In 1967 the Manitoba Museum asked northerner Doug Evans to undertake a mission. The museum was keenly aware that the Cree method of constructing birch bark canoes for northern lakes and rivers was fast disappearing. Evans flew into the Pelican Narrows region of Saskatchewan to chronicle the step-by-step building process used by Cree elder Noah Custer. Some 40 years later, Evans rediscovered his manuscript and realized it was the only record of this lost art. Great Plains is proud to publish this anthropological treasure.