According to Fowler, the Ojibwe word for birchbark is “wiigwaas ... birchbark can be used to make a nice little piece of art,” Kruse said. “So, we try not to waste nothing.” ...

Most scholars generally agree with the 19th-century artist George Catlin that the Ojibwe more than any other people raised canoe-building to a fine art. Although the birch-bark canoe today has ...