Paper birch (Betula papyrifera)

Gitxsan name:  haawak'
Wet'suwet'en name:  k'iy

Botanical Description

• small to medium-sized, deciduous tree up to 30 metres tall, with bark that peels in papery strips
• white to copper brown
• smooth, marked with brown horizontal lines of lenticels
• leaves are oval to round, sharp-pointed, margins doubly toothed, upper surface 
• smooth to hairy
• found in open to dense, usually moist forest
• thrives in burned over or cutover areas
• lowlands to lower mountain slopes

Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Forests (56kB)

Ethnobotanical Description

Due to its watertight properties, the inner bark was used to make canoes, baskets, dishes, snow goggles and moose calls. The bark was also used to wrap food for storage and could be used to envelop corpses. The Wet'suwet'en used it to make toboggans because it is so slippery.