SEARHC - What's New - Klukwan carvers craft historic canoe as part of WISEFAMILIES

Klukwan carvers craft historic canoe as part of WISEFAMILIES

Carvers in Klukwan are working on a style of Tlingít canoe that hasn't been carved in about 200 years.

The carvers are crafting a 37-foot-long "long tail" or "head" canoe out of red cedar. The canoe style has long thin ends that provide a large surface area for painted design. It is used for traveling and holds up to 12 people.

"The people in the village are excited about getting the project going again," said Lani Hotch, coordinator of the Jilkaat Kwáan Heritage Center's Klukwan Traditional Knowledge Camp that is sponsoring the project with WISEFAMILIES funding from the Indian Health Service and a grant from the Alaska Mental Health Trust. The carvers also made a screen and four house posts for the village's longhouse and they're just finishing two 7-foot-tall warrior totems for the village's veterans memorial.

The Klukwan carvers are working with Steve Brown of Sequim, Wash., the former curator of Native American art for the Seattle Art Museum. The carvers made their own tools and started the project during the summer of 2007, then stored the partially finished canoe in the Klukwan Traditional Knowledge Camp's canoe shed for the winter. They started carving again this summer.

Carvers working both years are Jim Heaton, Andrew Hotch, Jones Hotch Jr., Joe King, Daniel Klanott, Jeffrey Klanott, Andre Stevens and Mary Jane Valentine. Johnny Gamble and David Strong Jr. carved in 2007, while Jim Stevens and Valentino Burattin are carving in 2008.

"We're halfway done," Jones Hotch Jr. said. "It's really something to go through and learn. It's pretty exciting. It's a lot of work and concentration. I've got to get in physical shape. Once you get started, the muscles feel it. It's a good workout."

Lani said the canoe project fits in well with the WISEFAMILIES Through Traditional Knowledge health pro-gram, a partnership between the SEARHC WISEWOMAN program and the Klukwan Traditional Know-ledge Camp. The program hosts subsistence skills camps for salmon, hooligan and moose, and a traditional dance program, carving and weaving projects.

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