For Joe Martin,
the dying art of dugout-canoe making is an inheritance from his
father that he has a duty to preserve. As a boy from the Tla-o-qui-aht
First Nation off Vancouver Island, picking up carving skills was
as natural as fishing or hunting. Now, at 66, he wants to pass on
the craft to the young people of his community
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The dugout canoe is a
vital symbol of the livelihood and the culture of the Nuu-chah-nulth,
14 related First Nations on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Historically,
master carver Joe Martin says, stone, bone and fire were used
to carve dugout canoes in the Nuu-chah-nulth way. He has an
array of modern tools to get the job done, but is committed
to building the canoes as his father taught him to do.
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Carving tools hang on
the wall inside Mr. Martin's workshop in Tofino. Some bear
the shapes of animal heads. 'We had art on our tools and it
was a constant reminder of how we're expected to behave,'
he says. 'It's a reminder of our teachings from our parents.'
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Across from the Tofino
harbour is Meares Island, where Mr. Martin was born in the
village of Opitsaht. It was on this island that his father,
Chief Robert Martin Sr., taught him to carve canoes, hunt
and fish. 'There was no such thing as a couch potato in the
former days,' the younger Mr. Martin says. 'People used to
speak really proudly about being strong and being ready.'
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In a corner of Mr. Martin's
Tofino workshop, he has a copy of Around the World in a Dugout
Canoe. It is the story of John Voss, a Danish-born Canadian
captain who set out to circumnavigate the globe in the 1900s
on a Nuu-chah-nulth-built vessel, the Tilikum.
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To build canoes properly,
a carver must make sure the stern, or back, is centred. Here,
Mr. Martin's nephew Francis holds the stern in place while
Mr. Martin checks with a level.
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Mr. Martin traces a pattern
on the stern so he can whittle it into the signature Nuu-chah-nulth
shape. Traditional canoes are painted black and white to resemble
killer whales, discouraging other sea mammals from attacking
it.
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Few still know how to
do the traditional woodcarving of the Nuu-chah-nulth. Here,
Mr. Martin shows 23-year-old David Curley some of the final
steps for shaping a hull. The master carver says hes
starving for young people to master the art that has brought
him so much joy. 'Maybe not all of them,' he said. 'But at
least one or two of them so it can be passed on.'
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