Saving the skills of crafting an Inuit qujaq (kayak)

Darrel Nasogaluak
Photo: Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison

Nice story in Up Here magazine about the revival of the craft of building Mackenzie Delta qujaqs (kayaks). It was a near run thing to capture the lessons from increasingly rare elders who knew how to do such things as stitch sealskin coverings that would remain watertight. 


The story, by Daniel Campbell, recounts how Darrel Nasogaluak, who is now the mayor of Tuktoyaktuk, learned to make tools and construct the craft using techniques passed down from his grandfather and father -- carving driftwood frames in the way it was done by his ancestors. Now he's looking for young people he can teach to carry on the techniques.