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NNSL Photo/graphic

Ashton Hawker learned from elders how to make birch wood toboggans. He uses these toboggans during the winter trapping season to haul game behind his snowmobile. - Jessica Gray/NNSL photo

Birch wood toboggan a dying past-time

Jessica Gray
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jul 07/06) - There aren't many people who can make a hand-crafted birch wood toboggan anymore. But a Yellowknife man is among the few.

Ashton Hawker has many talents including singer and songwriter and successful trapper during the winter season.

Hawker learned to build birch wood toboggans in his 20s because he was interested in craftsmanship and working on the land.

"It's kind of sad. That very way of life is quickly disappearing," he said, explaining that it's a dying art form.

Hawker learned how to build toboggans from Chipewyan Dene elders he grew up with. So far, he has built 12 toboggans, each taking about a week to make.

He plans to build one more so it can be put in a museum to showcase the kind of toboggans that used to be common here.

Hawker said creating a toboggan is a spiritual experience -- he can feel the presence of his elders.

"You always feel the old people. It's a good feeling, part of you," he said.

Hawker starts with finding the right birch tree, one without knots and strong at the base. But his wife Tina Hawker said this isn't as easy as it sounds.

"We look all over for a good birch tree. It's hard to find," she said.

After getting a perfect specimen, Hawker, a 57-year-old Metis man, will build a frame to bend the birch wood planks for the front of the toboggan. He makes sure he doesn't spilt the wood when bending.

A few parts of the toboggan are different from a traditional piece. Rope and glue are used instead of moose sinew, as well as canvas instead of caribou hide, which Tina sews.

A little bit of fibreglass resin coats the front to protect the wood. All that's left is to tie the bindings in a special way to make sure the back board doesn't buckle.

Well, that's not all, but Hawker said the rest is a trade secret.

Hawker and his wife have taught their four children about making birch wood toboggans. But they agree the world is a much different place than the one he and Tina grew up in.

"Young people have a different lifestyle," said Hawker.

Birch is a good wood because it is strong and flexible said Hawker. The toboggans are anywhere from eight to 12 feet long and about 18 inches wide. They can carry moose and even as many as five caribou if stacked properly said Hawker.