Carve, bend, and lace your own pair of wooden snowshoes in the traditional Ojibwe style. Pointed at both ends, this snowshoe design is efficient for travel through both wooded areas or across frozen lakes and open expanses. During the evening session, students will steam bend and shape ash frames. For the remaining three days of class, students will mortise in crosspieces with simple hand tools and learn traditional techniques for lacing their shoes using lightweight, hollowed nylon cord. Traditional bindings will be provided and their uses will be covered in detail. The end result is a satisfying reflection of craftsmanship and skills handed down through the generations. This course is scheduled for a full three days in order to allow enough time for students to completely finish lacing both snowshoes and to return home with a finished project, to provide for a comfortable pace throughout the class, and to create opportunities to participate in parts of the Winterer’s Gathering and Arctic Film Festival. Students who work quickly or feel confident in completing their work at home could plan to leave earlier than 5 PM on the last day.

You will need the following tools for this class:

• tape measure
• pencil
• leather gloves

• square
• block plane