Talk:Canadian (canoe)
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"A Canadian is a mostly open canoe that is driven sitting or kneeling and moved with a paddle. It was originally used by the North American Indians as a means of transportation in the densely forested and impassable areas of North America, [...]."
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The Indigenous peoples of the Americas didn't originally use Canadian canoes, as they used their dugout and birch bark canoes long before a northern part of America was called Canada...
Also canoes where used all over the world, not only in North-America.
The current touring, whitewater and racing canoes are indeed more or less descendants of the birch bark (touring) canoe of indigenous peoples of North America. In some countries these canoes are called 'Canadians' because in these countries a kayak is seen as a canoe.
As already written, naming a canoe a Canadian has been the cause of a lot of serious confusion, like kayakers who call themself canoe-instructors while they are hardly or not being able to paddle a canoe themselves, let alone being able to teach others using one well...
Also women were not allowed to canoe on the Olympics because a kayak is a canoe...
Et cetera.
"Canadians and kayaks are the two main sub-groups of canoes."
Kayaks can justifiably seen as a sub-group of canoes, which are confusingly called 'Canadian canoes' in some countries. When a canoe will be called a kayak depends on interpretation or is arbitrarily determined in competition sport rules. In general though a kayak is a more or less decked canoe meant to be paddled with a double-bladed paddle from a low seated position.
Except for the wooden 'Canadian Style' canoe, also known as the 'Peterborough' type, I cannot think of any definition that technically, historically and geographically is correct enough to justify the use of the byname 'Canadian' for canoes in formal use such as education, instruction, regulation and sport games.
In my view the subject Canadian canoe on Wikipedia is (or was!) meant to provide an answer to questions like:
- What is meant with the term 'Canadian canoe'?
- Why is this byname used.
- Why is a kayak (still) called a canoe in some countries?
Kanoniem (talk) 14:21, 7 April 2020 (UTC)
- @Kanoniem: I agree with you.--Kasper2006 (talk) 04:09, 9 April 2020 (UTC)