Canadian (canoe)

Canadian is the byname used in some countries for the descendants of the birch bark canoe that was used by the indigenous peoples of Northern America as a convenient means of transportation in the densely forested and impassable areas of Northern America.

In the United Kingdom and several other European countries the kayak is considered to be a kind of canoe. (Technically this is understandable, as one can easily see when a whitewater kayak is converted into a decked whitewater canoe just by taking the seat out and paddle it kneeling with a single blade paddle.) To distinguish canoes from kayaks, a touring, whitewater and racing canoe are then often called 'Canadian canoe' or 'Canadian' for short — e.g. Kanadier in German, Kanadensare in Swedish, Canadees in Dutch, et cetera.

This naming practice has led to confusion, with sea kayaks called sea canoes, kayakers called canoeists, and canoes sometimes even called 'Canadian kayaks'... It was one of the reasons why women were not allowed to canoe at the Olympic Games until 2020, as one of the arguments was that women were already allowed because a kayak is a canoe.