Traditional Tlingit Dugout Canoe Almost Ready for Haa Kusteeyí Celebration in Carcross

Tuesday, 23 July 2019 09:26

Master Carver Wayne Price and Colleen James use steam to open the traditional Tlingit dugout canoe

Master Carver Wayne Price has been using the carving of a traditional Tlingit Dugout Canoe to teach carving skills to local and international carvers for more than two months. The canoe is almost finished and is expected to be part of the Haa Kusteeyí Celebration in Carcross on July 26 - 28, 2019.

The Chooutla Residential School site by Carcross was the location chosen on Saturday July 20^th for a healing canoe experience led by Master Carver Wayne Price.

The carving of the healing canoe has been on going for more than 60 days and the time came on Saturday to steam the canoe. Steaming is the age-old technology used to change the shape of the carving from a 30-foot cedar log to a traditional Tlingit dugout canoe.

Colleen James is a resident of Carcross. She says even the wood chips that came from the dugout canoe are part of the healing experience.

This dugout canoe is a healing canoe and every chip that comes off of it represents a life lost to alcohol, drugs, violence or via the mission school one way or the other. Colleen James, Carcross Resident

The Anglican Church issued an apology to Indigenous People last week for the inter-generational spiritual harm they caused.

The Anglican church ran dozens of residential schools up until 1969. The apology spoke of the Church being wrong for dismissing Indigenous spiritualities and declaring Indigenous teachings to be pagan and primitive.

Bishop Larry Robertson attended the steaming of the healing canoe at he Chooutla Residential School site and delivered the apology on behalf of the Anglican Church.

This is a direct act of reconciliation. It’s a form of repentance for the sin that was our part in the residential school and in the hurt and in the death of people. Bishop Larry Robertson

Violet Gatensby lives in Carcross and has been working on the healing canoe from the beginning as an apprentice carver. She says all the hard work is worth it.

The motto is there’s nothing easy about a dugout and it’s very true, but it’s really rewarding. Seeing the people here and doing this. It’s about healing and it’s about coming together and that’s what it’s done and it’s been a lot of hard work, but it feels really good. Violet Gatensby, Apprentice Carver

Wayne Price is the Master Carver and is leading the hard work of carving the traditional Tlingit dugout canoe. He says the hard work is a tribute to our ancestors.

There’s nothing easy about a dugout. It’s going from roughly 15,000 pounds down to 450 pounds and it’s a tribute to the ancestors that used to have 30, 40 , 60 dugouts in front of each village. Wayne Price, Master Carver

The Traditional Tlingit Dugout canoe will be approximately 30 feet long and finished with a separate bow and stern piece that will be attached. The Dugout canoe will have the capability to perform on both inland waterways and on the ocean.

The canoe is expected to be a part of the Haa Kusteeyí Celebration in Carcross, July 26 - 28, 2019.

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