INUVIK - In his 10 years or so of kayaking, Kevin Floyd has come face to face with humpback whales, orcas and seals.

Kevin Floyd, shown in Inuvik at last July's Great Northern Arts Festival, checking to make sure his Greenland-style kayak fits him perfectly while he builds the structures; with a friend. Floyd's currently trying to launch a kayak course in Inuvik that he hopes will spark an interest in the traditional practice Delta Wide. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Through those sorts of experiences he's developed a profound connection with nature, a bond he might not have established otherwise. Now, the Inuvik resident is trying to spread his love of kayaking, a traditional Inuit hunting tool, with youth across the Delta.

The way he sees it, it's an opportunity for many who have somehow lost touch with the land to be introduced back to it.

"They'll look at their environment from a different perspective," said Floyd. They're going to interact with nature, they're going to see things at a different level with their peers.

"They are the decision makers. They are the stewards of this land. They are the ones that are going to be working for consumptive industry or non consumptive industry."

For the past few months Floyd, who's also employed as the Arctic youth leadership coordinator for the Inuvialuit Development Corporation, has been spending almost every night coming up with a plan to see his dream become reality.

With the help of a team of locals, including his wife Jennifer Lem, Floyd's been drafting letters asking businesses for money to help fund the project. At about $2,500 a piece, the kayaks aren't cheap. Add liability insurance, office equipment and money required to rent the Midnight Sun Complex pool, where he intends to hold foundational classes, the endeavour will be an expensive one.

He's also busy at work perfecting course curriculum which will centre on Greenland Inuit kayaking techniques. Things are looking up so far, he said.

His main source of reference is the Greenland Kayak Association, a non profit network of kayakers dedicated to keeping the traditional practice alive. The association, which also has a chapter in the U.S., boasts its own curriculum that teaches, among other things, about 40 different rolls, which essentially shows students how to get upright after capsizing. The rolls centre on situations traditional Inuit hunters found themselves in while ocean hunting.

"There's all kinds of situations," said Floyd. For example, I might need to roll up holding onto a knife or a fish. The course teaches you that."

Students will be taught to recover from different positions from leaning forward, backward, arms crossed or holding a paddle.

The plan is to start with the basics in the safety of a pool, where students learn how to safely get in and out of a kayak and then move into learning the basic strokes. From there things will get a little more in depth. With a little time he's hoping to expand the program throughout the Delta where communities will start their own clubs. His dream is to see a healthy kayaking network formed where members meet periodically to learn from each other, plan trips and perhaps hold competitions.

Before settling in Inuvik he spent several summers leading kayak tours around Vancouver Island's Beaufort Range - a mountain range on the southern part of the island. While there the idea to start such a course took root. He's lucky enough to have met some expert kayakers along the way that he's been using for guidance.

Floyd is a hybrid of various bloodlines, including Inuvialuit, Scottish and Dene. His great-grandfather was a Portuguese whaler. He's already tried his hand at building traditional Inuit kayaks, both Greenlandic and Inuvialuit models. The latter being more agile and faster in water. The first kayak he ever made was displayed at last year's Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik. He's hoping some day they'll be enough interest to hold regular traditional kayak building forums in the Delta.

Knowing that Inuvialuit throughout the Delta used to rely on kayak's for their subsistence lifestyles, he said that's good enough reason to dedicate himself to trying to preserve a key element of the culture. That, and he's heard the same from others in Inuvik and throughout the region.

"It's one of the great expressions of what it means to be Inuvialuit," he said.

Inuvik resident Gerry Kisoun, who's Heritage Services Manager for the Western Arctic Field Unit of Parks Canada, agrees. Kisoun, who's both Gwich'in and Inuvialuit, supports Floyd's traditional kayak program for the same reasons.

"It's very important," said Kisoun. "Our forefathers used to use a kayak not that long ago, it's a 100 years ago they did that.

I know Kevin would be good at that. He has a lot of energy. He's smart and dedicated."

Kisoun, who's also a Northern Games organizer, hasn't ruled out the possibility of taking a few classes himself.

"You never know I might check it out."