Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (May 14/01) - Jonah Kelly learned how to make ulus from his father, Annugakulu.
Now the traditional knives he crafts sell like hotcakes in craft fairs and are in demand as gifts and ornaments.
"My father always made an ulu for my mom," said Kelly, explaining how he came to learn the sought-after skill of making the knives traditionally used by Inuit women.
Like father, like son, Kelly made his first ulu for his spouse some 20 years ago.
"The first one I made was a gift for my wife. It was the traditional style," said Kelly.
"She has all kinds of them now, maybe a dozen or more."
Preferring a fine grain stainless steel for the blade -- his father taught him never to use aluminum, brass or copper -- Kelly said unless he was making several ulus to sell at craft sales or festivals, he preferred to fashion each one with the intended recipient in mind.
"Like any other part of Inuit culture, it's custom-made for a particular person," said Kelly.
"Just like your parka and your kamiks, your ulu is made for you."
Usually designing the handle out of hard wood -- called the kilimatuq in Inuktitut -- Kelly said the shape of each knife was dictated by what it would be used for. Ulus to be used in shaving seal skins are different from those meant for cutting frozen caribou. He also said he liked for the knife to be comfortable in the woman's hand.
"It should be contoured to your palm," he said.
Bearing all those things in mind, when Kelly sets off for his little work shack in the yard, he goes with his own unique blueprint or style in mind.
Developed over the last few decades, and based upon experience and what his father taught him, Kelly also noted that his wife had contributed a great deal to the design people have come to recognize as his own.
"It's been fortunate for me to have my wife involved. She's an expert at using an ulu," said Kelly, who was given the honour of making ulus for outgoing members of the Baffin regional health board when the organization was dissolved last year.
And, while his knives are the real thing, Kelly has been asked on more than one occasion -- most recently by Nunavut Tunngavik -- to make larger, ornamental ulus to hang on walls.
As for his future plans, Kelly would like to find a more steady source of stainless steel and would like to find a way to inscribe the ulus he makes with his name in syllabics. He also stressed that the craft was more a hobby than a business venture.
"It's an art."
