One of our favorite sayings is when the tide is out, the table is set.

Because, you know, just so much of our food comes from the ocean.

And that's part of the reason why this kayak is so important, because that was one of our primary methods of fishing, hunting for seal, in some regions, we actually hunted whale.

Today we're working on a one man kayak.

We're making this kayak for the Kenai Fjords National Park Service.

I would expect the Park Service is going to use this as a display, but it is going to be fully functional when we hand it over.

So if they really wanted to, they could use it.

Ultimately.

I mean, this is a piece of art, but it's a piece of art with a functional purpose.

You know, going through school, indigenous peoples, you know, the Alaska Natives, the American Indians, it was always regarded as this is the historical tribe.

And, you know, these are the people that used to live here.

And, you know, some some groups are making great strides and reminding people that we're still here.

This is our contribution, trying to showcase that we're still here, our culture is still alive.

And I know we can still make amazing things.

Traditionally, every young man would build his own kayak.

These were traditionally built scales to the person at a full length of three and a half times the builder's arm's length.

The one that we're working on today is just shy of 17 foot.

This is pine.

Traditionally would be done with red or yellow cedar, primarily driftwood.

But the most traditional thing to do is to work with what you have.

And what we've got is pine.

The Sugpiaq people are from the, it's called the Chugiak region.

And it spans from Cordova, which is the Eyak people through the Prince William Sound and down to the lower Cook Inlet.

So one of the most distinctive differences between, say, a Sugpiaq-style kayak and a Yupik-style kayak is the bow For Sugpiaq-style, we have a very sharp-up-pointed bow that's designed to cut through the waves as well as redirect water away from the pilot.

The bow is the front of the ship, the front of the kayak.

It can't be recreated through bending or carving.

It has to be grown naturally.

And so the best part of the tree to get that from is the knee as part of the root of the tree.

So this is just the perfect piece that we're going to actually harvest here in Seward, you know, with our chainsaw.

Taking as much of the wood out that we can.

It's a very physically intensive process because it can take quite a long time.

But it's also great practice for teaching kids how to use the chisels.

The idea is to get as many people involved as possible.

If the only people that are learning how to make this kayak is, you know, the two masters and the two apprentices, then this is a cultural practice that will disappear We're short one person can't quite make that up.

Even if we had worked, you know, just a ton of over time.

I think we're going to have to come back next year and finish it.

You know, my day job is human resources.

It's working on a computer, talking to people over the phone.

But when I'm working on a kayak, you know, I can actually see the project that I'm building.

I can feel it, you know, effectively coming to life from these raw materials.