Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Jan 25/99) - There's no doubt about it, Lot Ulayuruluk is a real go-getter.

Before the boat-building course even ended last summer -- dubbed Umiaq by its organizers, the Baffin Regional Youth Committee (BRYC) -- the resident of Resolute Bay found himself in Iqaluit banging on doors looking for funding to set up his own business.

"Two weeks prior to ending the course, I applied for funding to Kakivak (Association) and the (Baffin Business Development Centre)," said Ulayuruluk, 38.

While he hasn't heard anything back yet from the funding bodies, Ulayuruluk said he still proposed to use the skills he picked up during the six-week program in Pangnirtung last summer to establish his own boat-building business.

"I want to build four boats to sell and have that instructor help me," said Ulayuruluk, referring to Matthewsie Maniapik, the head instructor of the program.

"The only difference from the summer would be that this would not be for learning, but boats for sale."

Ulayuruluk said his plan was to travel from Resolute Bay to Maniapik's home in Pangnirtung, hire a small staff and work with the team to build four vessels in a short period of time. He explained that the plan would give him the opportunity to learn more from Maniapik while establishing his own business and reputation as a boat-builder.

With the ultimate goal in mind of passing his skills on to others in his own hamlet and in other Baffin communities, Ulayuruluk said he felt good about putting his energy into the project.

"These boats are really good. I would recommend them to any hunter in the North. They're wood and not aluminum and the difference is the safety factor. Even if they break, they float."

In Qikiqtarjuaq, Danny Audlakiak said his summer experience also left him wanting to start up his own business and he and fellow student Charlie Alikatuktuk planned to get started this summer by building a boat for Audlakiak's uncle.

The 29-year-old said he, too, had plans to pass on what he had learned to a group of students.

"The principal in our elementary school, one of her students asked me if I was interested in teaching boat-building some time this year," said Audlakiak, a member of the local youth committee in Qikiqtarjuaq, whose ideas are exactly what the organizer of Umiaq had in mind for the project.

Raurri Qajaaq Ellsworth said it was great that the Baffin-wide participants were carrying on with the project. He explained that plans for a more formal, funded follow-up were discussed at the BRYC's annual planning session held in Iqaluit last week.

"It was a good learning opportunity and we're definitely hoping to make it happen again. We're going to sort out something to get the second phase done in each community," said Ellsworth.

That second phase involves inspiring the participants from the 13 Baffin communities to host boat-building courses in their home towns. Ellsworth said this would require in-depth contact with everyone to help develop lesson plans and to provide assistance with proposal writing.

"We've thrown around a lot of ideas and we're just deciding how we're going to do it. Our intent throughout this year is to keep in contact with the original participants. Lots of people are saying they've heard about the program. It was one of our most successful so far," said Ellsworth.

When the members of the BRYC met last week, they were also planning to discuss what to do with the two boats that were completed last summer and they will consider ways of getting more feedback from their various program participants.