Indigenous Peoples Did Not Have Wheels

Indigenous Peoples did not have wheels at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus and were therefore, according to widely held belief, living in primitive cultures and primitive conditions. Dictionaries define “primitive” as being of an early age, crude, simple, little evolved, unsophisticated, or produced by a people or culture that is non-industrial and often non-literate and tribal.

Indigenous Peoples did not have wheels as to them and from their perspective, a wheel did not make much sense from a practical perspective. The utility of a wheel, in what has become Canada, was significantly limited by topography. In some parts of Canada it would have been almost impossible to roll one wheel by itself let alone two side by side on an axle. The Indigenous Peoples had other methods of travel that better suited the topography, such as birch bark or cedar dugout canoes or kayaks - efficient methods of travel that were quickly adopted by the European settlers.

Although Indigenous Peoples did not have wheels it should be noted that Indigenous Peoples were quite industrious and could move large bundles of goods, services, and ideas over very large areas geographically speaking. Their transportation system and communications channels were the waterways. Put another way, their trade networks stretched from Alaska to Central Mexico and east across the country.

Remember, Lewis and Clark and Simon Fraser were able to cross the continent without wheels.

• Chinook Jargon - The First Language of Trade

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