Canada · Sled & Vehicle Building
Qamutik (plural qamutiik)
The construction of a traditional Arctic travel sled using two long wooden or, historically in wood-scarce regions, bone or antler runners connected by numerous lashed wooden crossbars, built without rigid fasteners so the entire structure can flex over rough sea ice and snow rather than breaking under the stress a fixed frame would experience.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not Applicable — Canada is not a State Party to the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage; no Canadian technique can be formally ICH-inscribed regardless of significance. Indigenous advocates in Canada have publicly called for ratification.
A twined-weaving tradition using a distinctive long-shafted, large-diameter spindle whorl often carved with transformative crest imagery, producing blankets historically woven from the wool of a now-extinct domesticated Salish wool dog,…
A ceremonial robe made from wool trade blankets appliquéd with a family crest figure and outlined in mother-of-pearl or abalone buttons, developed in the early-to-mid 19th century across the Northwest Coast from the Coast Salish in…
Hinged, string-operated wooden masks carved to open during ceremonial performance and reveal a second figure within, most often depicting one being transforming into another, worn with a shredded cedar-bark costume during Winter Dance and…
The carving of large, seaworthy dugout canoes from a single western red cedar log, historically ranging from small river canoes to ocean-going vessels capable of long-distance trade and travel along the entire Northwest Coast, requiring…
The engraving and repoussé shaping of gold and silver — historically often hammered out from American and Mexican silver dollar coins — into bracelets, brooches, and pendants bearing formline crest and tattoo-derived designs, developed by…
A colorful, diagonally patterned woolen sash produced entirely by finger-weaving without any loom, resulting from the historical blending of Indigenous finger-weaving technique with French-Canadian braided-garter tradition, adopted as an…
Preparation and application of lulur, a body scrub of finely ground rice with turmeric and spices (ginger, cinnamon), nuts and sandalwood in some recipes, mixed with water and jasmine oil into a granular paste.
Making of herbal compresses — chopped fresh or dried plai, turmeric, lemongrass, kaffir lime, tamarind and camphor, sometimes with salt — bundled tightly in cotton or muslin, steamed and pressed and rolled over the body, often as part of…
The bath attendant’s hands-on technique in the Turkish hammam: after the bather sweats on the heated marble platform (göbek taşı), the attendant rinses them from a bowl, scrubs with a coarse kese mitt until dead skin rolls away, then soaps…
Thai bodywork in which practitioners use hands, elbows, knees and feet to work along the sen — lines understood to cross the body — aiming to rebalance body and energy and the four elements.
The layering of naturally colored sand within glass bottles to compose detailed desert scenes -- undulating dunes, camels, and, at the buyer's request, names or words -- a distinctive Jordanian craft directly self-taught as a child by…
The heritage craft techniques underlying Michelin tyre production — specifically the manual construction and vulcanization skills that preceded and in specialist applications still accompany industrial production.