Introduction
People need to travel. Periodically, all human beings must travel from the places they live to other localities in order to obtain things they need. For example, when a family's supply of food runs low, someone must go to a place where more food can be obtained. When a builder needs materials to make an object, movement is needed to acquire those materials. The only exception to this rule occurs when one person travels in behalf of another. This happens if a parent goes to a grocery store to buy food for the family. Or when a nurse brings food to a patient. Nevertheless, no matter who makes the journey, all human life requires travel.

Human bodies are well adapted to certain kinds of travel — for example, walking or running on flat, firm ground. People can also travel over, through or around obstacles such as hills, rocky places, creeks, or patches of bush, but the path is more difficult. Some obstacles, however, are so large or difficult that they severely hinder passage, unless travellers have something which improves their ability to move.

In cold northern countries such as Canada, snow can be such an obstacle. Today, with modern machines like snowplows, four-wheel-drives, snowmobiles, and airplanes, we have almost conquered snow as a barrier to transportation. Yet, long before these machines were invented, people were able to move across the countryside with reasonable speed, carrying loads from place to place and communicating with one another throughout the North American winter. Hunters found game and brought it home to feed their families. People travelled to neighbouring communities to visit friends, just as we do today. How did these earlier people cope with problems of snow travel without having our modern machines? The answer begins with a knowledge of snow conditions.

Winter Clothing
Before people could travel any distance in snow, they first had to protect their bodies from freezing. The invention of tailored animal skin clothing provided a personal covering that was light, flexible, warm and waterproof. The origins of this invention are lost in time, but it probably occurred about 40,000 to 50,000 years ago. That was when humans first attempted to occupy the snowy regions of northern Europe and Asia, and eventually the Americas. Over the past 10,000 to 15,000 years, North American Aboriginal peoples have developed numerous kinds of winter clothing. Variations in style have depended on the environment lived in, the animal skins available, local cultural traditions, age and gender of the wearers, and personal decorative preferences.

One example is traditional Inuit clothing. During the 1880s, an anthropologist named Franz Boas visited the Inuit of the Eastern Arctic and recorded his observations on their clothing. He noted that both men and women wore two layers of clothing in cold weather. The inner garments were worn with the hair facing inward so that it touched the skin. Starting at the foot, the inner apparel consisted of two slippers worn one inside the other. One slipper was made of bird skin with feathers resting against the foot; the other was made of seal skin. Above that, a light deer skin stocking covered the lower leg to the knee. Next was a pair of breeches made from the skins of young seals or caribou. The breeches reached just below the knees and were tied around the waist with a string. Finally, the upper body was covered with a pullover jacket made of young seal skin or light caribou skin. Then came the outer garments. They included boots, trousers, mittens, and a hooded coat with a downward flap or tail at the back. These were commonly worn with the hair facing outward and were generally made of seal or caribou skin. Clothing such as this allowed Inuit people to live and travel in Arctic winters.

In other parts of North America, people had somewhat different winter clothing. During 1808-1809, for example, a fur trader named Alexander Henry made observations on the Plains Indians who visited his post in east central Alberta. Henry wrote that their dress consisted mostly of leather. The men wore leggings that reached up to the waist where they were fastened to a belt. Held in place by the same belt was a "breech clout," a piece of wool or dressed leather about 25 cm broad and 120 cm long. This garment passed between the legs and was drawn up under the belt, the ends falling free before and behind, to a distance of about 30 cm below the waist. The shirt was made of soft dressed leather, either antelope or elk. It was closed around the neck and hung to the middle of the thighs. The sleeves were made of the same leather and were loose under the arms to the elbows, but sewed tight to the wrists. The cap was commonly a piece of leather, or dressed skin with the hair left on. It was shaped to fit the head and tied under the chin. The top was usually decorated with feathers or some other ornament. Shoes and mittens were made of dressed buffalo hide with the hair left on. Over these inner garments the traveller draped a buffalo robe to complete his winter attire.

Snow Goggles
Another problem associated with winter travel was, and still is, a condition known as snow blindness. This occurs when the combination of direct sunlight and glare from snow is too intense for the human eye. It is a condition which may be very painful, may last for days, and which hinders travel.

The most ancient and widespread method for avoiding snow blindness was the use of snow goggles, a device known in northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America. Snow goggles were made in many different styles. In general, they consisted of an opaque eye-covering made of a material such as wood, leather, bone or ivory. Narrow slits or small holes were cut into them to allow a limited range of vision. A string or thong was attached to each end and could be tied around the head to keep the goggles in place. Snow goggles reduced harmful light and actually improved visibility.