Inupiaq craftsman revives nearly lost qayaq-building tradition

Lou Logan will share insights from 18 months of building a traditional Inupiaq qayaq at the Alaska State Museum during a free presentation on Saturday, May 16, at 1 p.m. in the APK Lecture Hall.

From April 2024 to October 2025, Logan spent hundreds of hours constructing the qayaq in the museum's public galleries, working to recover construction techniques that were almost entirely lost. The project grew from Logan's research into Inupiaq qayaq construction, which he found to be less fully documented than other kayak types.

Logan told the Juneau Empire that there are fewer resources for Inupiaq qayyat compared to some other types. The techniques learned over generations were passed down through oral tradition. This knowledge was almost entirely lost. He realized he would need to learn directly from old qayyat and his own efforts at making one. The qayaq itself is now the teacher, he said.

While building his qayaq, Logan worked next to a qayaq frame collected from King Island in 1928. The 1928 King Island frame, preserved as a museum artifact, provides one of the few detailed physical references for traditional Inupiaq qayaq construction. Contemporary builders use such frames to infer dimensions and joinery methods that were not written down.

The inspiration for the project began over a decade ago while the museum was moving into its current building. In 2014, Logan was working as a photographer, documenting objects from the Alaska State Museum's collection that would go on display in the new galleries. At the museum, he saw kayaks that inspired him to research traditional qayyat. Studying qayyat became a way to expand his knowledge about his own Inupiaq heritage. Logan's grandmother was from Kiŋigin (Wales), Alaska.

Along with the successes he experienced throughout the qayaq's construction, Logan faced setbacks that required adaptation, creative solutions, and even starting over. In his presentation, Logan will describe what makes a qayaq a qayaq and will give a brief qayaq history and typology. He will offer some personal insights into why and how to build a qayaq and describe the building process.

The presentation is supported with assistance from the Maritime Heritage Grant Program, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior and the State of Alaska Office of History and Archaeology. Opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in the presentation are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior or the Office of History and Archaeology.

The Alaska State Museum is located in the Fr. Andrew P. Kashevaroff Building at 395 Whittier Street in Juneau. Summer hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Monday, 1 to 4:30 p.m. Admission is $14 for adults, $13 for seniors 65 and older, and free for ages 18 and younger. For more information, visit the museum's website or call (907) 465-2901.