About Us

Rich Howe

I just moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. I can’t say much for the town but the countryside is awesome. As an American who was educated in Canada, I have a real love for that country. I'm a philosophy professor. I'm a friend of Judy Kavanagh and a devoted collector of native arts and crafts as well as an admirer of their cultures. Like Judy, I love the wilderness and animals, especially cats. Unlike Judy, I lack the skills to make moccasins and birchbark canoes.

I started collecting native arts and crafts as a kid when my dad took me to see the Ojibwa in northern Wisconsin. About four years ago I realized I had no native snowshoes. I dove into that area head-first. I now have 70+ pairs of native-made snowshoes, some old, some new. I began educating myself about snowshoes by reading two great books: The Snow Walker's Companion by Garrett and Alexandra Conover and Making the Attikamek Snowshoe by Henri Vaillancourt. I continued my education by talking with native elders from Newfoundland to Alaska. I think I also found the only native snowshoe maker in the lower 48 states. Of course, I go snowshoeing every chance I get. We do have a 12,000 ft. mountain just north of Vegas with 30 miles of trails. I can’t wait to try snowshoeing there!

Judy has been kind enough to put photos of some of my snowshoes, as well as her own, on her web site. We will be adding more. Sometimes I end up with an extra pair and I will offer them for sale as reasonable prices to those of you who are interested. I will put up as much information as I can with each photo. Meanwhile look at the photos and enjoy these beautiful works of art!

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Judy Kavanagh

What is there to say about me? By day I am a mild-mannered web designer in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The rest of the time I turn into an artist, musician and mother of 4 cats.

Seriously, my education is in languages and computers and I have far too many degrees than are good for me. Okay, I like learning stuff. I used to work as a freelance photographer but now I work with computers.

I have been interested in making traditional crafts for a while, starting with quilting and moving on to moccasin making and beadwork, basket making, hide tanning, birchbark canoe building, rug hooking and spinning. I also like to play the piano, the accordian and I'm learning the violin. I have been snowshoeing since I was a child. I want to make a pair but so far I have only got so far as lacing the babiche onto premade frames.

I met Rich when he asked me to make him a pair of moccasins and we have been friends since then, sharing our love of Native crafts and canoeing.

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