TUKTOYAKTUK - "I find it's the only way to carve."

Retired is a word that many people in the North refuse to use.

That's certainly true in the case of Tuktoyaktuk elder Jim Raddi. Although he doesn't get out as much as he used to, he has not slowed down in the least. His carvings have become hot items at the Inuvialuit Development Corp's gift shop in Inuvik. He spends a lot of his day working on muskox bone creations.

Jim Raddi shows off one of his muskox bone carvings. The Tuk elder now makes a living with his finely-honed artistic skills. - photo courtesy of Paul Hussey

"It's the way I make my living right now," said Raddi while taking a break from his craft. He said he learned his skill from Phillip Raymond, another carver from Tuk who generally used soapstone.

"I watched him for about two years and then he said, 'Well son, I think you'd better start to carve,'" recounted Raddi.

The first carving he ever attempted was of a hunter harpooning a whale. Raymond could see Raddi's natural skill, but he did point out one mistake. The whale's tale was up and down like a fish instead of flat. Raddi just laughs about it now.

Things have certainly changed a lot from when he was young. Raddi remembers how his father used to make a living trapping white fox. He said he lived in Sachs Harbour, but his family would travel down to Tuk in the summer months to get their winter supply of food and other provisions.

"They didn't stay very long. Maybe a couple of moths or a month and a half and then head back to Sachs Harbour," said Raddi.

Just as the way of life has changed for many in the North, so too has the world of carving. Raddi said his teacher worked with files. Raddi has adopted modern tools.

"Nowadays we can use an electric drill and an electric carver instead of filing stroke by stroke, if you can afford it," he said. "I find it's the only way to carve."

Raddi must be doing something right - some of his larger carvings have sold for more than $10,000.

It sounds like a lot until you consider the weeks and months that can go into creating such masterworks, as well as the relative cost of living in Tuktoyaktuk. "Nowadays everything is so expensive," he said. "If you try and buy a machine it costs a lot of money, Ski-Doos and stuff like that."