Editing Canoe (section)

==== Australia ====
Some [[Aboriginal Australian]] peoples made bark canoes.<ref name="Nma.gov.au" /> They could be made only from the bark of certain trees (usually [[Eucalyptus camaldulensis|red gum]] or [[box gum]]) and during summer. After cutting the outline of the required size and shape, a digging stick was used to cut through the bark to the hardwood, and the bark was then slowly prised out using numerous smaller sticks. The slab of bark was held in place by branches or handwoven rope, and after separation from the tree, lowered to the ground. Small fires would then be lit on the inside of the bark to cause the bark to dry out and curl upwards, after which the ends could be pulled together and stitched with hemp and plugged with mud. It was then allowed to mature, with frequent applications of [[Animal fat|grease]] and [[ochre]]. The remaining tree was later dubbed a [[canoe tree]] by Europeans.<ref name="murray">{{cite web|title=Aboriginal canoe trees around found along the Murray River|url=http://www.murrayriver.com.au/about-the-murray/bark-canoe-trees/|access-date=18 March 2020|website=Discover Murray River}}</ref>

Because of the porosity of the bark, these bark canoes did not last too long (about two years<ref name="murray" />). They were mainly used for fishing or crossing rivers and lakes to avoid long journeys. They were usually propelled by punting with a long stick.<ref>{{cite web|date=26 November 2009|title=Did you know?: Canoe trees|url=https://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=1400|access-date=18 March 2020|website=SA Memory}}</ref> Another type of bark canoe was made out of a type of [[stringybark]] gum known as Messmate stringybark (''[[Eucalyptus obliqua]]''), pleating the bark and tying it at each end, with a framework of cross-ties and ribs. This type was known as a pleated or tied bark canoe. Bark strips could also be sewn together to make larger canoes, known as sewn bark canoes.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Couper Black|first=E.|date=December 1947|title=Canoes and Canoe Trees of Australia|journal=The Australian Journal of Anthropology|publisher=Australian Anthropological Society|volume=3|issue=12|pages=351–361|doi=10.1111/j.1835-9310.1947.tb00139.x|quote=This paper was read before Section F of the Biennial Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Adelaide in August, 1946.}}</ref>