Celebration kicks off on June 5 in Juneau.
Hamar is a Haida artist and carver, and he spends his days carving in the workshop in Kasaan , a small village of about 30 people on Prince of Wales Island. The thick smell of cedar in the air, Hamar’s surrounded by canoes, paddles, a half-carved totem pole, and tools.
Hamar is part of a group that’s making a 10-day, 250 mile journey from Kasaan to Juneau, where Celebration is held, in canoes they carved themselves.“I like three dimensional stuff a lot more,” Hamar said. “It’s pretty exciting to be going on this journey for the first time in our own canoes from our own community and meeting up with a lot of other communities on the way,” Hamar said as he worked. “I think, hopefully, it’ll bring a lot of inspiration to the people and hopefully get some folks excited about maintaining the traditions.”“Well, the youngest has to be six months, because that’s my baby,” Hamar laughed.
There is an 18-foot canoe hanging in the shop. Hamar said that wasn’t one of the ones headed to Celebration. It wasn’t ready yet. The wood of the canoe fanned out but then curled back in on itself like a flower that hasn’t bloomed. Hamar said it needed to be steamed. Hamar said making a canoe is a long and difficult process. In his 20 years carving with his dad, he had built just the three hanging in the shed. He said that’s because it’s hard to find the perfect piece of wood. Plus, they aren’t something you can easily sell.
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