North House Folk School

Overview

Join us for a gathering of basket-makers, both advanced and aspiring! Basketry embodies the soul of traditional craft: simple tools, natural materials and skilled hands result in purposeful, beautiful items. Birch bark, spruce root, willow, black ash—the northern forest has been generous to basketmakers.  Through coursework, free evening gatherings, and Basket Gathering Day, we’ll explore a variety of basketry techniques and forms that have arisen in many cultural contexts.

A full schedule will be available in early summer 2026.

Featured Guests:

Mary Thompson is an esteemed basket maker and enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. We have invited Mary to share her knowledge of white oak basketry, a form of splint basketry practiced in the eastern US and deeply connected to the Cherokee people. The highly labor intensive process to fell the trees and produce splint to weave with is not dissimilar from the black ash weaving traditions practiced by the Anishinaabe people indigenous to the Lake Superior region, presenting an opportunity for cross-cultural sharing and learning. 

Katherine Lewis is a willow weaver and grower from Washington state, who weaves in the European stake and strand tradition. She is highly respected in the field, with works featured in the Renwick Gallery as part of the Cole Ware Collection of American baskets. While at NHFS, she will teach techniques for using willow bark, less commonly practiced in the Upper Midwest. 

Throughout the week, we’ll host evening gatherings open to the public. On Friday, October 9, all students and the public are invited to participate in Gathering Day, a free day of demonstrations, presentations, and community gatherings.