Keywords: Snowshoe race
Item 76548
Winter Carnival at North Waterford, ca. 1926, ca. 1926
Contributed by: Waterford Historical Society Date: circa 1926 Location: North Waterford Media: Photographic print from glass negative
Item 33641
Snowshoe program, Biddeford, 1962
Contributed by: Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine Libraries Date: 1962 Location: Biddeford Media: Ink on paper
Exhibit
In the early 1600s, French explorers and colonizers in the New World quickly adopted a Native American mode of transportation to get around during the harsh winter months: the snowshoe. Most Northern societies had some form of snowshoe, but the Native Americans turned it into a highly functional item. French settlers named snowshoes "raquettes" because they resembled the tennis racket then in use.
Exhibit
The astronomical arrival of winter -- also known as the winter solstice -- marks the year's shortest day and the season of snow and cold. It usually arrives on December 21.
Site Page
Maine's Swedish Colony, July 23, 1870 - New Sweden Athletic Club
"Children used Swedish snowshoes which are also known as “skidor” (long and narrow skis). Children had to learn how to ski at a young age."
Site Page
Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center
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