The White Birch tree & crafts to make from it

The birch bark most commonly used and recognized in our area is called Paper Birch, White Birch, or Canoe Birch. Its scientific name is Befula Pyrifera which means, small tree with peeling white bark. The White Birch is the most widely distributed of all the birch trees in northern North America. It is a small to medium deciduous (loses its leaves in the fall) sized tree or shrub growing up to 50 to 70 feet tall. The White Birch a bit pyramidal in shape when young while older trees become oval or rounded. The simple leaves can sometimes be heart-shaped. The bark is marked with long horizontal lenticels. Lenticels are blister like breaks in the surface that often separate into thin papery plates. The birch is not only beautiful, it has and still is used for many things.

Nearly every part of the Birch tree is edible. Its sap was an important source of sap for Native Peoples. The inner bark was used as pain reliever to treat arthritis, and the bark was made into various things like canoes, drinking vessels, storage, and cooking vessels to name a few. The Birch was also associated with Thor in recognition of his role in using Birch in agricultural and fertility deity. Thor is the red-haired and bearded god of Thunder in German paganism. He was a much revered god of the ancient Germanic peoples. Extracts of Birch are also used for flavoring as in Birch Beer Soda and it is also used in leather oils, cosmetics such as soap and shampoos.

Birch tar which is extracted from its bark was used as a glue because it is waterproof, and it was also for medicinal purposes. Native People prized its bark because it was light weight and flexible, it could be stripped from fallen trees, and used to construct strong, waterproof and light weight canoes. The canoe could carry heavy loads yet be carried by a single man. Many larvae of moths and Lepidoptera (butterflies) use Birch as a food. The Birch is truly a great gift to all of us from Mother Earth. The Birch’s fine-grained and pale color with a satin-like sheen increases its value of the timber for furniture making. Birch wood also makes a much sought after veneer and is the strongest and most dimensionally stable of the plywoods. However, it is unsuitable for outdoor use. Birch can be made into a fine printing paper, and in India the thin bark that comes off in the winter is used as a writing paper.

In ancient Russia, Birch was even used to make footwear. Birch leaves make a diuretic tea and it makes extracts for dyes and cosmetics. The traditional Norwegian boat’s hemp rope are seasoned by ground Birch bark that has been fermented in sea water. This process also seasons, woollen, hemp, or linen sails. Because of its high calorific value per unit weight and volume Birch is used as firewood. The bark will burn even when wet because of the oils it contains. If the bark is split into very thin sheets. it will ignite with even the smallest spark. Birch is used to make skateboards as it gives a strong yet flexy ride, and it is used for making model airplanes. Birch is the preferred wood for making toothpicks. Birch bark can even be soaked and in an emergency and then formed into a cast for a broken arm. The inner bark can be ingested safely. The Birch tree is the state tree for New Hampshire, and it is the national tree of Russia. The Birch tree was very beneficial to the Native peoples of the Northeast. All parts of the tree could be made into something, but the bark was the most useful. The Haudenosaunee and other Native People have used the birch tree to make many useful things. Before the arrival of Europeans and even before the development of clay pots some 3,000 years ago, birch bark containers were used to collect, store and cook food. The bark of the Birch was used to make hunting and fishing gear, musical instruments, decorative fans, and even to make children’s sleds and toys. They used the bark to make rattles, torches, moose calls and many types of containers. Lightweight and flexible, the bark could be cut and bent to make containers of any desired shape. Trays, dishes, storage boxes, buckets and cooking pots could be made of birch bark. The edges of the container were sewn together with plant fibers. To make the items waterproof, the edges were sealed with pine pitch or spruce resin. When this was done the container could be used to carry water.

Removing bark from a live tree seriously threatens the health of that tree, and even if you can do it correctly, it can only be collected once. It is always best to use bark from fallen trees. The Birch contains a remarkable preservative making use of the dead bark possible. The best bark to use for canoes and crafts is white Birch. The dried bark from fallen trees can be dried and stored for a very long time. It is suggested that the bark be stored in flat pieces, but the bark I got from my aunt was given to me in roles. My uncle collected it after their terrible ice storm in the 90s that killed many Birch trees in the Adirondacks. I just soak the roles in warm water and flatten them when they become pliable before I use them.

I mostly take small sheets and glue them to a heavy cardboard and then I paint on them using water colors. The following Websites will give you excellent directions for making some crafts with Birch bark. The lacing you use can be a heavy waxed nylon thread, imitation sinew, or if you are very adventurous, you can make a lacing from thin strips of inner cedar bark or from stripped pieces of black spruce roots. Here are the Web links:

1.)http://www.nativetech.org/brchbark/brchbark.htm

2.)http://www.nativetech.org/brchbark/barksewn.html

3.)http://www.nativetech.org/brchbark/barkothr.html

4.) http://www.nativetech.org/brchbark/barkcont.html