Birch Bark Canoe Build

The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways (6650 E. Broadway, Mt. Pleasant) is currently hosting a community project to build a birch bark canoe (wiigwassi-jiiman).  The goal is not just to build a canoe, but also to keep the knowledge and teaching related to canoe- building alive in the community.  Anyone is welcome to participate in the build - just show up at the Ziibiwing Center during.  The Ziibiwing Center is normally open 10:00AM to 6:00PM, but is open at 9:00AM for the duration of this project.  They expect to be working on the canoe for at least the next week, but may continue into another week if the project is not finished by next Saturday.

I stopped on Thursday to snap a few pictures of the progress.  At this point they were using wooden pegs to sandwich birch bark (wiigwas) between the pieces of wood that would form the gunwales (pronounced gunnels) and were beginning to stitch the bark to the gunwales with lengths of split spruce root (wadap).

Rocks are used to hold everything in place until the gunwales are stitched to the birch bark hull

It takes many pieces of bark to make the hull - these must be stitched together

Traditional canoe-making tools include axes and crooked knives

Many hands speed up the process - for many this is their first time building a canoe

A detail showing the spruce root lashings

Young and old are all learning together

On Friday, I went back after work.  This time I took Shara (Mrs. LeValley) with me - she jumped right in to split a length of spruce root and use it to stitch part of the hull of the canoe to the gunwales.

Most of the hull has been stitched to the gunwales and the supporting framework has been removed.

The thwarts that brace the gunwales must also be stitched.

Work has really progress in the past day.

Shara (Mrs. LeValley) learns how to split the spruce roots for lashings.

A hole must be punched through the birch bark with an awl...

Then the spruce root can be laced through the hole and wrapped around the gunwale.

Shara finished the last stitch of the day

As this build will continue for about another week, I plan on stopping in several more times to check on the progress.  I'll post more pictures later this week.

Native Species Profile - Paper Birch

The Paper Birch or White Birch (Betula papyrifera) is an iconic tree of the boreal forests of North America.  It ranges from the Pacific Coast eastward to the Atlantic across the northern third of the continent.  Most of the range of the Paper Birch is contained in Canada, but its range dips downward into the norther Rocky Mountains, the Great Lakes, and New England.  Isolated populations can be found as far south as the mountains of North Carolina - a relict population from a much cooler Ice Age continent.

Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)

Names the Make Kids Laugh - Duck Potato

Take the word "Duck" and add "Potato" after it.  Duck Potato.  How could combining those two words not make a kid laugh?  What exactly is a Duck Potato?

The Duck Potato is found throughout most of North America, but is most common in the eastern United States.  Overall it is native every state of the Lower Forty-eight except Nevada.  It is found across Canada in all ten provinces.  It's range extends south through the Caribbean and into South America.  It has been introduced into (and is considered invasive in) Hawaii, Australia, and Europe.

With a range this large, why do more people not know about this plant?

Upcoming Event - Bird Day Celebration (May 11th)

On Saturday May 11th the Isabella Conservation District and the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways are hosting our second annual Migratory Bird Day Celebration.  This event is from 1:00 PM to 4:00PM and is free to the public.

Native Species Profile - Eastern Cottontail Rabbit

The Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) is found across eastern North America from the Atlantic Coast west to the Great Plains.  It ranges north into southern Canada and New England and south to the Gulf Coast.  Its range extends south into Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.

An adult Cottontail Rabbit "periscoping" for a better view above vegetation

Close Encounters of the Pileated Kind

As I have stated before, I am not a "birder".  I like watching them.  I enjoy feeding them.  It makes me happy to see them using nest boxes that I built.  I even have a couple "favorite" species.

But.  It takes a lot to get me excited about a bird.  You can tell me you just found a "Lesser Disapproving Short-Tailed Fingerwagger" in your backyard and it's five thousand miles outside its normal range!  If it's just a little brown bird, I'm probably not going to rush over and see it.  If it shows up in my yard I might be mildly excited, and I might call you so you can rush over to see it.

There are a few species of birds that do get me excited - even if they are not necessarily my favorite birds.  Bald Eagles.  Ravens.  Sandhill Cranes.  Red-headed Woodpeckers.  Pileated Woodpeckers.  Especially Pileated Woodpeckers. 

Native Species Profile - Muskrat

Lodges at Forest Hill Nature Area

Did you ever see something out in a pond that looks like a tiny beaver lodge and wonder "What animal made that?"

A lodge up close

Beaver lodges are larger and made of branches.  This lodge is small (less than 3 foot tall) and made of cattails and other soft plants.  So if a beaver didn't make this, what did?