Courses

The graceful curve of the deer antler provides a creative springboard for the emerging folk-art form of antler basketry. In this course students learn to weave a stunning rib-style basket from dyed and natural rattan reed, incorporating a deer antler as the handle or focal point of the design. The…

Learn to weave a basic, wide-bias weave, birch bark basket based on Native Alaskan Athabaskan style work. The piece may then be enhanced with teacher prepared and dyed spruce roots, or kept a bit more basic with user-friendly waxed threads (or a combination of both). The rim and foot are…

Fully experience the craft of making a traditional birch bark basket for the gathering and storage of berries or anything you please. This course includes time focused both on basket making and on material preparation. Day one includes an extended session in the woods to harvest the birch bark in…

Scandinavians and Russians commonly kept small, flat birch bark boxes in their pockets in the 18th and 19th century for the then-popular taking of snuff. Larger finger and lap jointed boxes often held coffee, tea or salt. Today they continue to made and hold keepsakes, buttons, spare change, jewelry, dried…

In this class we will create two different birch bark boxes, one based on a classic style produced throughout the birch forests of North America by native peoples, and another typical birch bark container produced throughout the Scandinavian countries. The North American style is created from a single sheet of…

Birch trees have a variety of uses that can be seen all around North House. Discover the sturdiness and the beauty of the White Paper Birch by weaving with its bark. In this day-long course, you will learn about the bark harvest, how to process & treat the materials, and…

Whether woven into a basket, a shoe, a backpack or necklace, birch bark is a beautiful material, with natural tones of white, grey, brown, yellow and even pink depending on the tree, the harvest and the layer of the bark. Highlight the variations of the bark (and your fine motor…

The ash splint lidded basket has its roots on the north eastern seaboard of North America amongst early indigenous tribes, such as the Micmac and Passamaquaddy. Fine examples of workmanship can be found in collections in New York and Boston, to name but a few places. In this course, students…

The black ash pack basket: it's beautiful, highly functional and can be made using simple materials. The first part of the class will be spent preparing black ash splint for your basket by pounding a locally harvested log. Next, you'll weave the basket and finish it with a rim, handle,…

When northern European immigrants came to North America they brought with them a host of crafts and skills necessary for survival in their new world. The basketry tradition known as ‘stake & strand’ was one such craft, as baskets were used to store nearly everything around the homestead. Learning to…

Clyde is a third generation basketmaker from White Earth, Minnesota, who learned to weave black ash from his father, who had realized that the tradition was being lost and learned the craft from his mother-in-law. The intricate baskets have been made and sold for generations in his community. In this…

The knutkorg, or knot basket, is a classic style of Scandinavian basket. Constructed from willow and split cedar, the basket is an interlocking framework of bent and notched pieces. The pieces fit together like an ingenious puzzle, making the knutkorg a craft marvel. Over three days, students will learn to…

Create a traditional coiled basket from locally harvested red pine needles. Starting with either a pliable birch bark base or an elegant agate base, you will work with a variation of the spiral stitch to form a basket with a distinct spiral pattern inside and out. Samples of pine needles…

An abundance of easily accessed and harvested native materials very suitable for basketry grow in our northern region. In this class we will make a frame with strikingly red osier dogwood and then weave a basket with a handle using a mixture of cattail and iris leaves, basswood fiber, willow…

Work with locally-harvested sweet grass, cattails, and sedges during this two-day class while learning the art of coiling a sweetgrass basket. We'll incorporate an elegant agate as a base for the basket and make a small birch bark ornament wrapped in sweetgrass. Hands-on instruction provides students with an introduction to…