Wayne Valliere (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe) has constructed canoes with students, apprentices and community members at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Indian Community School of Milwaukee, Northwestern University, and Purdue University, to name just a few of his projects. Wherever he goes he teaches about the importance of his ancestral teachings, the vast scientific and environmental knowledge his ancestors possessed, the importance of all of us working together to care for the environment, and the power and value of intercultural understanding. He is an excellent storyteller and a compelling teacher. In November 2023, Valliere was named a Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellow for his work to document, teach, or grow the daily use and understanding of Native languages, reflecting the importance of language revitalization as a critical foundation of Indigenous knowledge and ways of life.” In 2020 he was honored as a National Folk Art Fellow  by the National Endowment for the Arts. His portrait hangs in The Library of Congress.