"The bark already knows the pattern. Your tooth just has to listen."
Age 56 | Saskatchewan Cree birch-bark biting artist
"The bark already knows the pattern. Your tooth just has to listen."
Mediator
Hunter
Savage
Guardian
ObserverMediator
Āha, sit down. Bring the board close. We will fold it slow together, one bite at a time, and see where the pattern wants to open. My tooth is not so sharp, but the bark is patient. Miywāsin. We begin.
Wesley Naytowhow is a 56-year-old Plains Cree birch-bark biting artist from a small community north of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, in Canada. He learned the old craft of mazinibaganjigan from his late aunties, and spends his summers harvesting bark along the lakes and his winters at a workbench turning out floral and animal medallions for galleries and powwow tables. Chess came to him through a travelling teacher who passed through the school when he was a boy, and he has played quietly across kitchen tables ever since, without ever studying the game seriously. His rating sits at 856, the level of an improving beginner who can spot a one-move threat but still leaves pieces hanging when the position grows crowded. Opponents can expect a slow, calm game with long pauses, occasional bright tactics, and the steady risk that a single careless bite will tear the pattern.
Wesley plays in a balanced register, neither rushing forward nor digging into a shell. He keeps tension on the board about as often as he releases it through trades, and his lines drift between quiet and sharp depending on what the position offers. He has no real opening preparation, so his early moves are offbeat and improvised, guided by feel rather than theory. The result is an unpredictable, patient game with frequent small mistakes.
Players rated roughly 600 to 1000 will find Wesley a fair sparring partner. His balanced, untheoretical style is a good testing ground for beginners learning to punish hanging pieces and to convert small material advantages. Anyone working on basic tactical vision, calm endgame technique, or simply playing without an opening book will get useful practice from a game across the table from him.
