hen the staff of North House Folk School in Grand Marais wanted to mark its 10th anniversary, they decided to create a book about the native birch tree -- its history, beauty, lore and many uses by American Indians and other northern cultures.
The result, "Celebrating Birch: The Lore, Art, and Craft of an Ancient Tree," is due in bookstores Thursday.
"Birch is a primary focus for a lot of traditional northern craft," explained Scott Pollock, the folk school's program director. "You see it across the globe. It's our unique hardwood. It's a material good for a lot of different things."
At the school, parts of the birch tree -- wood, root, sap and bark -- are used to make baskets, boxes, bowls, spoons, dye, ornaments, boats and skis. But it's the removable bark -- strong, rot- and water-resistant and beautiful -- that led the birch to play an important role in traditional handcrafts wherever it grows.
"I don't think that any tree has the range of things that people derive from birch," said John Zasada, a retired research forester who wrote a chapter on birch biology and ecology. "Sugar maple was important, but it didn't have the removable outer bark. Birch sap flows in larger quantities than maple, but without the sugar content."
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When green, birch wood is relatively soft and good for carving but as it dries it becomes hard and durable so birch was good for making bowls and utensils, Zasada said.
Today's diminishing birch stands are another reason to honor the role of birch in northern cultures, Pollock said.
"Birches are dying everywhere," he said. "If birch (as a species) is moving north or affected by climate changes, your attention is drawn to it a little more."
The book shows, in step-by-step fashion, how to make 20 traditional crafts, including those with roots in Scandinavia. It's the first book printed in English to do so, Pollock noted.
Many traditional uses taught at the folk school were brought to North America by northern European settlers, such as the Finns, Norwegians and Swedes, said Zasada, who teaches at the school.
"They didn't have the number of tree species we have here," he said. "When they came here and saw birch -- that was the tree they were absolutely familiar with. One of the reasons they used birch is they had a long history of using birch. They didn't have the maples and the oaks in northern Europe."
