Yukon's royal carver: First Nations artist makes gift for Prince William
When renowned Tlingit carver Keith Wolfe Smarch meets Prince William in Carcross, Yukon, on Wednesday, he'll get to show the young royal how he practises his craft.
He'll also get to reminisce about his last royal encounter, 15 years ago.
"I'm definitely going to bring up his father," Smarch said. "Maybe he can say 'hi' to his father for me."
Smarch presented Prince Charles with a carved mask during the Prince's 2001 Yukon visit. Smarch was also invited to the royal dinner that year.
The mask is now part of the Buckingham Palace art collection, something Smarch calls "the highlight of my career."
"So having his son come here now is really a surprise and it's going to be quite an honour," Smarch said.
Like his father, Prince William will be going home with an original Smarch carving — a small totem pole, featuring a killer whale and a character called Gunar.
"[Gunar] was the one that created the killer whale in the beginning," Smarch said.
Royals to visit carving shed
Smarch has been burning the midnight oil to finish his carving in time for the royal visit to Carcross.
"With Prince Charles, they gave me a year's notice. With Prince William, I only had, like, two and a half, three weeks notice ... but I got it done.
"You work good under pressure."
The Khà Shâde Héni of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation (chief) Andy Carvill will officially present the carving, but Smarch will have a few minutes with the royals when they visit his carving shed afterwards.
He says he'll have about five to six minutes to chat with Will and Kate and show them his work, including a 12-metre pole that he and his son Aaron have been working on for a year. It will ultimately go to the First Nation's learning centre.
"We're going to surprise them and see if they'll do a little something on it for us, too," Smarch said. "They don't know that yet!"
Smarch said he feels lucky to be a part of two royal visits, and being able to showcase and promote Tlingit culture to two future Kings.
"It's quite an honour to have that. I don't think I know many people that have two pieces in the royal collection," Smarch said.
"The whole point of what we're doing here is, we're trying to carry on a tradition."
