It is a commonly held belief that snowshoes were initially invented in Asia between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago. However, in the case of wooden snowshoes, because the materials that would have been used don’t last that long, there is little definite knowledge to corroborate this. Many academics believe that Native Americans and Inuits were carrying some form of snowshoe when they migrated from Asia.
The art of shoe making was perfected by Inuit and Native American tribes such as the Athabascans, Montagnais and Labrador. It is known that snowshoes were used in parts of Europe such as the Alps, however, the Europeans had not perfected the design in the way the inhabitants of North America had. Europe concentrated on the development of skis in order to travel quickly through deep snow. Europe wasn’t introduced to the advanced design of a snow show until the first settlers brought them back in the late 1500s.
