Hughes wanted to expand his art into human skin and had just purchased some tattoo equipment. "In the same way I was brought up to go whaling, he was brought up to be a wood carver, starting at a young age," Qaiyaan recalls. There, he met reknowned Maori master wood carver Mitch Hughes. A little over five years ago, he and his mother traveled to New Zealand with a delegation of Iñupiat, including about 30 elders, to study the language revitalization programs the Maori had instituted to keep their culture strong. The tattooist had to be someone who would understand the significance. With no sketches or photographs of Amayun's tattoo, he could not know the look or style.Īnd he could not just walk into any tattoo shop anywhere and let just anyone tattoo the images of the whale so sacred and vital to his family and people into his flesh. Both to honor his grandfather and the bowheads that had given themselves to the crew and community, Qaiyaan decided his tattoo would be two whale tails, on his chest - just like Amayun. After proving himself on the ice and in the boat, he became harpooner, harpooned one whale and later another.
Amayun had seven whale tails tattooed across his chest - one for each of the bowheads he had harpooned.Īs he grew, Qaiyaan hunted with the Payuuraq crew of his uncle, Payuuraq - Poe Brower, Jana's brother. As he pondered, his mom, Iñupiat educator Jana Harcharek, told him of Amayun, his great grand amau six generations down. When he was a young teen, Qaiyaan Harcharek wanted a tattoo, but his mom told him, "not before you turn 18." This gave him some time to think about just what kind of tattoo he should get.
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