Making Ulus...

My Inuk friend, Josephee, makes a variety of implements and tools in his shed down by the shore. Josephee works pretty well exclusively with hand tools. I've been watching him making Ulus - knives used traditionally by women to cut meat, skin, and anything else they need to.

He started by drawing the blade patterns on a saw blade and cutting them out with a hammer and chisel:He then filed the rough edges of the blade, filed and shaped the shaft, cut a slot in it with a hacksaw and drilled holes in the pieces. A common nail is filed until it fits the holes drilled through the shaft and blade and then sawed off to be peened into a rivet to hold the blade on:

This is what the finished ulu will look like:Here is Josephee and his companion at his shed:
These are some char hanging to dry off the back of Josephee's shed. Apparently, the rope is wound around the board because it scares the ravens so they won't steal the char: