Courses

The northern forests of Minnesota and Wisconsin offer a variety of materials suitable for basket-making. This course is an introduction to working with three of the most common: birch bark, willow and spruce root. Students will create three small baskets that will employ a variety of weaving techniques and traditions.…

Birch bark holds a multitude of uses, and has been widely used across the world wherever birch trees have grown for much longer than anyone can remember. Even now, it is a common material for making useful things that utilize the locally available materials. What can be done with birch…

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 be made and hold keepsakes, buttons, spare change, jewelry,…

From birds to beads, there are so many possibilities when it comes to birch bark. Join accomplished weavers Jack and Julie to learn to weave a variety of small projects, including garlands and a three dimensional star and more. Learn about the ecology of this iconic northern tree and leave…

The hex weave basket is commonly called a "cheese basket" because it can be used for processing cheese. However, this holey design is perfect for holding produce or other displayed storage needs. This project will be made from Black Ash splints, which the students will help cut and prepare. The…

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, which are much shorter than the more familiar long needle pines that grow in the south. Starting with either a pliable birch bark base or an elegant agate base, you will work with a variation of the spiral stitch…

North House is excited to welcome the award-winning basket maker Kelly Church to Basket Week. Kelly is a fifth-generation Potawatomi/Odawa/Ojibwe basket maker and educator from southwestern Michigan, and a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow, along with many other honors. In this class participants will weave a miniature…

If you’ve been out berry picking in August, you may have encountered the problem of discovering bountiful harvests of raspberries AND blueberries at the same time: what to do?! The two berry basket with two compartments is a perfect answer-- and it also works for quarantining paper clips from binder…

Join instructor Greg Johnson of Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin in this three day course to make traditional Anishinaabe folded birch bark baskets. This style of basket is used for maple sugar storage, but is a beautiful and useful addition to any home. When birch bark is harvested at a certain…