LITTLE BOSTON — With the careful help of several volunteers and students and the patient guidance of Port Gamble S’Klallam master carver Joe Ives Sr., a 10-foot wide by 8-foot high “canvas” made of cedar panels was lifted onto its side Thursday afternoon.

The cedar will soon hold something extremely valuable, as Ives prepares to lead members of the tribal youth in carving the surface into a mural.

This was all made possible by a grant from the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. awarded to Ives last fall to bring the community together with a monument honoring the tribe’s culture and elders.

“We’re going to lean the planks against the wall, trace the design onto the wood and carve it that way,” he said. Students and volunteers involved in the project will meet once or twice a week to sketch and carve the mural. “It’s called ‘Telling Stories and Sharing a Meal.’ It’s an elders theme, but it also incorporates the tribe’s youth into the design.”

After the $6,500 grant came through, Ives met with four or five members of the younger generation several times to develop the design, and everyone pitched in ideas and input. The end result is a raven and an eagle sharing a salmon together, surrounded by a frame of children’s faces. The eagle is telling the raven a story during their meal, and the whole picture represents how the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s stories and heritage are passed down, Ives said.

“He gives strength to other people through his carving,” said Angel Ives, Joe Ives’ 17-year-old daughter. “This is a big accomplishment for him.”

He has been carving for about 30 years and has been teaching the craft in classes for much of that time, said his brother Ray Ives. This mural is just the next step for him as a master carver to show respect and honor of the culture.

“He’s got a pretty good portfolio with pictures of all the things he’s done over the years,” Ray Ives said. “This one, we’re helping prepare for the kids. We’re going to use a projector to put the picture on the big wall mural, using an overhead and tracing it.”

Thursday night was the first time the cedar that will be used for the mural was turned on its side and the design superimposed onto it. The shadowy image was just the beginning of what will become a tribute to the elders of the tribe, and will be on display in the House of Knowledge complex in the elders’ center.

“The Smithsonian only gives out one grant a year, and this year it was for this project,” Joe Ives said. “I know so many stories now, I can make up stories. This is one of them that will illustrate a part of our culture. We wanted to use the Northwest design on our relief. The mural will be a painting relief of the carving. That’s what we’ll be doing here, is carving and telling stories.”

Once the mural is completed, there will be an honoring and dedication ceremony before it’s placed at the elders’ center. Smithsonian representatives will be present, and are already anticipating the finished product and the celebration of it, Joe Ives said.

“The Smithsonian is recording everything we do,” he said. “We decided on the design because it’s elder related, but it was my idea to get youth input. Then we get our culture kind of all bundled together.”