadoussac in 1603, other spellings occurring in the earliest sources include Erocoise, Hiroquois, Hyroquoise, Irecoies, Iriquois, Iroquaes, Irroquois, and Yroquois. In the French spoken at the time, this would have been pronounced as or. In 1883, Horatio Hale wrote that the Charlevoix etymology was dubious, Hale suggested instead that the term came from Huron, and was cognate with Mohawk ierokwa they who smoke or Cayuga iakwai a bear. Hewitt responded to Hales etymology in 1888 by expressing doubt that either of those words even exist in the respective languages, a more modern etymology is that advocated by Gordon M. Day in 1968, who elaborates upon an earlier etymology given by Charles Arnaud in 1880. Arnaud had claimed that the word came from Montagnais irnokué, meaning terrible man, Day proposes a hypothetical Montagnais phrase irno kwédač, meaning a man, an Iroquois, as the origin of this term. More recently, Peter Bakker has proposed a Basque origin for Iroquois. g and he proposes instead that the word derives from hilokoa, from the Basque roots hil to kill, ko, and a. He also argues that the /l/ was rendered as /r/ since the former is not attested in the inventory of any language in the region. Thus the word according to Bakker is translatable as the killer people, a different term, Haudenosaunee, is the designation more commonly used by the Iroquois to refer to themselves. It is also preferred by scholars of Native American history who consider the name Iroquois to be derogatory in origin. An alternate designation, Ganonsyoni, is encountered as well. More transparently, the Iroquois confederacy is also referred to simply as the Six Nations. The history of the Iroquois Confederacy goes back to its formation by the Peacemaker in 1142, each nation within the Iroquoian family had a distinct language, territory and function in the League. Iroquois influence extended into present-day Canada, westward along the Great Lakes, the League is governed by a Grand Council, an assembly of fifty chiefs or sachems, each representing one of the clans of one of the nations. The original Iroquois League or Five Nations, occupied areas of present-day New York State up to the St. Lawrence River, west of the Hudson River. The League was composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, in or close to 1722, the Tuscarora tribe joined the League, having migrated from the Carolinas after being displaced by Anglo-European settlement
4.
Navajo
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The Navajo are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. After the Cherokee, they are the second-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States, the Navajo language is spoken throughout the region, with most Navajos speaking English, as well. The states with the largest Navajo populations are Arizona and New Mexico, over three-quarters of the Navajo population reside in these two states. The Navajos are speakers of a Na-Dené Southern Athabaskan language known within the language as Diné bizaad, the language comprises two geographic, mutually intelligible dialects. It is closely related to the Apache language, as the Navajos and Apaches are believed to have migrated from northwestern Canada and eastern Alaska, speakers of various other Athabaskan languages located in Canada may still comprehend the Navajo language despite the geographic and linguistic deviation of the languages. Additionally, some Navajos speak Navajo Sign Language, which is either a dialect or daughter of Plains Sign Talk, archaeological and historical evidence suggests the Athabaskan ancestors of the Navajos and Apaches entered the Southwest around 1400 CE. The Navajo oral tradition is said to retain references of this migration, until contact with Pueblos and the Spanish, the Navajos were largely hunters and gatherers. The tribe adopted crop-farming techniques from the Pueblo peoples, growing corn, beans. When the Spanish arrived, the Navajos began herding sheep and goats as a source of trade and food. Sheep also became a form of currency and status symbols among the Navajos based on the quantity of herds a family maintained. In addition, the practice of spinning and weaving wool into blankets and clothing became common, in the 18th century, the Spanish reported the Navajos maintaining large herds of livestock and cultivating large crop areas. Navahu comes from the Tewa, meaning area of cultivated lands. By the 1640s, the Spanish began using the term Navajo to refer to the Diné, during the 1670s, the Spanish wrote that the Diné lived in a region known as Dinétah, about 60 miles west of the Rio Chama valley region. In the 1780s, the Spanish sent military expeditions against the Navajos in the Mount Taylor, the Navajos came into contact with the United States Army in 1846, when General Stephen W. Kearny invaded Santa Fe with 1,600 men during the Mexican–American War. The treaty was not honored by many young Navajo raiders, who continued to steal livestock from New Mexican villages, New Mexicans, on their part, together with Utes, continued to raid Navajo country, stealing livestock and taking women and children for sale as slaves. In 1849, the governor of New Mexico, Colonel John MacRae Washington—accompanied by John S. The treaty acknowledged the jurisdiction of the United States and allowed forts, the United States, on its part, promised such donations such other liberal and humane measures, as may deem meet and proper. While en route to this treaty signing, Narbona, a prominent Navajo peace leader, was killed, during the next 10 years, the U. S. established forts on traditional Navajo territory
5.
Sphagnum
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Sphagnum is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as peat moss. The empty cells help retain water in drier conditions, hence, as sphagnum moss grows, it can slowly spread into drier conditions, forming larger mires, both raised bogs and blanket bogs. These peat accumulations then provide habitat for an array of peatland plants, including sedges and ericaceous shrubs, as well as orchids. Sphagnum and the formed from it do not decay readily because of the phenolic compounds embedded in the mosss cell walls. In addition, bogs, like all wetlands, develop anaerobic soil conditions, Peat moss can also acidify its surroundings by taking up cations, such as calcium and magnesium, and releasing hydrogen ions. Under the right conditions, peat can accumulate to a depth of many meters, different species of Sphagnum have different tolerance limits for flooding and pH, so any one peatland may have a number of different Sphagnum species. Individual peat moss plants consist of a stem, with tightly arranged clusters of branch fascicles usually consisting of two or three spreading branches and two to four hanging branches. The top of the plant, or capitulum, has compact clusters of young branches, along the stem are scattered leaves of various shapes, named stem leaves, the shape varies according to species. The leaves consist of two kinds of cells, small, green, living cells, and large, clear, structural, the latter have the large water-holding capacity. Sphagnum, like all other plants, has an alternation of generations, like other bryophytes. Unlike other mosses, the long-lived gametophytes do not rely upon rhizoids to assist in water uptake, Sphagnum species can be unisexual or bisexual, In North America, 80% of Sphagnum species are unisexual. Gametophytes have substantial asexual reproduction by fragmentation, producing much of the material in sphagnum peatlands. Swimming sperm fertilize eggs contained in archegonia that remain attached to the female gametophyte, the sporophyte is relatively short-lived, and consists almost entirely of a shiny green, spherical spore capsule that becomes black with spores. Sporophytes are raised on stalks to facilitate spore dispersal, but unlike other mosses, the spores germinate to produce minute protonemae, which start as filaments, can become thalloid, and can produce a few rhizoids. Soon afterwards the protonema develops buds and these differentiate into its characteristic, erect, leafy, branched gametophyte with chlorophyllose cells and this stage dominates the environment where Sphagnum grows, obliterating and burying the protonema and eventually building up into layers of dead moss called peat. Carpets of living Sphagnum may be attacked by fungi, and one fungus that is also a mushroom, Sphagnurus paluster. It is unknown whether the stage can produce such gemmae. Peat moss can be distinguished from other species by its unique branch clusters
6.
Typha
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Typha /ˈtaɪfə/ is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. Other taxa of plants may be known as bulrush, including some sedges in Scirpus, the genus is largely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is found in a variety of wetland habitats. Evidence of preserved starch grains on grinding stones suggests they were eaten in Europe 30,000 years ago. Typha are aquatic or semi-aquatic, rhizomatous, herbaceous perennial plants, the leaves are glabrous, linear, alternate and mostly basal on a simple, jointless stem that bears the flowering spikes. The plants are monoecious, with flowers that develop in dense racemes. The numerous male flowers form a spike at the top of the vertical stem. Each male flower is reduced to a pair of stamens and hairs, large numbers of tiny female flowers form a dense, sausage-shaped spike on the stem below the male spike. In larger species this can be up to 30 centimetres long and 1 to 4 centimetres thick, the seeds are minute,0.2 millimetres long, and attached to fine hairs. When ripe, the heads disintegrate into a cottony fluff from which the seeds disperse by wind, Typha are often among the first wetland plants to colonize areas of newly exposed wet mud, with their abundant wind dispersed seeds. Buried seeds can survive in the soil for long periods of time and they germinate best with sunlight and fluctuating temperatures, which is typical of many wetland plants that regenerate on mud flats. The plants also spread by rhizomes, forming large, interconnected stands, Typha are considered to be dominant competitors in wetlands in many areas, and they often exclude other plants with their dense canopy. In the bays of the Great Lakes, for example, they are among the most abundant wetland plants, different species of cattails are adapted to different water depths. Well-developed aerenchyma make the plants tolerant of submersion, even the dead stalks are capable of transmitting oxygen to the rooting zone. Although Typha are native plants, they can be aggressive in their competition with other native species. They have been problematic in regions in North America, from the Great Lakes to the Everglades. Native sedges are displaced and wet meadows shrink, likely as a response to altered hydrology of the wetlands, an introduced or hybrid species may be contributing to the problem. The most successful strategy appears to be mowing or burning to remove the aerenchymous stalks and it may be more important to prevent invasion by preserving water level fluctuations, including periods of drought, and to maintain infertile conditions. Typha are frequently eaten by mammals such as muskrats, that also use them to construct feeding platforms and dens
7.
Juniper
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Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus /dʒuːˈnɪpərəs/ of the cypress family Cupressaceae. The highest-known Juniper forest occurs at an altitude of 16,000 feet in south-eastern Tibet, Junipers vary in size and shape from tall trees, 20–40 m tall, to columnar or low spreading shrubs with long trailing branches. They are evergreen with needle-like and/or scale-like leaves and they can be either monoecious or dioecious. The female seed cones are very distinctive, with fleshy, fruit-like coalescing scales which fuse together to form a structure, 4–27 mm long. In some species these berries are red-brown or orange but in most they are blue, they are often aromatic, the seed maturation time varies between species from 6–18 months after pollination. The male cones are similar to those of other Cupressaceae, with 6–20 scales, in zones 7 through 10, junipers can bloom and release pollen several times each year. A few species of juniper bloom in autumn, while most species pollinate from early winter until late spring. Many junipers have two types of leaves, seedlings and some twigs of trees have needle-like leaves 5–25 mm long. When juvenile foliage occurs on mature plants, it is most often found on shaded shoots, leaves on fast-growing whip shoots are often intermediate between juvenile and adult. In some species, all the foliage is of the juvenile needle-like type, in some of these, the needles are jointed at the base, in others, the needles merge smoothly with the stem, not jointed. The needle-leaves of junipers are hard and sharp, making the juvenile foliage very prickly to handle and this can be a valuable identification feature in seedlings, as the otherwise very similar juvenile foliage of cypresses and other related genera is soft and not prickly. Duplicana feed on the bark around injuries or canker, the number of juniper species is in dispute, with two recent studies giving very different totals, Farjon accepting 52 species, and Adams accepting 67 species. The junipers are divided into sections, though which species belong to which sections is still far from clear. The section Juniperus is a monophyletic group though. The adult leaves are needle-like, in whorls of three, and jointed at the base, Juniperus, Cones with 3 separate seeds, needles with one stomatal band. Juniperus communis - Common Juniper Juniperus communis subsp, alpina - Alpine Juniper Juniperus conferta - Shore Juniper Juniperus rigida - Temple Juniper or Needle Juniper Juniperus sect. Oxycedrus, Cones with 3 separate seeds, needles with two stomatal bands, caryocedrus, Cones with 3 seeds fused together, needles with two stomatal bands. Juniperus drupacea - Syrian Juniper Juniperus sect, the adult leaves are mostly scale-like, similar to those of Cupressus species, in opposite pairs or whorls of three, and the juvenile needle-like leaves are not jointed at the base
8.
Purshia
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The classification of Purshia within the Rosaceae has been unclear. The genus was placed in the subfamily Rosoideae, but is now placed in subfamily Dryadoideae. They are deciduous or evergreen shrubs, typically reaching 0. 3–5 m tall, the leaves are small, 1–3 cm long, deeply three- to five-lobed, with revolute margins. The flowers are 1–2 cm diameter, with five white to yellow or pink petals. The fruit is a cluster of dry, slender, leathery achenes 2–6 cm long, the roots have root nodules that host the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Frankia. The evergreen species were treated separately in the genus Cowania in the past, idaho south to California, Arizona and New Mexico. British Columbia south to California and New Mexico, USDA Plants Profile for Purshia Jepson Flora Project, Purshia — Germplasm Resources Information Network−GRIN, Purshia
9.
Diaper
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When diapers become soiled, they require changing, generally by a second person such as a parent or caregiver. Failure to change a diaper on a regular basis can result in skin problems around the area covered by the diaper. Diapers are made of cloth or synthetic disposable materials, cloth diapers are composed of layers of fabric such as cotton, hemp, bamboo, microfiber, or even plastic fibers such as PLA, and can be washed and reused multiple times. Disposable diapers contain absorbent chemicals and are thrown away after use, plastic pants can be worn over diapers to avoid leaks, but with modern cloth diapers, this is no longer necessary. Diapers are primarily worn by infants, and by children who are not yet potty trained or who experience bedwetting and they are also used by adults with incontinence or in certain circumstances where access to a toilet is unavailable. These can include those of advanced age, individuals with certain types of physical or mental disability, diaper fetishists and it is not uncommon for people to wear diapers under dry suits. The first cloth diapers consisted of a type of soft tissue sheet. This type of pattern was called diapering and eventually gave its name to the used to make diapers and then to the diaper itself. This usage stuck in the United States and Canada following the British colonization of North America, most sources believe nappy is a diminutive form of the word napkin, which itself was originally a diminutive. In the 19th century, the modern diaper began to shape and mothers in many parts of the world used cotton material. Cloth diapers in the United States were first mass-produced in 1887 by Maria Allen, in the UK, nappies were made out of terry towelling, often with an inner lining made out of soft muslin. Here is an extract from The Modern Home Doctor written by physicians in the UK in 1935, doctors believed that rubber pants were harmful because they thought the rubber acted as a poultice and damaged the skin of infants. The constant problem to be overcome was diaper rash, and the infection thereof, the concern was that lack of air circulation would worsen this condition. In the 20th century, the disposable diaper was conceived, in the 1930s, Robinsons of Chesterfield had what were labeled Destroyable Babies Napkins listed in their catalogue for the wholesale market. In 1944, Hugo Drangel of the Swedish paper company Pauliström suggested a design which would entail the placing of sheets of paper tissue inside the cloth diaper and rubber pants. However, cellulose wadding was rough against the skin and crumbled into balls when exposed to moisture, in 1946, Marion Donovan used a shower curtain from her bathroom to create the Boater, a plastic cover to be donned outside a diaper. First sold in 1949 at Saks Fifth Avenues flagship store in New York City, patents were issued in 1951 to Donovan. Donovan also designed a paper disposable diaper, but was unsuccessful in marketing it, in 1947, Scottish housewife Valerie Hunter Gordon started developing and making Paddi, a 2-part system consisting of a disposable pad worn inside an adjustable plastic garment with press-studs/snaps
10.
Cranberry
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Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species Vaccinium oxycoccos, while in North America, Vaccinium oxycoccos is cultivated in central and northern Europe, while Vaccinium macrocarpon is cultivated throughout the northern United States, Canada and Chile. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right and they can be found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to 2 metres long and 5 to 20 centimetres in height, they have slender, the flowers are dark pink, with very distinct reflexed petals, leaving the style and stamens fully exposed and pointing forward. The fruit is a berry that is larger than the leaves of the plant, it is light green. It is edible, with a taste that can overwhelm its sweetness. Cranberries are a commercial crop in certain American states and Canadian provinces. Most cranberries are processed into products such as juice, sauce, jam, Cranberry sauce is a traditional accompaniment to turkey at Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom, and at Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners in the United States and Canada. There are three to four species of cranberry, classified in two sections, Subgenus Oxycoccus, sect, Oxycoccus Vaccinium oxycoccos or Oxycoccus palustris is widespread throughout the cool temperate northern hemisphere, including northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America. It has small 5–10 mm leaves, the flowers are dark pink, with a purple central spike, produced on finely hairy stems. The fruit is a pale pink berry, with a refreshing sharp acidic flavour. Some botanists include it within V. oxycoccos, Vaccinium macrocarpon or Oxycoccus macrocarpus native to northern North America across Canada, and eastern United States, south to North Carolina at high altitudes). It differs from V. oxycoccos in the leaves being larger, 10–20 mm long, oxycoccoides Vaccinium erythrocarpum or Oxycoccus erythrocarpus native to southeastern North America at high altitudes in the southern Appalachian Mountains, and also in eastern Asia. Cranberries are related to bilberries, blueberries, and huckleberries, all in Vaccinium subgenus Vaccinium and these differ in having bell-shaped flowers, the petals not being reflexed, and woodier stems, forming taller shrubs. Some plants of the unrelated genus Viburnum are sometimes called highbush cranberries. Cranberries are susceptible to blossom, a harmful but controllable phytoplasma disease common in the eastern production areas of Massachusetts. The name cranberry derives from craneberry, first named by early European settlers in America who felt the expanding flower, stem, calyx, and petals resembled the neck, head, another name used in northeastern Canada is mossberry. The traditional English name for Vaccinium oxycoccos, fenberry, originated from plants growing in fen lands
11.
Birch bark
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Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus Betula. The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be cut, bent, and sewn, which made it a valuable building, crafting. Even today birch bark remains a popular type of wood for various handicrafts and arts, Birch bark also contains substances of medicinal and chemical interest. Some of those products also have properties that help preserve bark artifacts. Removing birch bark from trees is harmful to tree health. Instead, it can be removed fairly easily from the trunk or branches of dead wood, by cutting a slit lengthwise through the bark, the best time for collection is spring or early summer, as the bark is of better quality and most easily removed. Removing the outer layer of bark from the trunk of a tree may not kill it. Removal of the layer, the phloem, kills the tree by preventing the flow of sap to the roots. To prevent it from rolling up during storage, the bark should be spread open, Birch bark can be cut with a sharp knife, and worked like cardboard. For sharp bending, the fold should be scored first with a blunt stylus, fresh bark can be worked as is, bark that has dried up should be softened by steaming, by soaking in warm water, or over a fire. Birch bark was a construction material in any part of the world where birch trees were available. Containers like wrappings, bags, baskets, boxes, or quivers were made by most societies well before pottery was invented. etc, more than one variety of birch is used. In North America, the population used birch bark for canoes, wigwams, scrolls, ritual art, maps, torches, fans, musical instruments, clothing. In Scandinavia and Finland, it was used as the substratum of sod roofs and birch-bark roofs, for making boxes, casks and buckets, fishing implements, in Russia, many birch bark manuscripts have survived from the Middle Ages. Birch bark knife handles are popular tools to be made currently, in India, birch-bark, along with dried palm leaves, replaced parchment as the primary writing medium. The oldest known Buddhist manuscripts, from Afghanistan, were written on birch bark, Birch bark also makes an outstanding tinder, as the inner layers will stay dry even through heavy rainstorms. To render birch bark useless as tinder, it must be soaked for a period of time. Birch bark manuscript Mazinibaganjigan Wiigwaasabak Wiigwaas entry in Wiktionary The Algonquin Birchbark Canoe, mcPhee, John, The Survival of the Bark Canoe, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York,1975
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