Toboggan

Toboggan was originally an Algonquian term for a type of man-hauled cargo sledge made from bark, hardwood or whalebone, and deer or buffalo hide.

[4] During the tribes' yearly migration to their winter campsites, these sledges were used to transport bulky personal possessions and small children before the introduction of the wheel.

[5] As Europeans settled traditional Algonquian lands, the term was absorbed as an English loanword and applied to the low-profile wooden sledges made by the colonists.

[7]The precursor to the modern American toboggan was the small, utilitarian sledge used by woodcutters in Russia, Scandinavia, and especially Germany, to transport logs when the snow made roads inaccessible.

Sledge races were a popular winter sport in mountainous countries during the pre-Industrial Revolution era, and early German colonists in America improved upon the design of the traditional toboggan by giving it a lower, more streamlined profile to increase its speed.

The traditional American toboggan is made of bound, parallel wood slats, all bent up and backwards at the front to form a recumbent 'J' shape.