Talk by Traditional Birch Bark Canoe Maker July 2, 2009

Jan Zender, a craftsman from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, will give a talk and demonstration on “Canoe Making in the Traditional Fashion” at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 2, 2009, at the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, 3001 Central St., Evanston.

Zender and his wife Rochelle Dale are non-Indian artists who create museum-quality replicas of items from 18th- and 19th-century American Indian and frontier life. In addition to building historically accurate birch bark canoes, they also produce quillwork and silverwork. They gather many of their materials in nature and adhere to traditional techniques.

They built a specially commissioned reproduction of a mid-18th century birch bark canoe for the long-term exhibit “Clash of Empires: The British, French & Indian War, 1754-1763” currently on view at the Senator John Heinz Regional History Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Measuring 26 feet long and weighing 200 pounds, it’s one of the largest examples of a birch bark canoe built in North America in the past 150 years. Zender and Dale used materials they gathered in the woods of northern Michigan and employed only 18th-century style Native American and European tools.

Admission to the talk is included with museum admission. Admission is $5 for adults, $2.50 for seniors, students, teachers (with valid school ID), and children. Maximum admission per family group is $10. For information, phone (847) 475-1030. On the Net: http://www.mitchellmuseum.org.

Official Website: http://www.mitchellmuseum.org