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.…

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 market basket will take you many places: from the market to the beach, from picnics to the grocery stores. This course is an introduction to the awesome qualities of the ash tree, which we will use for both weaving the basket and making the handles. Through scraping and cutting,…

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,…

In this in-depth basketry course, we’ll explore the range of materials found in Northern Minnesota that can be used for making baskets. Birch, Basswood, Spruce, Cedar, Willow and Ash are some of the local species with ties to basketry. Get a taste of working with different materials as you create…

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…

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…

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…