Workshop: Make beautiful things with birch bark

Photo of birch basket courtesy of John Zasada

SNRAS is offering a birch bark craftsmanship workshop Oct. 8-9 at the Matanuska Experiment Farm in Palmer. The sessions will be hands-on, with students constructing items woven from birch bark.

John Zasada, a recently retired silviculturist with the U.S. Forest Service, is the instructor. He has studied the biology, ecology, use, and management of birch in northern forests for many years. Since retiring, he has taken up birchbark weaving and his works are well known and admired in the Grand Rapids, Mich., area. He teaches at the North House Folk School in Minnesota.

The workshops are $50 each day. The first day will be about making birch bark ornaments such as stars, beads, birds, and fish. The second day will emphasize birch bark baskets. Students need to bring scissors, “snapper” clothespins, and a knife.

Useful references are Celebrating Birch: The Lore, Art, and Craft of an Ancient Tree by the North House Folk School, and Plaited Basketry with Birch Bark by Vladimir Yarish, Flo Hoppe, and Jim Widdess, but the books are not required.

For more information contact Valerie Barber, UAF Forest Products Program director and Cooperative Extension Service forestry assistant professor, at 907-746-9466, or Phyllis Craig at 907-746-9450.