Birch Bark Baskets

The paper birch tree is widespread throughout Minnesota's deciduous forests. The bark of this tree releases itself from the trunk in paper thin strips. The strips are highly flammable. The paper birch can do more than start a fire. Anishinabe people used Paper Birch as a scrolls to document things on, as an easel for artistic bark bitings, and as a raw material for basketry. A 'makuk' is a style of birch bark basket that was used by the Anishinabe people. A few weeks ago I was taught how to construct makuk style birch bark baskets.
I undertook a challenging design for my first basket, which involved a lot of cursing. One may have thought I was of sailor heritage the way the words flowed from my mouth. It turned out nice, and I gave it to my mom for holiday. I made three additional baskets, for a total of four. Some lessons I learned: (1) the thinner the thread the easier construction will be, (2) if you are tired do not stitch your basket with twined basswood inner bark (the two together will bring on early on-set arthritis), (3) quality homemade gifts made my family happy, allowed me to work with my hands, and kept me out of the capitalist consumer nightmare of Christmas shopping.