INUVIK
Inuvik's Kevin Floyd is keeping a tradition alive by building qayaks that follow the original design of his Inuvialuit ancestors.

Kevin Floyd saws a board to prepare a qayaq he makes in the traditional Inuvialuit style from his home workshop. - Mark Rieder / NNSL photo

He builds his qayaqs based on a design he saw at the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC).

"I got this idea from a historic specimen at the IRC, and I am following that example. I think that hunter (who made the historic original) had a lot of time to think about it and over the years perfect it," he said.

Floyd explained that the Inuvialuit style of qayaq is different from those found elsewhere.

"The construction is different, because a lot of other qayaqs will have much more intricate interlay where they have multiple plates locking," he said. "I think that came from areas where they don't have as much access to wood as we do here in the delta," he said.

He theorizes that the bow stems were originally made from stumps where the wood twists and curves naturally, allowing the qayaq maker to have a piece of wood that can handle the stresses put on it when lifting and draining it. Today, he uses straighter wood. He files and sands it down, then steams it to bend it into the desired shape.

"That takes away quite a bit of weight and it also allows it to have a little more flex so I can get a curve. Once it is set up, it doesn't reduce any of its strength," said Floyd.

Each qayaq, that Floyd says was probably made by the hunter who used it, was custom made to fit the size and proportions of the hunter

"It's measured traditionally with the foot and the hand," he said, said while demonstrating by curling his hand into a fist and holding it against the heel of his shoe.

That dimension dictates the size of the cockpit, Floyd said.

There are reasons for the different styles.

"Qayaks across the North all have a different shape and that shape tends to reflect the environment they evolved in." he said.

A qayaqer since 2002 and heavily involved in guiding for a number of years, Floyd became interested in the construction and finer points of the boats when he began researching the history behind them.

He used a fibreglass paddle until a friend, aware of Floyd's Inuvialuit heritage, gave him a traditional paddle.

"I just started building paddles to use because no one was selling them in those days," he said. "I started by whittling away on two-by-fours."

He practised with the paddle to get a feel for how to use it. Then one day he unexpectedly found the reason behind its shape and size.

"I paddled right up to a seal colony. I came up on the stinky side (downwind). They didn't hear me because the paddle was so quiet, and I realized, wow, they used this for hunting in the old days." He said. "In order for me to fully understand it, I realized I needed to build a qayaq, and it just went from there."

They can also run with great stability, whether it is used in the primary position - riding on the keel - or in the secondary position - riding on the gunwale. Running on the gunwale makes the boat faster and running on the keel makes it turn more easily.

"I've learned a lot from the qayaqs we have up here. They are incredibly fast and incredibly manoeuvrable," he said. "The ability to pivot on a dime and accelerate is pretty critical."

Floyd said the thousands of years of qayaq-making history played a large role in perfecting the design.

"It came from a lot of evolution," he said.

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