Birch Bark Canoes Take Time,
As Does Learning We’re Stronger Together

Birch bark canoes take a long time to make. But according to master artist Wayne Valliere from the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the process is just as important as the finished project. And he should know. Valliere was just selected to be a 2020 National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment of the Arts, one of the top honors in folk and traditional art.

Beloit College is known as the ‘Harvard of the Midwest.’ It’s a place students come to learn and for Fred Burwell, it’s a place he never left. His journey started at the library back in the 1980s during his college days.

“I walked into this space where there were piles and piles of photographs -- boxes of stuff higgledy, piggledy on shelves," he said.

As Burwell grew older, the job of organizing chaos in the college archive never grew old. Today, he knows more about Beloit College than probably anyone.

Dear Papa, I’m Writing To You On Birch Bark

When WPR producer Steve Gotcher’s daughter, Erika, was a little girl, she started a now 25-year tradition of sending him letters on pieces of birch bark. Last winter, they sat down and talked about how and why it began.

Connecting Art, Culture and Two-Spirit Identity

Ryan Young’s art focuses on identity, empowerment and representation. Something Young never experienced or saw growing up.

“I still see my role as kind of helping and healing," Young said. 

Growing up, Young never really felt connected to the Ojibwe culture nor understood why. A few years later, a random computer search erased that burden, connected the dots and recast the doubts Young had been feeling.

The 100 Year-Old Birdman Of Chippewa Falls

Saving lives is something a doctor does. Writer Patti See shares this story of Doc Kemper, a western Wisconsin physician whose life-saving skills extended beyond humans into the animal world as well.