Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Aug 17/98) - For Matthewsie Maniapik, it was as easy as watching someone else build a boat.

"One time I watched somebody...from then on I knew how," said Maniapik.

The resident of Pangnirtung then took his newly learned skills, honed them into an art and went into business for himself. He can now charge up to $2,500 for three weeks worth of boat-building labour.

But not everybody is as lucky as Maniapik. Many Baffin Island residents don't have access to someone who can teach them the craft. Many are also hindered by hindered by low self-esteem brought on by a perceived lack of employable skills.

The Baffin Regional Youth Committee noticed that many of their residents, both young and old, were suffering from the depressive effects of unemployment and they identified an urgent need for more training opportunities.

Fronted by Raurri Qajaaq Ellsworth, the regional youth coordinator for the Baffin, the group devised a project called Umiaq, a six-week long course that teaches the principles of boat-building while developing career choices for the participants.

"The idea of the course is to give people the opportunity to learn skills and have fun," said Ellsworth.

Funded by about $100,000 from the Kakivak Association, two people from each community in the Baffin came to Pangnirtung to participate in Umiaq. With a total enrolment of 21 men between the approximate ages of 20 and 60, Maniapik, also a former boat-building instructor, got a call from the youth committee and came to teach his craft. The course got under way on July 6 and was scheduled to wrap up last Friday.

Ellsworth said that by the end of the course each participant would be able to build a boat from scratch and would have many worthwhile skills, like teaching others the same techniques.

"They'll be able to pass on the knowledge they got there to others. We hope that next year, at least half of the participants will offer boat-building courses in their own communities," said Ellsworth.

He added the students will also have learned about resume writing and job searching and will know how to develop and run small businesses in their home communities.

Roger Innualuk of Pond Inlet said it was because of the business workshops that he signed up for Umiaq in the first place.

"I wanted to apply just for the business part but they said I had to take all of it," said Innualuk, 30.

He said he was pleased to have taken part because he developed a greater appreciation for the work involved in building a boat.

"It's not as easy as it seems. When you look at some of the boats here, it's kind of tricky," said Innualuk, who plans to build a boat when he returns home.

Along with allowing him to save thousands of dollars by not having to purchase a boat from a retailer in Pond Inlet, Innualuk said he planned to take the business skills he learned in Pangnirtung and use them in his own community to open a computer repair shop in the new year.

"I want to learn about business but in college, it's too long of a course."

Peter Alikatuktuk's reasons for taking part in Umiaq were much less complicated.

"I wanted to learn how because I want to make my own boat," said Alikatuktuk, 17.

His 30-year-old cousin from Broughton Island took it one step further.

"I wanted to learn it so I could work for myself and build boats back home," said Charlie Alikatuktuk.

"It's hard to find a full-time job so now I plan to open a business."