SHOOTIN’ THE GAP

During the early frontier days of North America, the Great Lakes region was home to the Ojibwa/Chippewa Indian tribes, along with many others.  North of the Great Lakes they were called Ojibwa, while often referred to as Chippewa in the United States.  These people were experts at making the birch bark canoe, which was adopted by many of the white explorers.  Mountain men, French trappers and the tribes often made friendly alliances.  These cultures worked together bringing in hides and furs from the woodlands to the new trading posts and towns.  Spending the winter months trapping, they waited till spring to launch their birch bark canoes into the rushing icy water, loaded down with the results of long months of cold, hard work.  Bill has sculpted this historic scene as a moment in time where the spring runoff has made an exciting and dangerous trip as they “Shoot the Gap”through deep ravines, over high rapids, and around large boulders.