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Indigenous Architecture of the Northern Great Lakes - Symposium


Join us for a unique symposium exploring historic Native American architectural traditions of the northern Great Lakes. Help set up a nsweogen (traditional Ojibwe birch bark house) and join experts for discussions on seasonal house forms, construction materials, air flow, storage, portability, and terminology. Presented by Kevin Finney, Keith Knecht, Erik Vosteen, and Mike Miller - who all combined have built and used dozens of traditional native structures.

Setting Up a Wilderness Camp - Ben Piersma


Ben is an expert at the tools and techniques of wilderness camping, and in this workshop you will work with him to set up a basic wilderness camp with accommodations like a raised bough bed, tarp tent shelter, and crane system for hanging pots and cooking. Nuances like camp site selection, fire maintenance, and other often neglected but important considerations will also be covered.

Timber Frame Construction - Larry Horrigan


Timber framing is an iconic building style, and Larry has been building with these techniques for decades. We will be constructing a small timber frame building to cover the artesian well that supplies the best tasting, coldest water you have ever tasted (guaranteed!). Using only hand tools, we will cover all of the basics - including mortising, pegging, rafter layout, and assembly. After the frame is up, we will be hand-splitting cedar shakes for the roof - see below...

Cedar Shake Shingles - Larry Horrigan


After we build the timber frame well house, we will be hand splitting the shakes to cover it. Starting with a cedar log, we will use a froe to split slats that will then be cleaned up and shaped with a draw knife. Finally, Larry will teach us how to properly install the shakes for solid, long lasting, waterproof covering from the local resources.