Sounds like you both have been LIVING! I am sure you know how lucky you both are. I always wished I met my husband sooner-to set up a homestead and live life together even longer.
I love the look of the Ojibwe style snowshoes (those and the Yukon wooden style are my favorites)-would love to see a pic of yours! My email is maywoodworth@gmail.com if you feel inclined to send one so I can have a peek 🙂
However, the man made lightweight seem to work best for me as we have soooo much dense brush and hilly terrain.
Thank you for sharing your story. You give me hope that my husband and I can keep doing what we’re doing for many years to come 🙂
Peace,
May

As far as snowshoe origins -you can disagree all you want-you are not disagreeing with me however-you can disagree with the entire historical/ scientific/ archeological community. 🙂 That is where I get my research. LOTS of research. Which I do for every article or book I write.

If you disagree with the actual timeline of migration and the tools our ancestors brought from Asia (including snowshoes) during their migration and have evidence of another chain of events PLEASE contact the scientific/ archeological/ historical community.

As far as what I wrote in this article-The ONE sentence that you chose to fixate on:
“Over 6,000 years ago, our ancestors from Asia strapped slabs of wood on their feet, in order to hunt and move over deep snow. Modifications to the original crude design happened over time, as the human race migrated to other continents.”
That is data retrieved from a slew of research.

Cree are part of the human race. They are part of the migration from Asia to North America. They did perfect the original crude wood/ leather designs::
…”From its primitive beginnings in Central Asia this early form of snowshoe was brought to North America over a strip of land now covered by the Bering Straight, and became an indispensable item of footwear for tackling the harsh Canadian winter. It’s a proven fact that the North American Indians perfected the traditional snowshoe worn today. ..” Snowshoe.mag.com

However, the evidence of OLDEST snowshoe use/ invention (which is all I wanted to put in my article) in all the historical research sources I used (including Encyclopedia Britannica) -point to Asia.- wherein, peoples strapped leather and wood to their feet to traverse snow. The article link below from GVSNOWSHOES.COM applauds the First Nations snowshoes, and also cites Asia as original origins. Resources cite that migration brought snowshoes to North America. Here is a snippet:
..”Three elements of proof support the hypothesis of a passage from Asia to America for the snowshoe. The first is that America was populated by immigration. At the point where ethnological research is, we believe there might have been several waves of immigration between 30,000 and 5,000 B.C., which is at the very end of the last glaciation, or immediately after the latter. So, even if these people did not bring documents or objects reflecting their way of life, they carried with them their culture: their customs, their language and their thoughts. One of these migratory waves was at the origin of the North American civilization centred exclusively on hunting, fishing, gathering and which, as a whole, had not gone beyond the Stone Age….” (GVSNOWSHOES.COM)

Whereas peoples of Scandanavia and Europe chose to perfect another winter mode of travelling: the ski, North American peoples (including the Cree but not exclusively Cree) chose to perfect the snowshoe.

Primitive snowshoes have been found in many areas of the planet:: Yugoslavia, Checkoslavia, Siberia,Alaska, Japan, Sweden…. The oldest can be seen in Sweden.

I am using the current data on history of snowshoes. I am not debating or disputing any information gathered from reputable sources. Again, if you do not agree with the scientific/ historical/ archeological community—–contact them.
Kitiwam asimina kawapamitan (Good-bye)
Peace,
May

If you have information other than Asia origins-please contact the sources below:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5109544.pdf
https://www.britannica.com/sports/snowshoe-equipment-and-sport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe
https://www.snowshoemag.com/2012/06/17/snowshoes-and-the-canadian-first-nations/
https://www.gvsnowshoes.com/en/snowshoe-history
The Snowshoe Book – Osgood and Hurley https://www.amazon.com/Snowshoe-Book-William-Osgood/dp/0828902216
Alaska edu -https://education.usask.ca/ccstu/pdfs/snowshoes.pdf
Native Americas migration from Asia- https://www.the-scientist.com/daily-news/all-native-americans-descended-from-one-ancestral-population-30457