Builders

Halin de Repentigny

Halin was born in Montreal in 1959. He began to paint at the age of ten when a friend gave him a few old tubes of paint. He copied a Greek village scene from a book, which sold for $75 to the owner of the Greek restaurant where his mother worked as a waitress. From that moment he decided to be a painter and to make art the focus of his life. After relocating to the Yukon in 1982, Halin spent many years on the land trapping, travelling and learning about traditional First Nations technology. He painted iconic Yukon scenes of the winter landscapes that surrounded him and his trapping lifestyle.

Halin built his first birch bark canoe in 1997, together with his daughter Madeline, who is a member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation. Halin has made a birch bark canoe almost every year since then, gaining more knowledge and skill with each one. In 2002, Halin retraced the 1840s travel routes of Hudson’s Bay Company trader Robert Campbell from the headwaters of the Pelly River down the Yukon River to Dawson City in a 32-foot birch bark canoe.

Halin is also an acclaimed artist. His paintings depict life in Canada’s Klondike, interpreting the beauty and majesty of the remote northern wilderness on canvas. His work has a layered glass effect, producing tension and drama, which is highlighted by tonal contrasts accentuating the vibrancy of colour. For Halin, “… painting is like talking. I speak four different languages and painting is the only one where I don’t make a fool of myself.” Halin believes both his paintings and his canoe making are intrinsic facets of his artistic expression.

Halin says: “These northern birch bark canoes are among the most elegant watercraft in the world – technically difficult to construct from all natural materials, feather light to carry and beautiful to see gliding swiftly on the water.”

Doug Smarch Jr.

Doug Smarch Jr. is a member of the Kùkhhittàn (Raven) Clan of Teslin. His childhood was enriched with the innovation and utilization of the natural environment practiced by his parents Doug and Jane Smarch. From a young age he was taught to cherish all available materials and to respect all things living and inanimate, setting the foundation for finding value and story in many places. He is a master carver and sculptor who learned traditional stone, bone, and wood carving under the watchful eyes of family and community artisans.

Doug Jr. says: “Moose skin boats are amazing watercraft constructed of materials readily available to those who know how to hunt, gather and utilize the resources of our northern home. They are portable, durable and large enough to carry adults, kids, dogs, food and all the other requirements of a family living on the land.” 

While building the moose hide boat, Doug was guided by his father Doug Smarch and uncle Ed Smarch. John Peters Jr., a fellow clan member from Teslin and an accomplished woodsman and artist, also helped build the boat. 

Wayne Price

Wayne was born in the Tlingit village of Kake, Alaska and spent his childhood in Haines, Alaska apprenticing with Tlingit carvers and artists. In 1982 Wayne carved his first traditional Tlingit dugout river canoe, intrigued by his ancestors’ ability to travel the river and ocean. Since then Wayne has carved fifteen dugout canoes, as well as many totems and other works. In 2016 Wayne designed and carved two 40-foot traditional dugout canoes for the dedication of the new Hoonah clan house in Glacier Bay. His canoes are on display in many museums, including one in Hokkaido, Japan. Others are used on the water by his North Tide Canoe Kwaan group for tribal journeys and gatherings.

As a master carver and design artist Wayne creates art for public spaces and private collectors. His work is esteemed for its exquisite quality and exemplary use of traditional Alaska Native formline design. Wayne has carved and restored dozens of traditional totem poles and totemic sculptures throughout Southeast Alaska. Prominent in Wayne’s career is his work with students and apprentices in Alaska and the Yukon, instructing the next generations in formline design and carving. He has created four dugout canoes with Yukon First Nations, helping revive the craft in the Yukon. In 2019 Wayne started a professorship of Northwest Coast Art at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, where his classes are the most in-demand of any university offerings.

Wayne says: “A traditional dugout glides through the water and is designed to work organically with ocean and river currents. The ancestors knew what they were doing. It allows for journeys on the ocean and on swift river water. Its sturdy construction makes it capable of withstanding waves and winds. For thousands of years our ancestors relied on the cedar and spruce to create beautiful vessels for transport and inspiration.”

Lyonel Grant

Māori master carver Lyonel Grant is one of New Zealand’s most accomplished artists and also a waka (canoe) builder. Lyonel brings a global perspective about culture, and he also carries the Māori experience of separation from traditional lands. He too is marking his sixtieth year, and it’s clear that the gradual loss of traditional carving in his community weighs on him. 

Lyonel describes his personal journey as a quest for identity. He says he is only really happy when he is carving. Lyonel brings a rare intensity to his work: his projects take many years to complete. He feels at peace and connected when in his carving “zone,” similar to extreme athletes. Maori carvers were once a noble class and Lyonel says he longs for the recognition and creative freedom he imagines they held. 

The waka is central to the Māori origin story, as the human history of Aotearoa (New Zealand) began with canoe migration from Polynesia. Lyonel comes from the Te Arawa tribe that traces their ancestry directly from the mythological Arawa canoe. Lyonel lives in Auckland and spends time in Rotorua when he can, but as a carver he depends on others to bring his waka to life. Meanwhile, the community is trying to hold on to the language, get young people back on the water, and reclaim their canoe heritage. 

Kiliii Yuyan

Kiliii is descended from Nanai people of northern Siberia and Han Chinese. He grew up in the US at a distance from his culture’s traditions, but remained connected through his Nanai grandmother. Her stories fueled a desire to reclaim his Indigenous identity by learning to live close to the natural world.

He has spent the last 15 years exploring the traditional skills of Nanai and other Native culture, including wilderness subsistence and traditional kayak-building. It’s led him to documenting the stories of modern Indigenous peoples around the world, from urban communities to remote villages in the Arctic. Those communities have shown him what it is to see the land through Indigenous eyes.

Kiliii has spent a lot of time with traditional kayak-using communities of the North, learning the skills of building qayaqs and umiaqs. Now he designs skin-on-frame kayaks for the modern paddler and helps return the traditional knowledge of the kayak to its original communities. He has built over 600 kayaks with students.