Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 08/02) - The coffee-coloured robe made of Banks Island qiviut and trimmed with fox retails for $6,000. That's the price for luxury that affluent Japanese, European and American tourists are willing to pay, and the Inuvialuit are now looking to tap into that market directly.

The Inuvialuit, through the Sachs Harbour Hunters and Trappers Committee and the Inuvialuit Development Corporation, are in discussions with a high-end clothing company to create a chain of stores specializing in Banks Island qiviut.

Qiviut (or qiviuk in Inuvialuktun) is the soft inner fur of the muskox, which can be spun into a luxurious cashmere-like wool.

In 1997, the Inuvialuit Development Corporation partnered with Banff-based Jacques Cartier Clothier to supply the qiviut for sweaters manufactured in Peru and sold at two boutiques in Lake Louise and Banff.

Fernando Alvarez, the president of Jacques Cartier Clothier, says he's now looking to open a chain of five stores with the Inuvialuit, possibly within the next three to five years.

"It's our objective to continue to grow by developing a joint venture with the involvement of the IDC, as manufacturers of qiviut," said Alvarez during a visit to Inuvik March 23. Alvarez was touring the muskox harvest operations in Sachs Harbour, along with federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief and other government representatives. The visit was organized by the Inuvialuit.

Like his Jacques Cartier store in Banff, and Qiviuk Boutique in nearby Lake Louise, the new chain would target luxury resort travellers willing to spend an average of $350 to $800 for a sweater.

Patrick Schmidt, president of business development with the IDC, says discussions have been going on for a little over six months.

"I don't want to give the impression that this is a done deal," he said. "We have a lot of work left to do. We're dedicated to not seeing any wastage of the product, so we have to plan how the whole industry will develop and not just one sector of it."

The Inuvialuit focused their resources on research during the spring harvest last month. Primarily, they want to improve methods of meat handling, but work was also done to quantify the yield of qiviut from each animal.

Schmidt says qiviut sales account for about 40 per cent of the harvest revenue, with meat bringing in 40 per cent, and leather about 20 per cent. He declined to give dollar figures.

Since it began in 1984, the muskox harvest has yet to turn a profit, but Schmidt says he anticipates the operation will be self-sustaining within two years.