Birch bark is one of the most diverse and fascinating materials that nature has to offer. What plastic is to us today in modern industrialised society, birch bark has been for centuries in many indigenous cultures.
Birch canoes of the Indians
Some groups of ancient Indians in what is now North America and Canada went fishing in extremely light canoes made from the birch bark available everywhere. These boats, which are covered with solid birch bark, are still popular on the continent today, but this old tradition is also gaining more and more followers in Europe. The best-known birch bark canoe builder in Europe is our friend and customer Markus Flückiger from Switzerland, who has built his Canoes made from strips of Siberian birch bark up to 5 metres long manufactured.
Birch leather from head to toe in Siberia
Even though the dugout canoe-like boats are rather rare in Siberia, this fascinating material has also been used in a variety of ways here for centuries. Ethnic groups such as the Evenks and Buryats use the traditional vessels, such as those offered by sagaan, In addition to woven baskets and bowls, they also make their slippers from birch bark, the so-called lapty (Лапты).
The Khanty (Chansen) and Mansy (Mansi) people in western Siberia have often harvested the bark from birch trees in autumn since time immemorial, when the sap shoots into the roots after the first frost. The bark is not quite as easy to remove from the tree as in spring, but the top layer of the onion-skin-like bark skin is reddish in colour. This allows beautiful ornaments to be carved into it.
Among the Udmurt women from the Volga region, the headdress called Ajschon [alternative spellings: Aischon, Aishon] is made from birch bark. The „Celtic hat“ found in the grave of a Celtic nobleman in Baden-Würrtemberg, which was worn in place of a crown, also indicates that the special healing power of the birch tree was known early on and that it came close to gold as a symbol of power and dignity.
These mythical properties of birch bark, sometimes also called birch leather or birch cork, were also utilised by some shamans who sewed their costumes from birch leather.
Northern Russia and Scandinavia: love letters and raindrops
Things are much more secular in Veliky Novgorod, where the oldest non-lithurgical texts, the so-called „Birch bark certificates“ were found. There are more than 1,000 short messages that provide an interesting insight into everyday life and love life at the time: These Birch bark texts sometimes read like text messages from prehistoric times, in which lovers make appointments, plan errands and settle bills.
Birch leather is used more pragmatically by the Sami people living in Lapland, who sometimes still use birch bark to protect their tent-like huts against wind, weather and especially water.
The water-repellent function of birch bark is also utilised in other areas of Scandinavia, where birch cork is used instead of roof tiles, similar to thatched roofs made from reeds.
The Unprocessed bark, that sagaan offers is of „roofing quality“, i.e. it is of the highest quality and density and is sufficiently thick (approx. 2-6 mm).
In Norway and Sweden in particular, handles are traditionally made from birch bark. This ancient knowledge inspired the sagaan company Betula Manus years of tinkering to perfection and now produces tool handles, fishing rods, shaving brushes, bicycle handles and door handles in a sheltered workshop in northern Germany. Betula Manus obtains the bark required for this from sagaan.
Bad luck and cholera
The valuable ingredients in the bark are what make birch so special. Even in ancient times, people learnt to extract black tar from the white bark. Birch pitch can still be found in various applications today, including in body and especially skin care. In addition to cosmetics, the ingredients in the bark are also used in medicine. For example, the use of birch bark extracts is currently being trialled in skin cancer therapy.
Protect and preserve - then and now
Ötzi from Haslabjoch, the man from the ice, carried his most important possessions in birch bark containers over 5000 years ago: he transported his belongings and - particularly important at the time - his embers in two birch cans, similar to how we sell them today, Just as birch bark protects and preserves the tree, it also fulfils its preservative function as storage containers for the kitchen and as bread tins to keep baked goods fresh. The special properties of this natural material come to the fore in the „Tupperware of the Stone Age“: the betulin and essential oils naturally contained in the bark have an antiseptic effect, keeping valuable food fresh for a long time and protecting it from mould.
Should spores or even vermin become entangled in the birch bark, you will find the right solution in our Care instructions Help for effective care and cleaning.
Preservative birch bark
Until the 20th century, a traditional industry also made use of the properties of birch bark: fishermen used extracts from birch bark as a preservative for their elaborately woven fishing nets. This process was known as »barking«, as can be seen from a Special edition of the magazine »Deutsches Seiler-Gewerbe« »There are reports from the Nordic countries of the miraculous effects of birch bark. Nets treated in this way are said to last 30 to 50 years«
sagaan and birch bark
The fact that birch bark - the side we usually use - has such a smooth, golden-yellow interior that it hardly absorbs any moisture causes us and our partners great difficulties when working in the workshop: This protective function often allows glue to simply roll off.
But it is precisely this extreme density that ensures excellent freshness properties for the flavour-tight storage of highly aromatic foods such as coffee and spices. In North America and Canada, the Indians have also long utilised the properties of this fascinating, ultra-light and supple material by building their canoes from birch bark.
Birch bark is as supple as leather, processes like wood, is as described on paper, It keeps houses and boats dry like roof tiles and rejuvenates the skin in creams and shampoos. It is also uniquely soft and velvety to the touch when taken fresh from the tree.