Rankin Inlet (Jul 05/06) - Quite possibly the most unique instrument in the country has a little bit of the Kivalliq in its marrow. A custom-made, six-string guitar cobbled together with planks from the Bluenose, shards of a paddle used by Pierre Trudeau and a sacred 300-year-old tree also features a walrus tusk from Coral Harbour.

The guitar, which made its debut on Parliament Hill last weekend, was the brainchild of CBC Radio's Jowi Taylor, host of the Saturday evening show Global Village. Painstakingly assembled over the course of a decade, it is chockfull of Canadianna and, thanks to Rankin Inlet musician Brian Hart, a little bit of the Kivalliq.

"It caught my eye right away," Hart said last week. "The story fascinated me."

The guitar project, dubbed Six String Nation, began in the aftermath of the 1995 Quebec referendum and was designed to bolster a nation on the brink of separation.

Hart, a musician himself, developed a friendship with the guitar maker who was putting the six string together. Hart sent the Ontario-based luthier - who has made guitars for Keith Richards and Sting, among others - a walrus tusk bought from a Coral Harbour carver.

"I wish there was some great hunting story behind it," Hart joked. "But that would be a lie."

The 30-centimetre long tusk was whittled down and used as an anchor for the guitar's strings, putting it in some elite company. The instrument also has pieces of Trudeau's paddle, mahogany from the legendary cutter Bluenose, copper from the roof of the Parliament building and wood from an ancient tree considered sacred by the Haida of British Columbia.

"It's a good feeling, having a small part of an adventure," Hart said.

The Six String Nation guitar is scheduled to tour Canada this summer along with some of the country's top musicians.

A piece of the Coral Harbour tusk also found its way into a guitar the luthier was making for Richards, the Rolling Stones legend, Hart said.

"That's kind of cool. To think a small piece of the Kivalliq is in his guitar."