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INUVIK - If you take a stroll by the visitors' centre you just might find Lucky Pokiak surrounded by a cloud of dust from his soapstone creations.

Pokiak is a Tuktoyaktuk-born carver who has been spending a lot of this summer in front of the Western Arctic Visitors' Centre.

Lucky Pokiak of Tuktoyaktuk has been spending his summer in the shade of the willows outside the Western Arctic Visitors' Centre. The 29-year-old carver said he has been attracting a lot of onlookers with his cultural activity. - Dez Loreen/NNSL photo

"I've been coming out here for the past three weeks now," he said.

Pokiak said he enjoys sitting outdoors during the peak sunny days of the season.

"The weather has been really good to me so far," said the 29 year-old carver.

Pokiak said he has spent the last three years learning the craft, passed on in the region for generations.

"I've been carving on and off for the last three years," he said.

Last week, he was working with the bits and pieces of scraps he had left in his travel bag.

The backpack he brought with him had all the necessary tools for the carving of the soft stone.

"I carry my dremel, some bits of scrap stones and some other tools with me," said Pokiak. "This is just my light travel bag."

He explained that bigger stones need bigger tools.

"I've got a lot of that stuff at home, I'm just waiting to pick up some more soapstone first," explained Pokiak.

In the past few weeks, Pokiak said he noticed a lot of visitors were coming through the centre, stopping to check out what he was doing.

"Oh yeah, there have been a lot of people who will stop by and ask what I'm making, or just sit and watch for a bit," he said.

Does he mind the extra attention?

"No, it's good, because it promotes the tradition and people get to see carving for themselves," he said.

Promoting the culture is only one of the reasons why Pokiak is so involved with his work.

"It's just something I like to do," he said with a smile.

When asked what his favourite stone to work with was, Pokiak chose the soapstone because of the naturally soft feel of the rock.

"It's much softer than some of the other stones there are to work with," he said.