Inuit Art Quarterly - Relations: Strong Together

IN THIS ISSUE:

Body/Land/Sea/Air Maureen Gruben and Sonya Kelliher-Combs — Tracing Lineages Drawing From Family — Reclaiming the Record What’s in a Name?

Relations

Strong Together

Our July 12, 2020 live auction of Inuit and First Nations art realized over 1.2 million dollars in sales and set ten new world record prices. We invite you to visit our website www.FirstArts.ca to see the complete sale results, and to view works that we currently have on offer. First Arts is now accepting consignments for our upcoming program of auctions and exhibitions.

Interested parties should contact us to arrange for complimentary and private valuations of their collections. We would be happy to explain the advantages of buying and selling with First Arts.

Premieres September 12, 2020

CONTENTS

33.3

Inuit Art Quarterly Relations

Front

Features

Back CURATORIAL NOTES

06 Contributors

64 Piujut Arnaqsiutit

by Jessica Kotierk with

Napatsi Folger

07 From the Editor 08 Impact Update

TRIBUTE

68 Joseph Illuapik Palluq

Markoosie Patsauq

5 WORKS

14 Intergenerations 70 News HIGHLIGHTS

16 A curated collection

LAST LOOK

of Inuit art you can enjoy from home.

72 Pia Arke

CHOICE

20 Simon Tookoome

by Ashlee Conery CHOICE

22 Cup’ik Cribbage Board

by Glenn Gear PROFILE

26 Dayle Kubluitok

by Emily Henderson

30 Family Lines

by Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk

An emerging artist travels to Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, to rediscover his heritage and aesthetic mission.

40 Shorelines

by Sonya Kelliher-Combs and

Maureen Gruben

Separated by a border closure, two Western Arctic artists look at their material connections together, apart.

PORTFOLIO

48 Arctic Remix

6 artists working in collage.

LEGACY

56 Reclaiming Our Names

by Natan Obed

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President, Natan Obed, considers the vast number of archival photographs of Inuit that have remained unnamed for decades while looking toward a future of self-determination and pride.

ON THE COVER

Chantal Jung (b. 1988 Happy Valley-Goose Bay) — Miriam, Anânak, Sydnie, Amber, Marina, Black Belt Eagle Scout and Bella 2018–2019 Mixed media COURTESY THE ARTIST

ABOVE

Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001 Ulukhaktok) — Enchantress 1973 COURTESY WADDINGTON’S

LEFT

Maureen Gruben (b. 1963 Tuktuyaaqtuuq) — rising tide (detail) 2020 COURTESY THE ARTIST

Relations

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Front

Thank You! Extraordinary Gifts Jackman Foundation Susan Marrier Nunavut Development Corporation John and Joyce Price

Donald and Pat Dodds Marian Dodds, in honour of Dedie Dodds Gillian Graham Bryan Hellwig, Iqaluit, Nunavut Lou Jungheim and Two Full Pages Thalia Nicas Nakasuk Alariaq Mark London Lewis Auerbach and Kathryn Minard Barbara Legowski Nadine Nickner and Shary Boyle Harald Finkler David Forrest Ann Posen Inuit Art Society David Sproule, Joyce Keltie in memory of Jean Charles Kingsley Katherine Sproule Elske and Jim Kofman Jaan Whitehead Mary Nirlungayuk, Catherine Wilkes on behalf of Member Norman Zepp and Co-operatives in Canada’s Judith Varga Arctic in support of their arts Half Page Danielle Ouimet and James R. Abel, in honour of Paul Harper Xanthipi L. Abel Constance Pathy John and Sylvia Aldrich Joram and Lona Piatigorsky Stephen Baker Manon Vennat, CM Devony Baugh Craig Wilbanks and Rev. Gary Boratto Monty Kehl Clint Davis and Hillary Thatcher Full Page Nathalie Ducamp Alaska on Madison Lyyli Elliott Shelley Ambrose Dr. and Mrs. Peter Gardner Suzanne Brais, in memory Paul G. Gemmiti of Clare and Phil Brais Janice Gonsalves Christopher Bredt and The MacDonald Griffin Jamie Cameron, in honour Charitable Foundation of Judy Hauserman Barbara Hale Mary-Dailey and Ainslie Harvey Paul Desmarais III Susan Hawkins

Carol Heppenstall Rick Hiebert Sonya Kelliher-Combs Sharon Kozicki Katarina Kupca Lori Labatt Maija M. Lutz and Peter A. Tassia Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Scott Mullin Martin Pâquet Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart Frank Reid Margerit Roger, in memory of Dieter Roger Sheila Romalis, in memory of Lorne Balshine Judith Rycus Scott Snowden Cedar Swan Karen Westrell and Bill Rosser and four anonymous donors Quarter Page Eleanor Allgood Beatriz Alvarez Sue Asquith Elizabeth Ball Heather M. Beecroft Jurg and Christel Bieri Francois Boucher Woody Brown and Christa Ouimet, in memory of Susan Oster Stephen Bulger Catherine Campbell Susan Charlesworth

Thank you so much for supporting the IAQ. You are the reason there was a summer IAQ. The issue was at risk as traditional revenue sources dried up, but you came to the rescue and made sure it was published. Thank you!

Karen Coflin Zoe Colon Norma Costas Drs. Raymond and Charlene Currie Tania De Rozario Catherine Dean Celia Denov François Dumaine Melanie Egan Leah Erickson Surabhi Ghosh, in honour of Jashiben Nayak Carole Gobeil Claire S. Gold Peter Gold and Athalie Joy Deborah D. Gordon Nelson Graburn, in honour of Apirqu Nilisi Linda Grussani Dave Haber and Dominique Ritter Celia Harte Laurie Herd Josh Heuman and Gary Horenkamp David Homan Jane Horner Dale Horwitz Warren Howard Mandy Ilk Jeannette Jackson-Thompson, in honour of Richard C. Thompson, PHD Drs. Laurence and Katherine Jacobs Amy Jenkins Sharon Jorgens Nancy Keppelman and Mike Smerza

Dwaine and Leslie King Cathy Kirkpatrick Dianne Lawson Carolyn Lawson Colleen Leduc David Lee Rebecca Lee Denis Longchamps Samia Madwar Alan Mak John Maounis, in honour of Margaret S. Bursaw Brett Marshall Paul Mayer Lindsay McIntyre Patricia McKeown Joanna Miazga Robert Michaud Nanooq Inuit Art Suzanne O’Hara Hal and Donna Olsen Kate Permut A. A. Piccini Isabelle Ranger Leslie Reid Jim and Shelley Renner Bruce Rice Marcia Rioux Tom Robbins Greg Rogers, in honour of Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik, 2020 Gold winner for National Magazine Awards, Short Feature Writing R.M. & Y.K. Rothenberg Joseph Salkowitz, DMD Tess Saare McLean Alexa Samuels

Jeffrey Seidman Elizabeth Steinbrueck Marie-Josée Therrien Carol J. Thrun Erik Val James and Louise Vesper Jayne Wilkinson and five anonymous donors Friends of the IAQ Dianne Bohonis, in honour of Peter Bohonis Maria Coates Emmanuelle Desrochers Sophie Dorais Kristin Dowell Chun Hoong Fong Susan Griswold Edward Guyette and Beth Vienot Beatrice Hanson Clive Harvey Ian Harvey Yui Kawasaki Daryl and Marilyn Logan Catherine Madsen Patrick A. McLean Leslie Saxon West Rosmarie Schreiber Charmaine Spencer Tom Suber Jacek Szulc Dr. Anne Vagi John Weber, in honour of Mary MacDonald Elka Weinstein Daphne Young, for Grams, who loved every one of us and three anonymous donors

MASTHEAD

CONTRIBUTORS

PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Inuit Art Quarterly is published by the Inuit Art Foundation.

Executive Director and Publisher Alysa Procida

President Heather Igloliorte Montreal, QC

Editorial Director Britt Gallpen

Secretary-Treasurer Erica Lugt Inuvik, NT

Established in 1987, the Inuit Art Foundation is a not-for-profit charitable organization that provides support to Canada’s Inuit arts communities and is the sole national body mandated to promote Inuit artists and art within Canada and internationally.

This magazine relies on donations made to the Inuit Art Foundation, a registered charitable organization in Canada (BN #121033724RR0001) and the United States (#980140282).

The Inuit Art Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through contributions from the Reconciliation Secretariat at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage, as well as the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Creates.

Subscriptions subscribe@inuitartfoundation.org Canada: $33/yr. Excludes GST/HST. US: $44/yr. Elsewhere: $48/yr.

GST/HST #121033724RT0001.

The Inuit Art Quarterly is a member of Magazines Canada.

Publication date of this issue: September 15, 2020 ISSN 0831-6708 Publication Mail Agreement #40050252 Postmaster send address changes to Inuit Art Foundation.

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Inuit Art Foundation 1655 Dupont Street Toronto, ON, M6P 3T1 (647) 498-7717 inuitartfoundation.org ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. THE INUIT ART QUARTERLY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR UNSOLICITED MATERIAL. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE INUIT ART QUARTERLY ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE INUIT ART FOUNDATION. PRINTED IN CANADA. DISTRIBUTED BY MAGAZINES CANADA. FROM TIME TO TIME WE MAKE OUR SUBSCRIBERS’ NAMES AVAILABLE TO COMPANIES WHOSE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WE FEEL MAY BE OF INTEREST TO YOU. TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THESE MAILINGS, PLEASE SEND YOUR REQUEST, ALONG WITH A COPY OF YOUR SUBSCRIPTION MAILING LABEL, TO THE ADDRESS ABOVE.

Inuit Art Quarterly

Managing Editor Michael Stevens Online Editor Jessica MacDonald Profiles Editor Emily Henderson Contributing Editor Napatsi Folger Contributing Editor Profiles Bronson Jacque Contributing Editor Online Leanne Inuarak-Dall

Eric Anoee Jr. Arviat, NU Reneltta Arluk Banff, AB Jamie Cameron Toronto, ON Patricia Feheley Toronto, ON Michael Massie Kippens, NL Ryan Rice Toronto, ON

Copy Editor Lisa Frenette Fact Checker Amy Prouty Advertising Manager Nicholas Wattson

Colour Gas Company Printing Interprovincial Group —

PROGRAMS Igloo Tag Coordinator Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik

Nunatsiavut Community Liaison Holly Andersen

Development Manager Christa Ouimet

Nunavik Community Liaison Nancy Saunders

Archives Coordinator Joanna McMann Inuvialuit Settlement Region Community Liaison Darcie Bernhardt

Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk is a writer, musician and visual artist based in Edmonton, AB. The grandson of Peter Aliknak Banksland and the great-nephew of Agnes Nanogak Goose, Aleekuk draws inspiration from the distinctive printmaking style made famous by his relatives. Combining this graphic style with tattoo flash, Aleekuk creates inventive images in watercolours and India ink. PAGE 30

Maureen Gruben Inuvialuk artist Maureen Gruben re-combines disparate organic and industrial elements, forging critical links between life in the Western Arctic and global environmental and cultural concerns. Her work explores new visual languages that offer compelling and often urgent global associations. Born and raised in Tuktuyaaqtuuq (Tuktoyaktuk), Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, she graduated with a BFA in 2012 from the University of Victoria. Her work is exhibited regularly across Canada and internationally. PAGE 40

Sonya Kelliher-Combs

Art Director Matthew Hoffman

Administrative Assistant Brittany Holliss

Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk

Nunavut Community Liaison Jesse Tungilik Southern Canada Community Liaison Alberta Rose Williams

—

EDITORIAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Sonya Kelliher-Combs was raised in Nome, Alaska and has a BFA from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and an MFA from Arizona State University. Through her mixed-media work, painting and sculpture, Kelliher-Combs chronicles the ongoing struggle for selfdefinition and identity in the Alaskan context.

Her work has been shown in individual and group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. PAGE 40

Jessica Kotierk Jessica Kotierk is the Manager and Curator of the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit, NU. Born in Iqaluit, NU, and raised in Ottawa, ON, Kotierk has studied both film and museum conservation. Her conservation studies have focused on the preservation and management of Inuit artifacts in collections around the world, including those of the Inuit Art Foundation. PAGE 64

Natan Obed

Mary Dailey Desmarais Kim Latreille Samia Madwar Sarah Milroy Taqralik Partridge Dominique Ritter Elizabeth Qulaut

Natan Obed is the President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. He is originally from Nain, Nunatsiavut, NL, and now lives in Ottawa, ON. For ten years he lived in Iqaluit, NU, and worked as the Director of Social and Cultural Development for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. He has devoted his career to working with Inuit representational organizations to improve the well-being of Inuit in Canada. PAGE 56

6

Fall 2020

FROM THE EDITOR

What does it mean to be in relation to one another?

Where are communities created, shaped and grown?

How are legacies carried, namesakes honoured and families forged for the future? These were the guiding questions for this issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly on “Relations,” questions that took on new urgency as international borders remained firmly closed, a global health crisis persisted, artists and cultural workers continued to be affected by financial upheaval and people around the world came together to demand an end to the ongoing oppression of Black communities—as our summer issue was put in the mail, the world changed with the murder of George Floyd.

As an organization led by and for Inuit, our work at the IAF is inherently bound to issues of racial justice. Our work is also guided by artists.

On June 1, 2020, we shared an image created

by Contributing Editor and artist, Bronson Jacque, Solidarity (2020), of two intertwined hands—one Black, the other marked with kakiniit—before pausing our feed to make space for important conversations happening both online and off. Inspired by an illustration

by Métis artist and educator Megan Tipler as well as the work of this issue’s Profile artist Dayle Kubluitok, the post was seen, shared and saved over 21,000 times—a testament to the interrelationships of Inuit and Black communities. In the days and weeks that have followed, we have continued these critical conversations on intersectionality, solidarity, community and transparency and our responsibilities to you, our readers, and to the artists who entrust us with their stories.

This work is ongoing, and its initial results are reflected in these pages.

The cover of this issue brings together a collection of collage works by San Jose, CAbased Chantal Jung, a constellation of friends and family members of the artist. Individually, each image is an intimate portrait; together, Jung’s floral vignettes create a verdant garden of relations teeming with life and joy. This aesthetic and narrative approach to image making, rooted in history and limitless in its possibility, is likewise found in the work of the five other artists highlighted in this issue’s Portfolio titled Arctic Remix.

In Family Lines, emerging artist Kyle

Natkusiak Aleekuk reflects on the lasting effect of a formative journey to Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, and the influence of his unique artistic lineage by way of trailblazing graphic artists Peter Aliknak Banksland (1928–1998) and Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001). His deeply personal account explores how art, family and history create community and affirm relationships across time and space.

More recently, as the border closed between Canada and the United States this year, a planned reciprocal residency between artists Sonya Kelliher-Combs and Maureen Gruben was put on hold. Despite the proximity and pre-existing relationships between Inuvialuit and Iñupiat communities, this closure served to further reinforce longstanding ruptures in the free movement of individuals throughout the Western Arctic. Instead, the artists spent much of the summer exchanging images, sharing ideas and reflecting on the short, if impassable, distance between them. These intimate moments-in-progress are presented in part in this issue’s Artist Project.

Closing out this issue is a special contribution by Natan Obed, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. In this Legacy, the author considers the enduring power of the photographic record and what it does and does not capture as it relates to self-determination, cultural pride and the reclamation of personal and collective histories.

Shortly after the Summer 2020 issue of the IAQ made its way to you, we celebrated an important milestone as a publication with

our first ever gold at the National Magazine Awards. Blandina Makkik’s “Remembering Our Ways” from the Summer 2019 IAQ, “Film,” was awarded the Best Short Feature in Canadian magazines this year. The essay remains a timely and personal reflection on the power of art to transform a community and the power of a community to change an art form. Congratulations, Blandina, on this well-deserved honour.

Finally, as we were heading to press on this issue, we were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of artist William Noah (1943– 2020). A unique and enduring talent, Noah is widely known for his regular contributions to the Annual Baker Lake Print Collections as well as his tender and sweeping landscapes rendered in coloured pencil, watercolour and acrylic. On behalf of the Inuit Art Foundation, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family and friends and to express our admiration for an artist whose images of his early years on the land will be cherished for decades to come.

The tag line for this issue is “Strong Together.” It’s a phrase that came about as many of our ideas do as a team—in a group chat, with a lot of enthusiasm. It’s a phrase I hope you find comforting as we look forward to a brighter, more equitable and just future together. Thank you for building this community with us, I am so grateful that you’re here.

Britt Gallpen Editorial Director

ABOVE

William Noah (1943–2020 Black River) — Oonark’s Family 2005 Pencil and watercolor 55.9 × 76.2 cm COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS

Relations

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Front

THANK YOU

Donors make all the difference.

IAF Sustainers Circle With annual gifts of $1,000 or more, this incredibly dedicated group provides critical support to connect artists with opportunities and make an extraordinary impact. $100,000 RBC Foundation $75,000–$99,999 The John and Marian Scott Charitable Trust $25,000–$49,999 Power Corporation of Canada TD Bank Group / The Ready Commitment $10,000–$24,999 Andrew Chodos, in honour of frontline COVID-19 workers First Arts Willmott Bruce Hunter Foundation

IAF Supporter’s Circle The Supporter’s Circle is a special group of donors who give monthly to sustain the IAF and create opportunities for artists.

Inuit Art Quarterly

John and Joyce Price K. Richardson The Herb and Cece Schreiber Foundation

Frances Scheidel, in memory of Thomas M. Scheidel

Monthly supporter Endowment supporter Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award

supporter Inuit Art Quarterly supporter IAQ Profiles supporter

$2,500–$4,999 Jackman Foundation Monty Kehl and Craig Wilbanks Charles Kingsley Katarina Kupca Hesty Leibtag Danielle Ouimet and Paul Harper, in honour of Christa Ouimet The Radlett Foundation

$1,000–$2,499 Nakasuk Alariaq Paul and Ellen Alkon Blair Assaly Lewis Auerbach and Barbara Legowski Shary Boyle Ross A. Caton Donald and Pat Dodds Marian Dodds, in honour of Dedie Dodds Jon and Val Eliassen Eleanor Erikson Fath Group/O’Hanlon Paving Ltd. Patricia Feheley Harald Finkler and Nadine Nickner David Forrest Janice Gonsalves Gillian Graham Huit Huit Tours Ltd. and Cape Dorset Inuit Art Inuit Art Society Kalaman + Demetriou (K+D) Joyce Keltie

The Michael And Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation Elske and Jim Kofman Ann and Michael Lesk David and Liz Macdonald Susan Marrier Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Heather McNab Kathryn Minard Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd Allan Newell Mary Nirlungayuk, on behalf of Member Co-operatives in Canadas Arctic in support of their arts Nunavut Development Corporation Susan A. Ollila Constance Pathy PCL Contractors Canada Inc. Andrew and Valerie Pringle Ann Posen, in memory of David Braidberg Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart Shirley Richardson Céline Saucier

Manasie Paniloo Akpaliapik Nakasuk Alariaq Mary Anglim Andrea Arnold Stephen Baker Vincent and Barbara Barresi Tobi Bruce Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron

Catherine Campbell Claudia Christian Zoe Colon Catherine Dean Celia Denov Donald and Pat Dodds Kate Doorly Sophie Dorais Melanie Egan Lynn Feasey

Britt Gallpen and Travis Vakenti Anik Glaude Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Barbara Hale Shawn Hassell Dianne Hayman Brittany Holliss Amy Jenkins Katarina Kupca

$5,000–$9,999 Rene Balcer Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron, in honour of Dorothy Cameron Susan Carter Flywheel Strategic Goring Family Foundation Hugh Hall Marion Scott Gallery Patrick Odier Joram and Lona Piatigorsky and one anonymous donor

8

Fall 2020

THANK YOU

Our donors celebrate and nurture artists, bringing untold stories to light.

Because of our donors, global awareness and appreciation of Inuit art and artists continues to grow. They provide opportunities for artists to explore their practices, learn new skills and grow.

The donors listed in these pages made all of this and more possible by giving between June 15, 2019 and June 15, 2020. This support is especially critical now in these uncertain times. Thank you!

David Sproule, in honour of Jean Katherine Sproule Harriet Stairs Barb Turner Merri Van Dyke and Jim Bader Manon Vennat, CM Westchester Community Foundation, Bell-Jacoby Family Fund Jaan Whitehead Norman Zepp and Judith Varga

$500–$999 James R. Abel, in honour of Xanthipi L. Abel Carole Ahmad and family Alaska on Madison John and Sylvia Aldrich Shelley Ambrose Stephen Baker Vincent and Barbara Barresi The Honourable Patricia Bovey Suzanne Brais, in memory of Clare and Phil Brais

Kaaren and Julian Brown Tobi Bruce Jamie Cameron, in honour of Judy Hauserman Jamie Cameron, in honour of Jeanette Power Catherine Campbell Lili Chester Jeffrey Cobb, in memory of Justin Lyman Cobb, III Yvonne C. Condell Mary-Dailey and Paul Desmarais III Neil Devitt Peter and Irena Dixon, in memory of Philip Igloliorte Sophie Dorais Arthur Drache CM, QC and Judy Young Drache Lyyli Elliott Robert and Karlen Fellows Yvonne and David Fleck Dr. and Mrs. Peter Gardner Paul G. Gemmiti Linda Grussani Erik Haites Molly K. Heines and Thomas J. Moloney Bryan Hellwig, Iqaluit, Nunavut

Carol Heppenstall Margaret and Roger Horton Lou Jungheim and Thalia Nicas, in memory of Francine Rosenberg Carola Kaegi Drs. Charles Kennel and Ellen Lehman Dr. Simon E. Lappi Kathleen Lippa Mark London Maija M. Lutz and Peter A. Tassia P. McKeown Meridian Credit Union Nancy Moore Clifford Papke Martin Pâquet Paul Pizzolante Ryan Rice Deborah and Sandy Riley Wendy Rittenhouse Michael and Melanie Southern Ellen Taubman Marie-Josée Therrien Carol J. Thrun, MD Joel and Evelyn Umlas Gail Vanstone Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis

$250–$499 Elleanor Allgood Elizabeth P. Ball, in memory of Thomas G. Fowler Sandra Barz Devony Baugh Susan Baum Marc Bendick Jr., in honour of Adventure Canada Jurg and Christel Bieri Terry and Donna Bladholm Rev. Gary Boratto Francois Boucher Woody Brown and Christa Ouimet, in memory of Susan Oster Stephen Bulger Aaron Cain Geoffrey and Martha Clark Jane Coppenrath Rob Craigie Clint Davis and Hillary Thatcher Celia Denov Kate Doorly

Rebecca Lee Samia Madwar, in honour of Hazar Shawaf Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Roxanne McCaig Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd Stephen Morris, in memory of Aqjangayuk Shaa

Clifford Papke Aarohi Patel Kara Pearce Ann Posen, in memory of David Braidberg Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart Dave and Robin Procida Eva Riis-Culver Leslie Saxon West

Joanne Schmidt, in loving memory of Gail Schmidt Michael and Melanie Southern Joyce and Fred Sparling David Sproule, in memory of Jean Katherine Sproule Jacek Szulc Emilie Tremblay

Gail Vanstone Nicholas Wattson Gord and Laurie Webster Claude M. Weil, in honour of Jim Shirley Peggy J. Weller Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis Jayne Wilkinson and four anonymous donors

Friends of the Foundation

Catherine Wilkes, in honour of David Wilkes and two anonymous donors [1 ,1 ]

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO SUPPORT ARTISTS, PLEASE CONTACT US AT 647-498-7717 OR VISIT US ONLINE AT INUITARTFOUNDATION.ORG. AS A REGISTERED CHARITY IN CANADA (#121033724RR001) AND THE UNITED STATES (#980140282), THE IAF WELCOMES DONATIONS, SPONSORSHIPS, LEGACY GIFTS AND IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.

Relations

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Front

THANK YOU

Artist Eldred Allen is fast becoming a household name. His photography was recently the subject of a Feature in our Summer 2020 issue while his incredible photograph, A Seagull’s View, Full Steam Ahead (2019) graces the cover of that same issue. This was Allen’s first magazine cover, a major milestone for any artist.

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Nathalie Ducamp Hélène Dussault and Louis Hanrahan Sandra Dyck Melanie Egan Leah Erickson, in honour of all Inuit artists Britt Gallpen and Travis Vakenti Susan Gallpen Gas Company Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Carol Gray Barbara Hale Sally Hart Ainslie Harvey Ian Harvey Shawn Hassell Susan Hawkins Dianne Hayman Rick Hiebert Dale Horwitz Chuck Hudson Heather Igloliorte and Matthew Brulotte Drs. Laurence and Katherine Jacobs Sonya Kelliher-Combs Nancy Keppelman and Michael Smerza

Inuit Art Quarterly

Rawlson King Cathy Kirkpatrick Mary Kostman Sharon Kozicki Lori Labatt Val K. Lem Linda Lewis Louise Logan Dr. Marie A. Loyer The MacDonald Griffin Charitable Foundation Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik and Greg Rogers, in memory of Amelia and Paul Angilirq Alex and Ann Maners Pappas The Honourable Justice Paul Mayer Mary-Ann Metrick, in honour of Cécile Metrick Robert Michaud Scott Mullin Mike and Brenda Noone Suzanne O’Hara Aarohi Patel Dave and Robin Procida Frank Reid Jim and Shelley Renner, in memory of Norah Renner Margaret Rieger

Bruce Roberts Kerstin Roger Margerit Roger, in memory of Dieter Roger Sheila Romalis, in memory of Lorne Balshine Luigi Ruffolo Michael Ryan, in honour of Patricia Ryan Judith Rycus Joseph Salkowitz, DMD Leslie Saxon West Jeffrey Seidman Mari Shantz Mark Shiner Scott Snowden Bernardo and Jansje Stramwasser Cedar Swan Jacek Szulc Carol and Charles Tator Hunter and Valerie Thompson Jay and Deborah Thomson Ann Tompkins Emilie Tremblay Dr. Anne Vagi James Vesper Galerie d’art Vincent Nicholas Wattson

10

Gord and Laurie Webster Peggy J. Weller Karen Westrell and Bill Rosser Amanda Whitney Mark and Margie Zivin and three anonymous donors [2 ] $100–$249 Amy Adams Manasie Paniloo Akpaliapik Jane and Wallace Altes Beatriz Alvarez Mary Anglim Eric Anoee, Jr. Sue Asquith Anne-Claude Bacon Catherine Badke Don and Anne Badke Eric Barnum John Beck Heather Beecroft, in honour of George Swinton Patrick Beland Brian Belchamber Diane Biehl Marjorie Blankstein CM, OM, LLD Dianne Bohonis, in honour of Peter Bohonis

Fall 2020

THANK YOU

The IAQ is an amazing resource for artists as well as subscribers. Artists get to showcase their work and readers are able to enjoy the art they are creating. There’s such great talent in the North, and if the IAQ wasn’t published artists wouldn’t have the exposure. When you’ve got a venue to showcase your work like the IAQ that goes out across Canada and beyond, Inuit art is reaching people who would never be reached otherwise.”

ELDRED ALLEN

Claus and Anne Borchardt Karen Bradfield Freda and Irwin Browns Lisa-Margaret S. Bryan David Burns John Butcher Gabrielle Campbell Mary F. Campbell, in honour of Billy Gauthier CarData Denise Cargill Karen Coflin Susan Charlesworth Shelley Chochinov Claudia Christian L.E. Cleman, in memory of Fred Cleman Carol Cole Zoe Colon Norma Costas Bernard Cummings Drs. Raymond and Charlene Currie Fred and Mary Cutler Brian Davies Tania De Rozario Catherine Dean Emily Deming Urmi Desai Nadine Di Monte

François Dumaine Leslie Eisenberg Pat English Keith Evans Lynn Feasey Dee Fenner and Charles Moss Robin Field Shirley Finfrock Barbara Fischer Michael L. Foreman and Leslie Roden-Foreman Ellen Fraser Ed Friedman John Geoghegan Surabhi Ghosh, in honour of Jashiben Nayak Anik Glaude Carole Gobeil Claire S. Gold Peter Gold and Athalie Joy Deborah D. Gordon Nelson Graburn, in honour of Apirqu Nilisi Mark Gustafson Dave Haber and Dominique Ritter Erik Haites, in honour of John Goeghegan Andrea Hamilton John A. Hanjian

Kathryn Hanna Beatrice Hanson, in memory of Cesare Ansovini Tekla Harms Celia Harte Clive Harvey Janet Heagle Anne Hearn Laurie Herd Josh Heuman and Gary Horenkamp Charles Hilton Patricia Hinton and David Wilson Albert and Femmeke Holthuis David Homan Richard Horder Jane Horner Diane and Daryl Howard Charitable Foundation Warren Howard Andrew Hubbertz Jacqueline Hynes Mandy Ilk indiGem Inc., in honour of Mathew Nuqingaq Phil Ivanoff Susan Ivory, in memory of Melvin A. Ivory

Lynn Jackson Marion "Mame" Jackson Jeannette Jackson-Thompson, in honour of Richard C. Thompson, PHD Lynne and Ed Jaffe Amy Jenkins Sharon Jorgens John and Johanna Kassenaar Nicolette Kaszor Dwaine and Leslie King A. B. Kliefoth, MD Nadia Kurd Carolyn Lawson Dianne Lawson Colleen Leduc David Lee Rebecca Lee, in honour of David Lee Gordon Leggett Joe and Sandra Lintz Kenneth Lister Daryl and Marilyn Logan, in memory of Chelsey Russell Denis Longchamps Simone Ludlow Daniel Macdonald, in honour of David and Liz Macdonald Oriel MacLennan

OPPOSITE

Eldred Allen commemorates his piece from the Water Issue of Inuit Art Quarterly that he composed with fellow aerial photographer, Robert Kautuk ALL PHOTOS THE ARTIST

RIGHT

Allen braves the elements— from flurries of snow in winter to mosquitos in the summer—to capture his breathtaking aerial photographs of the Nunatsiavut landscape

Relations

11

Front

THANK YOU

Curator Nakasuk Alariaq’s work can be read in many previous issues of the IAQ, including Curatorial Notes detailing Inuuqatikka: My Dear Relations and a Community Spotlight on the legendary Kinngait artist, Kiakshuk. An incredible advocate for Inuit art, she is a member of our Supporter’s Circle—a special group of donors who give monthly—and has also held two independent fundraisers for the IAF. PHOTO LISA GRAVES

Catherine Madsen Samia Madwar, in memory of Hazar Sawaf Alan Mak John Maounis, in honour of Margaret S. Bursaw George Marcus Elaine and Neil Margolis Brett Marshall William Mather Irene Mazurkewich Roxanne McCaig Rick McGraw Lindsay McIntyre, in memory of Kumaa’naaq Elizabeth McKeown Phyllis and G. Lester McKinnon Tess Saare McLean, in memory of Christian Gunnar Saare Valerie Meesschaert, in memory of Rene D’Hollander Joanna Miazga Stephen Morris, in memory of Aqjangayuk Shaa Margaret Morse Meredith Mozer Nanooq Inuit Art Suzanne F. Nash Gary Nelson

Inuit Art Quarterly

Robert Rosenbaum R.M. & Y.K. Rothenberg Yves Rousson and Lise Morneau-Rousson Susan Rowley Margaret Rundall Lynne B. Sagalyn Alexa Samuels Paula Santrach Joanne Schmidt, in loving memory of Gail Schmidt Seiko Shirafuji Susan Simpson Liz Smeloff Joyce and Fred Sparling Charmaine Spencer Carmine Starnino Elizabeth Steinbrueck Colleen Suche George Szabo C. K. Tessier Phil Tinmouth and Brit Dewey Robert C. and Judith Toll Tundra North Tours Theresie Tungilik Roslyn Tunis Teri Vakenti Erik Val Peg and Peter Van Brunt

Louisa L. O’Reilly Hal and Donna Olsen Carole and Peter Ouimet Maria Parsons Kara Pearce Kate Permut Don Pether A. A. Piccini Ed Pien, in memory of Tim Pitsiulak and Jutai Toonoo Richard and Annette Pivnick Steve Potocny and Anne Milochik Prue Rains Isabelle Ranger Blaine Rapp, in honour of Helen Mary Rapp Bayard D. Rea Leslie Reid Timothy W. Reinig Bruce Rice Eva Riis-Culver Marcia Rioux Tom Robbins Janet Robinson Greg Rogers, in honour of Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik, 2020 Gold winner for National Magazine Awards Short Feature Writing

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Rod Wacowich, in memory of Lorraine Neill Nancy Walkling, in memory of Frank Walkling Mary Jo Watson Lowell Waxman Ann and Marshall Webb John Weber, in honour of Mary MacDonald Claude M. Weil, in honour of Jim Shirley Scott White Jayne Wilkinson Dallas Young Bea Zizlavsky and fourteen anonymous donors [2 ,1 , 8 ] Up to $99 Susan Anthony Judy Archer Andrea Arnold Bruce Bauer Catherine Black Maegen Black Michael Boland Simon Brascoupé M. L. Breinig Nicholas Brown

Fall 2020

THANK YOU

I think the Inuit Art Quarterly is crucial to the development of the arts community and the art historical record. I am thankful it meets art on its own terms by including sewing, performance, video, modern art—Inuit art— alongside the rich and deep history of printmaking, drawing and sculpture.

I know artists and writers are proud to be included in its pages. I was.

I support the IAQ because it’s about supporting the Inuit art community.”

NAKASUK ALARIAQ

Kevin Burns Dorothy W. Caldwell Janet Chamberlain Mark Cheetham Maria Coates Jill Coles Rob and Harmonie Cowley Charles Crockford Jennifer Day Sharon Dembo Paulette Dennis Emmanuelle Desrochers Leanne Di Monte Jean Dickinson Harry Dietz Kristin Dowell Lynne Eramo Andy Fallas Sherry Farrell Racette David and Lauren Feiglin Chun Hoong Fong Glenn Gear Gabrielle Girard-Charest Alan Goldstein Karen and George Gorsline Susan Griswold T.E. Gruber Edward Guyette and Beth Vienot Liz Haines

OPPOSITE

Nakasuk Alariaq performs a qulliq lighting at the launch of the exhibition, Inuuqatikka: My Dear Relations at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, ON, January 2020.

PHOTO LINDA GRUSSANI

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Erik Haites, in honour of Christa Ouimet Joseph Halmy Alissa Hamilton Sara Hassan K. E. Heller-McRoberts Emily Henderson Janna Hiemstra Mark Hirschman Linda Hodgson Petra Holler Brittany Holliss Anna Holmes Home and Away Gallery James Igloliorte Mark Igloliorte Elwood Jimmy Emily Jolliffe Melinda Jose Serena Kataoka, in honour of Aylan Couchie Arlene Katz Nichols Yui Kawasaki Gwen Kerr, in honour of Germaine Arnaktauyok Jo-Ann Kolmes Nga Kotahi Aotearoa Peter Kovacik Benoit Labelle

Dr. Virginia Lavin Gretchen Lawrie Jamie Lewis Marion Lord Pat and Ross MacCulloch Jim and Mary Alice Mayerle Michelle McGeough Patrick A. McLean Rachel Muir Robert A. Muller Lou Nelson Susan Newlove Sunita Nigam, in honour of Jane Pankovitch Shadreck Nyathi Zella Osberg Louisa Pauyungie, Sr. Marie Peron Patricia Porteou Hélène Poulin Marilyn Robinson Irene Rokaw Anita Romaniuk Mark Rostrup, in honour of Paula Rostrup Kevin Rush Allan R. Sampson Wally Sapach Nicholas Sappington

Rosmarie Schreiber Claude Schryer Iris Schweiger Kathryn Scott Patricia Scott Paul Shackel and Barbara Little Elika Shapiro Cindy Skrukwa Arlene Skull Scenery Slater Eleni Smolen Ann Sprayregen Jennifer Stoots, in honour of Louie Palu and Chloe Coleman Tom Suber B. Thompson Kitty Thorne Anne Van Burek Patrizia In Villani Cocchi Peeranut Visetsuth Charissa von Harringa Elka Weinstein Sarah Whelchel Catherine E. Whitehead Abdul Rahim Yeung Daphne Young, for Grams, who loved every one of us and eight anonymous donors [1 ,1 , 2 , 1 ]

You can make the difference.

There are more than 13,000 Inuit artists working in Canada today.

Many face unfair barriers to making and showcasing their work, but all of them deserve the same opportunities other artists have for their voices to be heard and their work to be seen.

By giving to the IAF, you help artists working across Inuit Nunangat and beyond connect to opportunities, have platforms for their work to be seen and build their careers.

Celebrate the art you love and make a difference by donating today.

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5 WORKS

Intergenerations 5 artists share the works that have inspired, influenced and encouraged them

OPPOSITE (TOP LEFT)

Saimaiyu Akesuk (b. 1988 Kinngait) — Qaumajaq (Fly) 2014 Stonecut and stencil 94.8 × 62 cm © DORSET FINE ARTS

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Alice Gruben

Untitled (c. 1950s)

Igah’s Mosquito is also particularly fun because of the innate and hilarious fear we Inuit have of insects. Artists inherently want to evoke an emotional response with their work, and here Igah guarantees a strong reaction, at least from an Inuit audience.

I remember as a child being awed by the sealskin tapestries hanging in Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Tuktuyaaqtuuq (Tuktoyaktuk), Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT. These tapestries had such intricate designs; lighter shades of fur inlaid into dark, showing winter scenes of an Inuvialuk walking into a church, and another showing a scene of a dog team whisking across the sealskin. I couldn’t fathom how anyone could sew something so beautiful, so amazing and in a material as tough as sealskin.

Alice Gruben (1922–1987), my Nanuck and one of the seamstresses who made these tapestries, was as diverse as her materials. She worked hard all her life fishing, whaling, raising children and grandchildren—including me—working with my Daduck and helping her fellow community members.

She lived during the transition when the old Inuvialuit ways began merging with the modern, and she held vast traditional knowledge. Sewing for her was necessary for survival and tanning furs provided income. With each stitch she preserved this knowledge, diligently ensuring that the traditional skills, designs and patterns were passed onto future generations.

JANET BREWSTER

TAALRUMIQ / CHRISTINA KING

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Igah Hainnu

Mosquito (2016) Igah Hainnu’s Mosquito has always rocked my world. This piece is made from seal whiskers, claws and muskox horn—elements of our country food that we are unable to eat or use as clothing. What inspires me most in my creative work is sharing skills, ideas of possibilities and creating out-of-the-ordinary art while using as many parts of our Inuksiutit as possible!

ABOVE

Igah Hainnu (b. 1962 Kangiqtugaapik) — Mosquito 2016 Muskox horn, seal whiskers and seal claws 12.7 × 20.3 × 12.7 cm COURTESY INUIT GALLERY OF VANCOUVER

RIGHT

Alice Gruben (1922–1987 Tuktuyaaqtuuq) with Christina Felix, Mona Felix, Sarah Mangelana, Lena Norberg and others — Untitled c. 1950s Sealskin 122 × 200 cm PHOTO ANTOINE LOREEN AND SISTER FAY

Inuit Art Quarterly

OPPOSITE (BELOW)

Alootook Ipellie (1951–2007 Iqaluit) — The Death of Nomadic Life, the Creeping Emergence of Civilization 2007 Ink on board 50.7 × 37.9 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION OF THE ARTIST’S ESTATE COURTESY CARLETON UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY PHOTO JUSTIN WONNACOTT

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Fall 2020

5 WORKS

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Saimaiyu Akesuk

Qaumajaq (Fly) (2014) With graphic black lines and blue and yellow colour blocking, Qaumajaq (Fly) is as endearing as the actual housefly is repellant. Inuit hate bugs. The fact that Saimaiyu Akesuk chose to create this gigantic and beautiful version of our many-legged friends made me feel like she was telling a joke through her art.

Saimaiyu’s Qaumajaq (Fly) and Hot Spider (2015) were the first pieces of real art I ever purchased. I am excited to be working with Saimaiyu on an interactive gallery exhibit now. Just like Saimaiyu, my work includes creatures that others might find repugnant. Monsters are a way for me to process the world and anxieties around me, to bring joy through horror. Saimaiyu’s pieces remind me of that, but also extend beyond the creepy crawly. Her birds and polar bears, striped and spotted, have the same magical whimsy I fell in love with in this piece.

NYLA INNUKSUK

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Alootook Ipellie

The Death of Nomadic Life, the Creeping Emergence of Civilization (2007) The greatest compliment ever extended to me was when I was told my drawing style reminded someone of Alootook Ipellie’s (1951–2007). I was (and still am) a great fan of Alootook’s work. His images, in addition to his stories, poetry and comic strips, provided us with commentary on the socio-political events that affected Inuit, providing important insight into issues that went largely unnoticed or unaddressed by both local and national news sources.

In The Death of Nomadic Life, the Creeping Emergence of Civilization, Alootook portrays the struggle of an Inuk living in the South, while firmly stating that although we may live in the South, we will always be part of our homelands, our history. We will always be Inuit.

Billy Gauthier

The Hunter’s Tools (2012) The Hunter’s Tools is easily my favourite piece I’ve watched Billy Gauthier create. As his carving apprentice, I helped Billy sand while he carved this piece, so I watched him create it from scratch. I find the piece is directly linked to Nunatsiavut because so much of our lifestyle involves hunting and fishing, and people continue to use these tools. It inspires me to celebrate our culture and eat the food we have always eaten: fish and seal. I feel proud because these practices belong to my people and me and they continue to represent us—they are not just a part of the past.

I love Billy’s work because of the miniscule things that he makes. There’s the knife, there’s the dart and there’s the gun, all made from different materials. And peering over it all is this beautiful face that he’s carved—the faces are what I love most about his work. You can connect with his face and expression. It’s so proud and focused like he’s really out hunting.

This carving is intricate and there’s nothing out of place. It’s so masterfully done it inspires me to masterfully create.

KARA MONTAGUE ABOVE

Billy Gauthier (b. 1978 Happy ValleyGoose Bay) — The Hunter’s Tools 2012 Stone, antler, sinew and whalebone 29.2 × 22.9 × 21.6 cm COURTESY SPIRIT WRESTLER GALLERY

JASON SIKOAK

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HIGHLIGHTS

Keep Up With the Latest, Online

With museums closed and cultural events cancelled, the IAQ Online brings you Inuit art you can enjoy from home

IAQ Gallery Tour Curated virtual collections of Inuit art from the comfort of your couch

IAQ’s Favourite Playlist Listen to top contemporary tunes, from throat singing to rock to synthpop

IAQ Book Club A survey from Giller Prize nominees to Governor General’s Award greats

Get behind-the-scenes access to events and exhibitions, and hear from the artists and curators behind the most notable projects in Inuit art: inuitartfoundation.org/iaq

IAQ’s Movie Night Picks Watch Inuit film online, including award-winning features, docs and shorts Find this and more at: inuitartfoundation.org/couchcontent Inuit Art Quarterly

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Fall 2020

Discover the thriving culture of Nunavut Authentic Nunavut experiences from our member operators TravelNunavut.ca

Follow Alianait Arts Festival on Facebook for live performances

YOUR TRUSTED ONLINE ART GALLERY FOR AUTHENTIC FIRST NATIONS AND INUIT ART PRINTS AND ORIGINALS Jessie Oonark RCA, OC Giver of Life (1984)

604-679-8392 info@nativecanadianarts.com ü ü

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Top-rated customer testimonials Secure and easy online purchasing

www.nativecanadianarts.com

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SPONSORED

Hailing from all four regions of Inuit Nunangat, the curatorial team at the helm of INUA, the inaugural exhibition of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre, will bring together art and artists from across the North for this landmark moment.

To learn more about some of the artworks included in the show, as well as others that call the WAG home, we asked each curator to share their unique perspective on an artwork of their choosing.

Mauren Gruben Waiting for the Shaman Indigenous artists’ works are often reduced to a dichotomy of traditional and contemporary. This is an easy conclusion to draw and a simple method for removing complexities and ignoring colonization within an art context. I won’t draw harsh lines between traditional and contemporary, because as Inuvialuit we bring our traditions into everything we do; it is embedded within us, present from before we are born.

Maureen Gruben’s material use—blending organic and inorganic, “traditional” and “contemporary”—addresses a nuanced conversation that critiques environmental destruction specific to the Inuvialuit Settlement Region and how colonization has affected and is now intertwined with Inuvialuit culture. Waiting for the Shaman (2017) is a beautiful example of how Gruben exhibits her relationship to both materials and her culture. Embedded in the work is a long history of Inuvialuit knowledge, relationships to the land and animals and a respect for our evolving Inuvialuit society.

– Kablusiak

Pudlo Pudlat Women at the Fish Lakes Inuit art can be timeless and carry relevance in Inuit lives for a long time. Today, spring fishing continues to be a major event in our communities and is a very family-orientated activity. The imagery by Pudlo Pudlat in Women at the Fish Lakes (1977) evokes my own memories of family fishing when I was a child, drawing me into the scene and reminding me of the importance of familial connections.

– Krista Ulujuk Zawadski

SPONSORED

Michael Massie CM, RCA subtle-tea I’ve known Michael Massie for nearly twenty years. I’ve always felt an affinity to his rule-breaking work, and not just because we’re both from Nunatsiavut. Back home we never really had co-ops or access to southern art councils to advise us on art production, so artists like Massie developed distinct voices in media that, when he was starting out, were considered quite daring, even scandalous for the Inuit art world. “It was just thrilling to be a shit-disturber,” Massie has said about his national debut in the 1990s. Ever the punny Inuk, Massie told me that the title of this work resulted from a creative accident: “I etched the syllabic for ‘tea’ on it, but the etch didn’t turn out as boldly as I wanted, so I ended up calling it ‘subtle-tea.’”

– Dr. Heather Igloliorte

Joe Talirunili Migration The late Nunavik artist Joe Talirunili’s work is filled with versions of the Migration story. In this stone piece, an umiaq (skin boat) is filled to the brim with passengers.

A wooden mast and skin sail fly above the passengers as they paddle forward. Though Migration (c. 1965) is already iconic, I think it is important for my co-curators and I to include it in our upcoming show INUA. As we think about the future of Inuit and how we move forward— inspiring and encouraging one another—this piece embodies the idea of working together, because that’s how we are strongest.

– asinnajaq

OPPOSITE (LEFT)

OPPOSITE (RIGHT)

LEFT

RIGHT

Maureen Gruben (b. 1963 Tuktuyaaqtuuq) — Waiting for the Shaman 2017 Bones from polar bear paws and resin 55.9 × 55.9 × 2.5 cm

Pudlo Pudlat (1916–1992 Kinngait) — Women at the Fish Lakes 1977 Printmaker Pitseolak Niviaqsi Lithograph 37.5 × 47 cm

Joe Talirunili (1906–1976 Puvirnituq) — Migration c. 1965 Stone, bone, gut and sinew 22 × 30.2 × 14.8 cm

Michael Massie (b. 1962 Happy Valley-Goose Bay) — subtle-tea 1997 Sterling silver and bird’s eye maple 21 × 27 × 6 cm

ALL COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY PHOTO KYRA KORDOWSKI

GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION © DORSET FINE ARTS

CHOICE

Simon Tookoome Untitled

by Ashlee Conery

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Fall 2020

CHOICE

OPPOSITE

Simon Tookoome (1934–2010 Qamani’tuaq) — Untitled 1997 Metal 30.5 × 33 cm

Despite its small scale, Tookoome’s Untitled (1997) drew attention from our exhibition staff from the moment its box was opened in the vault.

COURTESY VANCOUVER ART GALLERY

As thin as paper, this cut metal sculpture of a wolf strides out from the white gallery wall, crossing the matte surface of its floating shelf. The distance between artists in the North is reduced to inches here, as this untitled work by Simon Tookoome (1934–2010) sits astride a print by Kenojuak Ashevak, CC, ON, RCA (1927–2013). After remaining in the vault for many years, Tookoome’s piece was selected

by Senior Curatorial Fellow, Indigenous Art, Tarah Hogue for lineages and land bases, on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery in British Columbia from February 22 to August 30, 2020.

A group show from the gallery’s collection, the exhibition was developed in response to its neighbour, the travelling exhibition Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds. Hogue’s selections focus on works that inquire into affective, emotional, physical, cultural, coerced and exploitive relationships with land.

Tookoome’s sculpture was selected as it touches several of these linking themes. He often looked to the subject of shamans and animals (spirit and otherwise) that inhabited his immediate environment, as he has done here. He looked, too, to the stories of transformation and hybrid creatures that were passed through generations and told to him by his mother.¹ To many viewing this work, the sequential or radiating faces—a central motif of Tookoome’s oeuvre—may be read as duality, homogeneity, pattern, pulse or peoples. But the view found through the legends central to the artist’s world, which I as a non-Inuk can only read through the

condensation of English translations, point to the wolf’s meaning as enmeshed within its symbiotic relations to Inuit around Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU. Originally from Tariunnuaq (Chantrey Inlet), NU, Tookoome grew up living on the land before settling in Qamani’tuaq in 1968, where he slowly transitioned to the wage economy, on which livelihoods had become more and more dependent due to interventions by trade and colonial governments. His sister, already in Qamani’tuaq, was producing drawings for the Baker Lake Craft Shop (incorporated as the Sanavik Co-operative in 1971). Inspired by her, Tookoome took the first steps in a career that spanned carving in stone and antler, producing his own block prints, making jewellery, teaching and even working as a cameraman and interviewer for the vital Inuit Broadcasting Corporation—where he helped translate the speed and rhythm of Inuit storytelling to television. Drawing, however, was Tookoome’s preferred means of expression and the medium for which he would gain international recognition.

He used repetition to suggest transformation in his works, which are reflections of present and pasts on the land, ways of life, community circles once formed for decisions since made, people passing through spirit and animal form, crossing space and time— making them lasting examples of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and of the interconnectedness of all life. With Tookoome’s work, as with many others in the exhibition, this

process of presentation included translating original narratives and names—initiating a parallel transformation of the wolf, entwined in languages of erasure. The multiplicities this process raised, however, were addressed in a manner that is eloquently visualized

by Tookoome—through connections. Works are given the support of their relations to others, through labels that link their stories and linguistic traditions via their differences and associations; the vertebrae of a living space.

Tookoome’s Untitled (1997), with its scale, light weight and paper-thin depth, appears to be an extension of the artist’s drawings, if not their actual emergence from the page.

Despite only being roughly 12 by 13 inches, it drew attention from all the exhibition staff from the moment its box was opened in the vault. Our preparation team eagerly explored means of display that would disappear beneath it, feeling as if the work itself requested it; as if its own vibrant materialism pulled what was necessary to float, to make translucent everything around it for those awaiting the metamorphosis Tookoome had suspended.

— Ashlee Conery, Curatorial Interpretation at the Vancouver Art Gallery and independent writer, living and working on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy’ əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl’ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

NOTES

1 “Simon Tookoome,” DaVic Gallery of Native Canadian Arts, accessed July 12, 2020, https://nativecanadianarts.com/artist/simon-tookoome/.

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CHOICE

Unidentified artist Untitled (Cup’ik Cribbage Board)

by Glenn Gear

On rare occasions, we glimpse, for a moment, something mesmerizing. And in that instant, we are transfixed and transported. I caught such a glimpse while searching through the collections at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska this past January—and the focus of my attention was a walrus tusk, intricately carved into a cribbage board.

I was in Anchorage for a two-week residency made possible by the Inuit Art Foundation in collaboration with the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, where I was provided with a studio space and given an opportunity to share my animated works with other Indigenous creators and curators.

I was also granted access to the collection Inuit Art Quarterly

of Indigenous objects and artifacts housed at the museum. During a memorable trip to the archives, Janet Northey, Collections Manager at the Anchorage Museum, pulled out a large shallow drawer, revealing an assortment of miniature carvings, dice, snow creepers and snow goggles. Excited and distracted (a reoccurring theme in my life), I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and turned to see a beautiful, yellowing ivory tusk peeking out from an adjacent drawer. I immediately asked if I could have a quick look as it wasn’t on the list of objects scheduled for viewing.

The drawer was slowly opened to reveal a long, polished walrus tusk with clearly 22

defined cribbage holes surrounded by playful, intertwined seals, walruses, husky pups and other human-animal hybrids. Their round bodies climb over one another as flippers, paws, tusks and teeth mingle with faces that smile and bite. The undulating animal forms follow the contours of the walrus tusk, with the widest end enclosed with an oval cap of ivory and a steel ball that cleverly unlocks when twisted, revealing the cribbage pegs from a hollowed-out recess within. The fine details of each creature, including the eyebrows, claws and facial markings, are carefully engraved and filled with black ink and/or pigment. This technique, commonly known as scrimshaw, is thought to have Fall 2020

CHOICE

OPPOSITE

Unidentified artist (Nunivak Island, AK) — Untitled (Cup’ik cribbage board) (detail) c. 1930 Walrus ivory, baleen, ink, paint and metal 5.1 × 69.2 × 8 cm ALL COLLECTION ANCHORAGE MUSEUM ALL PHOTOS GLENN GEAR

BELOW

Untitled (Cup’ik cribbage board) c. 1930 Walrus ivory, baleen, ink, paint and metal 5.1 × 69.2 × 8 cm

NOTES

1 Richard C. Crandall, Inuit Art: A History (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2000), 30.

2 “November Artifact of the Month: Cribbage Board,” State of Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, press release, November 1, 2013, https://lam.alaska.gov/artifact-of-the-month, accessed June 10, 2020.

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been introduced to New England whalers by Alaskan Inuit in the mid-eighteenth century, with whalers and sailors refining the art form and re-introducing the process back to Inuit.¹ Large circular eyes of inlaid black baleen add to the wide-eyed expressions of each animal.

This particular tusk was not attributed to a single artist as the idea of authorship was not culturally significant at the time of its creation, but we do know it was crafted by Cup’ik hands in Nunivak Island (Southwest Alaska) and is dated around 1930. Objects such as these are beautiful and functional in and of themselves, but they also speak to the importance of trade and the souvenir economy that became a cornerstone for many Alaskan Inuit at this time. During the Klondike and Nome gold rushes beginning in the late 1890s, Alaska was inundated with thousands of gold seekers looking to find their fortune. Many Inuit took note, developing an economy around the trade of items sought after by these new arrivals, which ranged from “ivory objects such as gavels, umbrella heads, napkin rings, tableware, pen holders, cigar holders, [and] smoking pipes. . . . The most popular item to appear among these goods was the cribbage board.”² The Yup’ik, Cup’ik, Sugpiaq and Iñupiaq began to develop artwork and motifs that

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were easily transported and sold, opening up an expanding trade in walrus ivory and an economy driven by the tastes of a settler population. And as these early settlers laid down roots and began to have families in communities such as Anchorage, Nome, Fairbanks and others, the fur trade as well as the walrus ivory trade developed and prospered alongside.

Reflecting on this object after returning home has given me a new appreciation of the social, economic and artistic context in which it was made. Both as a cultural object that expresses the imagination and skill of its maker’s hand, and as a trade souvenir that meant some amount of financial autonomy for an Indigenous marginalized group in a newly emerging capitalist settler economy, this walrus tusk also speaks to the resiliency and adaptability of Inuit in Alaska. Inuit culture, like the animals in fluid movement around the cribbage board, survives in this spirit of adaptation and resiliency, keeping traditions alive while reinventing itself into something unexpected and new, setting the imagination alight.

— Glenn Gear is an animator, filmmaker and visual artist from Newfoundland now based in Montreal, QC.

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THANK YOU

Thank you, John and Marian!

Marian and John “Scotty� Scott were Inuit art lovers and collectors. Art, travel and family were deeply intertwined for them, as were community service and making an impact. Following a lifetime of adventure, the Scotts wanted to see the artworks they cherished appreciated and the artists they admired celebrated and supported. For the Scotts, leaving a legacy gift to the Inuit Art Foundation allowed them to do both.

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Fall 2020

THANK YOU

Married in 1960, Marian was a graphic designer and Scotty, an artist and teacher. Eventually settling in Manhattan Beach, CA, the Scotts built a studio, became travel photographers and set off on adventures to explore the world.

From Papua New Guinea to the coasts of Alaska, the Scotts captured their experiences and the lives of others through photography. In every place they visited, the topic of how art fit into the everyday lives of those they met was central.

The Scotts collected art throughout their lives, creating an eclectic collection that reflected their travels and interests. They lived surrounded by their art, with their collection eventually filling every available space in their home. Over time, however, their collecting became guided by an important question: what would happen to their art once they passed?

The Scotts felt they were the caretakers of the works in their collection and that the art they so loved should be used to help the artists and communities who made them.

In creating their wills, the Scotts made arrangements for their works to be sold to others who would appreciate the work and for all the proceeds to be used to support Inuit artists and promote their work. They have ensured Inuit artists working across Canada today are visible and supported through programming by the Inuit Art Foundation.

Thank you Marian and John for your incredible generosity and for caring so deeply about art! You have left a beautiful, fitting legacy.

BELOW

Pauta Saila (1916–2009 Kinngait) — Dancing Bear n.d.

Stone and bone 50.8 × 29.21 cm COURTESY BONHAMS

OPPOSITE

Marian and John Scott

What is a planned gift?

Planned gifts can come in many forms: gifts left in your will, gifts of securities, annuities or insurance-related gifts. By including the Inuit Art Foundation in your plans, you can create a legacy that ensures you can continue to support Inuit art and artists, and that your assets are distributed as you wish.

Planned gifts can be very rewarding and tax-effective, so please talk to your lawyer and financial planner about how to best leave your legacy.

To learn more, please visit: inuitartfoundation.org/plannedgiving Relations

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PROFILE

Dayle Kubluitok

BELOW

Black Lives Matter poster designed by Dayle Kubluitok for the Nunavut Black History Society, 2020 COURTESY NUNATTA SUNAKKUTAANGIT MUSEUM

by Emily Henderson

Brilliant colours and crisp lines, video game characters reimagined with tunniit patterns and tech-savvy Inuit from sci-fi futures are among the reoccurring themes populating Dayle Kubluitok’s marvellous universe that imagines a convergence of Inuit past, present and futures. Currently based in Iqaluit, NU, Kubluitok primarily focuses on digital art and illustration, which has earned them renown both in their own community as well as across the web. Their work is often exhaustively researched and involves frequent Inuit Art Quarterly

trips to the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum to engage with the museum’s collections and archival photos that depict traditional garments, tattoos and hairstyles, which are incorporated into many of their illustrations.

In March 2019, Kubluitok won a contest through Northwestel, which saw their illustration of an iconic intersection in Iqaluit, dubbed the “Four Corners,” grace the cover of the territory’s phone book. The image, drawn to depict a cool night illuminated only by a streetlamp, headlights, lit apartment 26

windows and the distant northern lights, was warmly received by community members familiar with the area. “I couldn’t believe it,” they say of their win. “I had to call my mom right away and tell her.” Hot off the heels of that success, they were asked to design and contribute to the installation of a new mural for the Iqaluit Aquatic Centre and crafted a line drawing of four seals that now greets visitors to the facility.

This responsiveness to their community, and commitment to social justice, is apparent through projects such as their June 2020 illustration commissioned by the Nunavut Black History Society to be used in protests staged in Iqaluit during a global wave of mobilization against police brutality. Three fists in varying skin tones—two with traditional tattoos—are framed with purple flowers against a backdrop of the outline of Nunavut.

Kubluitok’s message is clear—Nunavut is in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and Inuit have a voice in the global conversation about police violence as it unfolds in real time. Having since been acquired by the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum, the piece captures a distinct moment in history and was widely shared across the community and social media.

Kubluitok frequently recasts characters from mainstream media, such as TV shows and video games, reimagining and recontextualizing them, and building a space for Inuit within the flow of popular culture.

They cite The Legend of Zelda as a reoccurring source of inspiration for their illustrations that fuse figures from popular culture with elements of Inuit culture, and link these recontextualizations to ideas of identity and agency: “I wanted to make something that I wish I saw growing up, something mainstream mixed with my culture,” they explain.

“To put that thought in everything I create so that other people who look like me can see themselves in my work.”

Kubluitok strives for positive representation of Inuit and LGBTQ communities throughout their visual storytelling. They have also made illustrations of healthy and loving Inuit couples and families across the spectrum of gender and sexuality a central component of their practice—same-sex and non-binary partners kunik, kiss and embrace Fall 2020

PROFILE tenderly in their digital drawings, clad in tattoos and traditional attire. At first, they admit, the prospect of sharing this frank work was intimidating, but they have since been reassured by waves of positive feedback on their affectionate representations.

“I really wanted that positive representation,” they recall. “At first, I was scared to post those images, but now people have been thanking me for sharing and they’ve been getting so much love.”

Carefully blending aspects of Inuit culture, from beadwork to traditional hairstyles, with community representation and references to current pop culture, Kubluitok’s work does not privilege any one point in history, but rather explores Inuit experience beyond crystallized moments in time and space. From humorous references to an “Inuk-ified” baby Yoda in the hood of an amauti, to fantasies of Inuit operating technology that still has yet to be invented, culture and identity are demonstrated through their work as intersectional, as well as constantly evolving and adapting. Going forward, Kubluitok dreams of continuing to expand and publish their work, with new media on the horizon. “I really want to get into comics and graphic novels,” they say.

“Maybe some animations—we’ll see.”

— This Profile was made possible through support from the RBC Foundation’s Emerging Artists Project.

ABOVE

Dayle Kubluitok (b. 1997 Iqaluit) — Four Corners 2019 Digital illustration COURTESY THE ARTIST

RIGHT

Untitled 2020 Digital illustration COURTESY THE ARTIST

Relations

27

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Family Lines

—

by Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk

Ilagiingniq Haniliriiqhimajut

— unipkaaqtangit Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk

PREVIOUS SPREAD

Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk (b. 1989 Edmonton) — Intergalactic Cloudberry Dancers 2020 Watercolour 22 × 28 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST

HIVUNNGANI HIAMITTUQ

Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk (b. 1989 Edmonton) — Qilangmiuttat Aqpit Numiqtit 2020 Imarmut ivitaalgit 22 × 28 cm HANAUJAQTIP IHUMAGIJAAT

Inuit Art Quarterly

In the 60s and 70s, Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, was a printmaking hotbed, with studio artists of the Holman Eskimo Co-operative such as Peter Aliknak Banksland (1928–1998) and Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001) embracing innovative printmaking techniques while developing wildly unique styles in their artmaking. The legacy of these pioneering artists lives on in the work of an up-and-coming artist who draws equal inspiration from the graphic traditions of tattooing.

Uvani Ulukhaktuumi 1960 mi 70 milu, titiraujaqtumik hanaujaqpakhutik. Hanaujarviqaqhuni hanaujaqtik uvani Holman Eskimo Co-operative ukuak Peter Aliknak Banksland (1928–1998) unalu Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001) munarivlugillu nanminirijangit titiraujaqtunut qaujihaqtit pivalliavlutik arlingnaqtumik aallatqiingujut hanaujarniq.

Itqaumajaujut tahapkuat ingilraraaqpaktut hanaujaqtit inuuraaqhimajut iluani hanaugaangit uvani kinguvaavullu hanaujaqti titiraujaqpaktuq avgugiiqhimajumik arlingnaqtumik uvanngat titiraujarningit ilitquhiita kakiniitigut.

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Fall 2020

OPPOSITE

Peter Aliknak Banksland (1928–1998 Ulukhaktok) — Preparing for Fishing 1999 Lithograph and stencil 38 × 57.3 cm COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY

AKILLIQ

Peter Aliknak Banksland (1928–1998 Ulukhaktok) — Hannaijaqtut Iqalukhiuqtunut 1999 Ujararnut mingukhutik unalu titiraujaqhutik 38 × 57.3 cm IHUMAGIJAAT WINNIPEG ART GALLERY

RIGHT

Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001 Ulukhaktok) — Sorcerer’s Powers 1973 Stonecut 61 × 45.7 cm COURTESY WADDINGTON’S

TALIQPIK

Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001 Ulukhaktok) — Tuunngali’p Hakugingningit 1973 Ujararnut hanaugaq 61 × 45.7 cm IHUMAGIJAAT WADDINGTON’S

“Old Town, your dad’s first steps were taken around here…his old stomping grounds,” my uncle said to me in a soft voice that ended with a chuckle. The way his voice squeezed between his teeth and tongue while he smiled reminded me of my dad.

My Uncle Angus and Auntie Mary took my younger sister and I on a walk around King’s Bay to the Old Town site when we visited Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, in June of 2017. It was the first time my sister and I had visited the community where my father, Bill Natkusiak Aleekuk, was born. We travelled from Edmonton, where we live, to fulfill our dad’s request for his cremated ashes to be buried alongside his parents.

Though he’s no longer physically with us, my father and I remain connected through our shared middle name, Natkusiak. The name originates from the generation before my dad: Natkusiak, or “Billy Banksland,” is my paternal great-grandfather.¹ Born in Alaska in the mid 1880s, Natkusiak was a guide for various Canadian Arctic expeditions that brought scientists and whalers into the North. He and his family were among the first to settle the region of Ulukhaktok in the 1930s and like many Inuit, he demonstrated endless wanderlust as a hunter, trapper and explorer.

Our walk looped around the bay and up to the bluffs that overlook the hamlet. At the ridge we stopped to enjoy the view and savour the moment when, to everybody’s surprise, a small single-prop airplane buzzed overhead. The plane ascended quickly and was soon upside down, twisting into a descent before dancing like a bird as it soared back up into the sky. The airshow was staged for the community by a professional stunt pilot, and we were lucky enough to be on the bluffs with an incredible view. For me, the airshow held a greater significance as I remembered it was Father’s Day. My dad spent his whole life working on airplanes. Starting as a mechanic, he worked his way up to a government position as a systems safety officer for Transport Canada. His work brought him to many places, including both the North and South Poles and numerous countries in between. I remember when asked about his experience in Antarctica, my dad would always talk about the Emperor Penguin colonies.

Relations

“Nunatuqaujangit, aappaavit hivulliqpaaq ablurvingat hamaniittut... tutihimalraaraluaqtangit maniraa,” pangnaarjuga uqaqhimajuq uvamnut nipikittumik iklautigivluniuk. Nipaa tuharnaqtuni tahivluni kigutingmingnut uqangillu qungalligaangami itqaumavaktara aappangma.

Angangma Angus attangmalu Mary-m nukaralu uvangalu pihuujaqhuta haniani King Kangiqhua uvuni hivullipta inuuniarvik najuqtangat qangaraaluk pulaaqtaqput Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Nunanga Aviktuqhimajumi, NT uvani Imaruqtirvia 2017 mi. Nukara uvangalu pulaanraqhugu aappangma, Bill Natkusiak Aleekuk, inuguqhimavinga.

Aullaqhimavluta Edmontonmit, nunagijaptingnin, uqariiqhimangmagu aappapta timinga arjangit iluviqhimajaami haniani angajuqaapta.

Tadja timikkut hamaniiqatigingitkaluaqhuni, aappaga uvangalu huli katilviunginnaqtugut avvautigiikhugu atinga Natkusiam. Taamna atiq ilitquhirijaat kinguvangit aappangma: Natkusiak, uuminngaluuniit “Billy Banksland,” aappangma ataattianga.¹ Alaskamit inuuhimajuq qitiani 1880 mi, Natkusiam munarivagait aallagiit Canadian Arctic Expedition qaujihaijut taimaa qaujihaijit qilalugaqhiuqtillu aullaaqatigivagaat Nunaptingnun. Ilagiingillu hivulliuvlutik ingilravakhutik uvunga nunamut haffumani Ulukhaktokmi uvani 1930 mi amihuujut Inuinnaitut, ilittuqhimajangit ulamnilaittuuvluni anguniaqtiujuq, naniriaqtiujuq unalu qaujihaqtiuvlunilu.

Pihuujaqhuta kaiviqattaqhuta kangiqhuanut tatpaunga majuqqamut tautukhugu inuuniarvik (hamlet). Nuvungmi nutqaqhuta tautukhuta itqaumaliqhugulu, humiliqaa tamaat arliruhukhutik, mikijunnuaq atauhilik tingmiannuaq tuharnaqiyuq hilami. Tingmiaq puqtuhivluni qilamik qunmunngaqhuni qupanuatut numiqhuni tatpaunga qilangnunngarmijuq. Tingmiaq qunniarnaqtuq nunalingnut uvanngat ajuitpiaqtuq tingmialik, quvianaqhunilu tautukhimagaptigu. majuqqanmit arlingnaqhunilu tautungnaqtuq. Uvamnit, tingmiaq tautungnaqtuq arlingnaqpiaqhuni itqaumaliqhugulu ubluata Aappaangnut Ublua.

Aappangma qangaraalungmi havakhimainnaqhuni tingmialiqivluni.

Ingniqutiliqijiuvluni, havakhimmaaqhuni taimaa gavamanit havaaqaliqhuni aanniqtailinirmut pilirijiuvluni uvani Agjaqtuliqijit Kanata. Havaangit 33

Family Lines

“Just beautiful, but you get close to them and you realize how loud and stinky they are,” he would say, bursting into laughter.

My father led a vibrant life after enduring many challenges that included surviving the residential school system. He was adopted by the Aleekuk family after that experience and carried the Aleekuk name with him throughout his life. Although he raised my sisters and I with the Aleekuk surname, he would always remind us of the Banksland family. In our family, we believe that when you pass down the name of an ancestor, you also adopt their spirit and continue their memory.

I admire how my dad loved new places as it always reminds me of our namesake, Natkusiak.² After witnessing the airshow, my aunt and uncle wanted to show us the cemetery and introduce us to our ancestors. My sister and I had the honour of seeing the burial places of our relatives including my two primary artistic influences, Aliknak and his sister Nanogak. Aliknak, or Peter Aliknak Banksland (1928–1998),³ is my paternal grandfather and the brother of Nanogak, or Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001). The son and daughter of Natkusiak, Aliknak and Nanogak are both notable artists who helped to form the Holman Eskimo Co-operative in the early 1960s. The co-op encouraged Inuit artists to produce works that were to be sold in the global economy and generate income for the community. Both Aliknak and Nanogak’s catalogues of art continuously inspire me in their simplistic beauty.

Our walk in the cemetery continued with visiting each cross and reading the names while my Uncle Angus and Auntie Mary recalled familial ties to each. It was then I remember stopping in front of one particular cross that read “Billy Natkusiak Banksland – Jan 19, 1948 – Okpaktunga.” I had a spiritual moment as I felt the embrace of the past, the present and the future in a single instant. I felt as if I was transported back in time yet pulled into the future simultaneously. That moment solidified my belief that not only do I carry the name Natkusiak but I carry the spirit as well.

“It’s me,” I quietly said to myself. “It’s my dad…it’s all of us.”

BELOW

Resting place of Natkusiak in Ulukhaktok, 2017 PHOTO THE ARTIST

ATAANIITTUQ

Unagurvia haffumani Natkusiak Ulukhaktokmi, 2017 PIKSAUN HANAUJAQTI

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Fall 2020

titiraqhimajuq “Billy Natkusiak Banksland – Ubluqtuhinia 19, 1948 – Okpaktunga.” Taimaa anirnirnigut arliruhuliqhunga ikpigivlugu mihigivlugu kinguani, ublungani unalu hivunikhavut atauttimut mihingnaqhuni.

Taimaa ikpigiliqhugu qangaraalungmi huurimna utiqhimaliqtunga hivulipta inuudjuhianut kihimi utirmijunga hivunnganut qilamiuqtumik.

Talvanngat tunihijara ukpiruhuutiga taamna atirma tigumiarapku atiq Natkusiak kihimi tigummiinnaqtara anirninga taimaa.

“Uvangaujuq,” nipaittumik uqaqtunga uvamnut. “Aappaga... tamainnaujugut.”

Tuhaumalaaqtunga uvamnut, “Arlingnaqtuq ai? Tamapta hamaniittugut.”

Pulaaqhimagapta 2017 mi, utitqinngittunga Ulukhaktokmut, kihimi utirniarmijunga. Inuudjuhitka uvani Ulukhaktokmi ikpigilluaqhimajara inuuhira. Ilittuqhimajunga ajuqhaliraangama, ingilravaktunga hivunigivlugu hanaujarnirnut taamna mamiharnaqhuni tahiuqtauvakhunga munarijauvlunga. Aappangma inuuhuiqhuni ukiuqaliqhunga twenty-sixmi, uummatiga hiqumittuni. Ilittuqhimajunga uvamnik ihuaqtumik nakuuqpiaqtumik ilittuqhimajukhauvlunga ikpiguhungniitka talvangaanit hivunigivlugillu akhuurniitka tautungnaqtumik hanaujarnirnut qangaraaluk ikhinnaqhimainnaqhugit nautkaijumavlunga. Titiraujaliqhunga hungmalliqaak taimaa titiraunmut alilajumullu titiraujaliqhunga. Hivunngani, aadjiliuqhugit titiraujarningit Amialikanmiut kakiniit, uuminngaluuniit tautungnaqtut titiraujarniq, uuminngat imarmiujut ivitaalgit minguut taimaa pivallialiqhunga nanminirijatka takunnaqtut inuuhiptingnit ublunganit Inuvialuk. Una hanaugaq kakiniliurniq ilitturnaqhuni tautungnaqtut haffuminngat utuqqaujut umiat, kihait, nauttiat, unalu takunnaqtut arnat, pilautit, niaquit unalu uummatit, takunnaqtut talurmit uvanilu utaqqiivingmi makpiraat haffumani kakiniqarviit.

Itiinnarialik niuvirumajut ajurnaittumik pukuhimalaaqtut tiliugainik uvannga talurmit kakiniliurniq, uumminngaluuniit nunamiunit kakiniliuqti.

Nanminirijatka havaarijatka utiqtiqpakhugu ihumaliuqtatka nanminirijatka tutqirnaqtut, haffuminngat uluit, aqpiit, iqalukpik, unalu anngutikhait anguniaqpagatka uuminngaluuniit hinnaktuumajatka.

havakpaliqhuni amihunut nunalingnut, ilagijangit tamarmik Tununnganaq unalu Hivuraanut Nunangani amijuujut nunalirjuanut akunngani.

Qaujimajunga apirijauvlunga uvani Antarctica mi, aappangma unipkaaliqpaktuq haffumani qaukkat tingilailat (Emperor Penguin) amihuarjungit.

“Pinniqpiaqhutik, qanikkuuraangat kihimi ilittuqhimajat kuinginnaqpiaqhutik mamaittuuvlutiktauq,” uqaliqpaktuq, iglahainnaqhuni.

Aappaga alianaqtumik inuuhiqaraluaqhuni qaffiujut akiharnaraluaqhuni ilaliutijangit annaihimajangit Ilihariaqtuqhimavluni. Tiguaqtauhimajuq uvanngat Aleekuk ilagiiktut qaujimmakhimavluni talvanngat Aleekuk atinga tigummiinnaqhugu tamainnut inuuhirmingnut. Kihiani pamiqhimajangit najatka uvangani Aleekuk atinga atuqhugu, itqaqhimavlugulu Banksland ilagiingit. Ilagijavut, ukpiqhimajaqqut qaangiraangangni atiq hivullivut angajuqqaapta, tiguaqhimainnaqtatit inuuhingit taimaa itqaumajangillu ingilraraaqpakhutik. Arliruhuliqpaktara aappaga piqpagiinnaqhugit nunamunngaulihaaraangami taimaa itqaumainnaqhugu ativut, Natkusiak.² Tautuqqaaqhuni tingmiaq qunniarnaqtuq, attaga pangnaarjugalu takukparumavlugu iluvirvia hivunigijumajaatigut hivullivut angajuqqaavut.

Najaga uvangalu nanngarivlugu tautukhimajavut iluvirvingat najugaat ilakput ilagivlugulu malruk hivulliujut hanaujaqtiugaluat ikpingnaqhuni, Aliknak najaalu Nanogak. Aliknak, uuminngaluuniit Peter Aliknak Banksland (1928–1998),³ aappangma ataattatiaraluanga najaalu Nanogak, uuminngaluuniit Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001). Irniraluanga panigaluangani una Natkusiak, Aliknak unalu Nanogak tamarmik nalunaitpiaqtut hanaujaqtiugaluaqtut ikajuqhimagaluaqtut nautkaqhimajaat haffumani Holman Eskimo Co-operative 1960 mi atulihaaqtumi. Una kuapak akhuuqhimmaaqhutik ikajuqhugit Inuit hanaujarnigut nautkaivlutik havaangit niuviqtittugit hilarjuarnut maniliuqhimajut nautkaivlutik maniliuqtumik nunalingnit. Tamarmik Aliknak unalu Nanogap makpiraangit hanaujarniagut huli arliruhukpagaannga hamna ajurnaittumik pinniqutingit.

Pihuujaqhuta iluvirvingnut pulaaqhuta tamainnut hanningajulik taiguaqhimajut atiita una angangma Angus unalu Attaga Mary unipkaaliqhugit ilavut katilviuhimajut tamainnut. Talvangaanit itqaumaliqhugit paaqhimajavut hivunngani atauhiq hanningajulingmi

OPPOSITE (ABOVE)

Peter Aliknak Banksland — Numiktik (Drum Dance) 1995 Felt pen 45 × 60.5 cm COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY

AKILLIQ (QULAANIITTUQ)

Peter Aliknak Banksland — Numiktik (Qilaudjaqtuq) 1995 Titiraunmut 45 × 60.5 cm IHUMAGIJAAT WINNIPEG ART GALLERY

RIGHT

Kapoktok 1995 Woodcut and stencil 62 × 49 cm COURTESY CANADIAN ARCTIC PRODUCERS

TALIQPIK

Kapoktok 1995 Qijungnut hanahimajuq unalu titiraujarniq 62 × 49 cm IHUMAGIJAAT CANADIAN ARCTIC PRODUCERS

Relations

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Family Lines

I could almost hear my dad saying to me, “Too cool, eh? All of us here.”

Since that visit in 2017, I have not returned to Ulukhaktok, although I intend to. The experiences I had in Ulukhaktok profoundly affected my sense of self. I learned that when I am going through difficult times, I gravitate towards art as a form of healing and guidance. My father passed away when I was twenty-six, leaving me heartbroken. I knew I needed a positive outlet to direct my emotions so I started to focus my energy on visual arts after years of neglecting my urge to create. I started to draw for no specific reason other than to put pencil to paper. At first, I began emulating the aesthetic of American style tattoos, or flash art, with watercolour paints and soon began developing my own iconography based on my experiences as a modern Inuvialuk. This style of tattooing often depicts iconic images such as old schooners, anchors, roses, pin-up girls, daggers, skulls and hearts, and are displayed on the walls and in the waiting room binders of tattoo shops. Walk-in customers can easily choose a design off the wall for a quick tattoo, or use the flash images as the basis for a custom design from their local tattoo artist. In my own work I often return to motifs with personal meaning, such as uluit, cloudberries, char and the animals which I’ve hunted or dreamt about.

I often stare at the works of Aliknak and Nanogak that adorn the walls of my home before I sit down to paint. In my living room hang two of Aliknak’s prints, Numiktik (1995) and Searching for Eggs (1992), and an untitled wall hanging by Nanogak, each piece linking me to them and to Ulukhaktok. In Numiktik a man holds a drum with his knees bent outwards in a dance pose while a woman faces him on his left with one foot pointed inwards and an arm behind her back, their bodies framing the drum. Looking at this print, I think of the heartbeat shared between couples—it reminds me of my wife and the life we share together. In Searching for Eggs, two young men dressed in dark green and bright yellow fur face each other on their hands and knees, crawling towards a nest full of eggs. Their giant smiles make their cheekbones pinch their eyes, reminding me of the grins my family wore gathering eggs during my springtime visit to Ulukhaktok.

BELOW

Agnes Nanogak Goose — Kidnapped by a Walrus 1985 Stonecut 43 × 61 cm COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY

ATAANIITTUQ

Agnes Nanogak Goose — Tigujauhimajuq Aivirmit 1985 Ujararnut hanaugaq 43 × 61 cm IHUMAGIJAAT WINNIPEG ART GALLERY

OPPOSITE

Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk — Dimensional Relatives 2020 Watercolour 22 × 28 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST

OPPOSITE

Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk — Uuktuutinirnut Ilagiiktut 2020 Imarmut ivitaalgit 22 × 28 cm HANAUJAQTIP IHUMAGIJAAT

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Fall 2020

Tatuinnaqhugit havaangit haffumani Aliknak unalu Nanogak pinniqutauvlutik taluit iglungma ingittinnanga mingutinnangalu.

Aimavingmi nivinngaqhimajut malruk Aliknak’ap titiraujaqhimajangit, Numiktik (1995) unalu Mannikhiuqtut (1992), unalu atiliuqhimaittuq nivinngaqhimajut hanaugait Nanogak, tamaat hanaugait katilviuhimajut uvamnut taipkununga unalu Ulukhaktok. Uvani Numiktik angut tigumiaqtaa qilaut hiitqungillu aurangajuq numiqhuni una arnaq tautukhugu haumingmit atauhiq itigaa nuvuaniittuni iluani talia tunuaniittuni qitianit, timingit tautukhugu qilaut. Tautukhugu titiraujaq, ihumagivlugu uummatingit tigliqtut avvautigiiktut aippaariik — itqaumainnaqhugu uvanga nuliaralu inuuhiqpullu avvautigiiktavut atauttimut. Uvani Mannikhiuqtut, malruk inulrammiit angutit aannuraaqhimajut taatqijaanit hungajaaqtuq unalu quriiqtaq puhitalik tautukhimajut algangillu hiitqungillu, paanguqhutik ivajunut amigaittut manniit.

Angijaaqtut qungallittut akuliangit pivlugit iijingit, itqaumaliqhugulu qungalligaangamik ilatka mannikhiuliraangamik upinngaami pulaaqhugu Ulukhaktok. Uvanittauq nivinngaqhimajut taatqijaanit hungajaaqtuq kalikuq haffumani Nanoga’p hanaugaa, takunnaqtuq urjuit, harimahukhuni arnaq itikkangit abluqhimajuq talingillu haniraanmiittut. Puhitaa atigimi qulaaniittuni anuqhiqpallaarmat.

Takunnaqtut itqaumavlugit tahapkuat titiraujaqhimajut aappangma inuuhuirmat, tautuliqhunga aadjigiiktut ukunanngat ilitquhingit unalu angiklivallialiqtuq pivitka. Aliknak unalu Nanoga’p titiraujaqhimajangit havaangit tuharnaqhutik ilitquhingit unalu amijuujut tautungnaqtut.

Tamarmik atuqhimajut ivitaangit pinniqhivlutik – naitkaluaqhugit pinniqutingit ilitturnaqtuuvlutik—unalu nautkaqhimajut taunungaraaluk ikhinnainnaqhugu ihuittumik inikhaa alilajumik pinahuaqhutik nanminirijaanit ilitquhia aadjigiiktumik tahapkuat kakiniit atuqtangit uvinirnut ikajuutauvlutik tautungnaqhunilu manirainnaat ivitaangit.

Taamna atauttimuuqtut haffumani malruk titiraujarningit ilitquhiat— una titiraujarningit pinniqtumik haffumani Aliknak unalu Nanogak unalu tautungnaqtut haffumani Amialikan kakiniit—pivakhuni puigurnaittumik qaliriiqhimajuq havaara unalu uvinima. Piqaqtunga

Relations

37

malruk Alikna’p tiliugaat kakiniqhimajuq talirma nanngarivlugu anirninga: Numiktik unalu Kapoktok (1995). Kapoktok, takunnaqhuni malruk ajurnaitpiaqtumik iqalukhiuqtit nangiqhimajuk hapunmi, itqaumavikhaanit ilitquhingit-unipkaaqhimajuq itqaumavlugit hikumi aulattivlutik pangnaarjutka Ulukhaktok uvani Kanatami Nunaqaqaaqhimajunut Inungnut Ubluata 2017, tahamani amigaittumik iqalukhimavlunga.

Numiktik takukhauvluni atauttimuuqtut hakugiktumik ikpiguhuktatka nuliarma uvangalu-uummativut tigliktut inuuhira.

Uvani mingukhimajatka, ihumainnaqhugit nalrujut, maniraa unalu tautungnaqtut haffumani kakiniit takunngaqtut uvani imarmit ivitaalgit unalu India minguutingit titiraujarnahuaqhugit tautungnaqtut ilitturnaqtut pitquhira unalu inuuhira ihumagivlugu Inuvialuk. Aadjigiikhugit hivunigijaat haffumani Alikna’p unalu Nanoga’p titiraujaqtangit, akhuuqhunga ihumagivlugit inuuhingit Inuvialuktut kinguani, ublunganit unalu hivunnganit inuuhingit. Numikhimajatka tahapkuat nanminirijatka, kakiniit-ihumagijangit iltquhiat, himmauhiqhugillu arnat Iqaluit unalu pilautit takunnaqtut ilitquhilingnit nanminirijamingnit pitquhiq unalu anirniagut takunnaqtut haffuminngatut uluit, angatkuq, unalu inukhuk. Atuqhugit aadjikkutaanit takunnaqtumik, aippaqainnaqhugit hunanik una ulu qaumajumik ivitaalingnit nauttiat, hanaujaqhugit ilitquhiat nalrujuniillu. Havaatka hivumuuqhugit takunnaqhutik ilagiikhutik takunnaqtut Inuit unalu ilitquhilingnit inuuhingit hanaugait hulidjuhiat ukuninngat anirnirnut tahiuqtaatigut munarijaatigut hunaniglu anguniaqpagavut niqikhamik.

Ataattatiarma unalu Nanoga’p inuuhingit tautungnaqhuni hanaugaanit, tautukhugit anguniarniq inuuhirilluaraluangit ilagivlugu hanaujaqtatka malikhugit, ilittuqhaivlugu hanaujatka, anirnirma unalu qanuq ilagiinnaqhugu hilarjuaqput avataaniittuq uvamnit. Utiqhunga Ulukhaktokmit Albertamut, talvanngat tupaummiliqhunga anirnianut Natkusiak inuuhingillu haffumani Aliknak unalu Nanogak uvamnit ilittuqhimalihaaqhunga anguniariami. Haffuminngatut Natkusiak, qaujihaliinnaqhunga avatingnut haniptingni iluani aimavingmi nunalluarma, unalu angiklijuummiqhutik ilaqatigiiktunut uvanngat uvamnit manirarlu anngutikhaillu tautungnaqtut hivunikhanut nanminirijatka unipkaarijatka unalu mingukhimajatka.

Family Lines

On my other wall hangs the deep olive fabric of Nanogak’s wall hanging, reminiscent of moss, depicting a proud-looking woman in a commanding stance with her feet apart and her arms by her sides.

The fur on her coat points upwards as if she is fighting a gust of wind.

Reflecting on these pieces after my father’s passing, I began to see affinities between their styles and my burgeoning one. Aliknak and Nanogak’s graphic works echo the form and palette of flash.

Both used colour strategically—often limiting their palettes to a few saturated tones—and created depth by letting the negative space of the paper act as its own structure in a similar way to how classic tattoos use skin to support and contrast their fields of colour.

The confluence of these two art forms—the printmaking aesthetic of Aliknak and Nanogak and the iconography of American tattoos— have made an indelible mark in my work and on my skin. I have two of Aliknak’s designs tattooed on my forearms to honour his spirit: Numiktik and Kapoktok (1995). Kapoktok, which shows two successful fishermen standing by a weir, commemorates an identity-affirming ice fishing trip with my uncles in Ulukhaktok on National Indigenous Peoples Day 2017, where I caught more fish than ever before.

Numiktik represents the togetherness and strong bond I share with my wife—the heartbeat of my life.

In my own paintings, I invoke the lines, ground and iconography of tattoo flash art in watercolour and India ink to create images that represent my culture and convey my experience as an Inuvialuk.

Much like the subjects of Aliknak’s and Nanogak’s prints, I strive to depict life as an Inuvialuk in past, present and future times. I interpret these in my own, tattoo-influenced style, replacing the mermaids and daggers of flash with figures from my own cultural and spiritual iconography such as uluit, shaman and the inuksuk. Using the same format as flash, I often pair an object such as an ulu with bright and colourful flowers, creating contrast and balance. My work aims to depict relatable images to Inuit and represent the life forms we interact with for spiritual guidance and also which we hunt for food.

Much like how my grandfather’s and Nanogak’s lived experience manifested in their art, I see hunting as an essential part of my creative practice, informing my art, my spirituality and how I engage with the world around me. Returning from Ulukhaktok to Alberta, I was truly awoken to the spirit of Natkusiak and the legacy of Aliknak and Nanogak when I decided to teach myself how to hunt.

Much like Natkusiak, I was driven to explore the environment around me in my home province, and these growing relationships between me and the land and the animals are reflected in the subject matter of my own stories and paintings.

A theme I often use in my work is the afterlife, or “the happy hunting grounds” as I refer to it. That is where I believe my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather and many others reside. When I get there, it is my hope that they will recognize my tattoos and know who I am.

Defining my identity as an Inuvialuk living outside the Inuvialuit Settlement Region has been a challenge—one that I have met with enthusiasm. I remind myself of Natkusiak and how he travelled from Alaska, explored with scientists and helped build the community of Ulukhaktok. I also remind myself that Natkusiak was born into a new body, survived the residential school system, found success in the aviation industry and travelled the world. Now, Natkusiak has been born into me, Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk. I’m using what’s available to me to develop the spirit of Natkusiak in the modern day by telling his story, expressing it through art, travelling to new places and interacting with all life forms. I take this name to the top of mountains and to the edge of continents. My life and body are the canvas while the spirit, Natkusiak, is the artist.

NOTES

1 It is unknown how Natkusiak became referred to as “Billy Banksland.” The name likely originates from his interactions with non-Inuit explorers, scientists and whalers working in the region. It is possible that the surname “Banksland” was adopted because Natkusiak frequently hunted and trapped on Banks Island.

2 Naming practices are not uniform across all Inuit communities or family structures.

3 Aliknak, whose work was included in the Holman Annual Print Collection from 1967–1994, was variously identified as Alec Aliknak Banksland, Peter Aliknak Banksland and Aliknok across collection catalogues.

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Fall 2020

ABOVE

OPPOSITE (BOTTOM)

Agnes Nanogak Goose — Good Hunt 1973 Stonecut 43.8 × 58.4 cm

Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk — Designs from Imagination (detail) 2020 Watercolour 22 × 28 cm

COURTESY WADDINGTON’S

Hivunikhangit atuinnaqhugit havaamingnit kinguani inuudjuhirijangit, uuminngaluuniit “quvianaqtumik anguniarvingit maniraat” taamna uqauhirijatka. Talvanngat ukpirijara aappangma, ataattiarma unalu ataattiarma aappaa unalu aallat itqaumajaujut. Taikunngaruma, niriurijara ilitarihimaniaqtaat kakinitka kinaujaakhaat ilihimaniaqtaannga.

Tukiliuqhugit ilitquhirma Inuvialuk inuuhimajuq hilataanit Inuvialuit Nunataarvia Nunangani taimaa akiharnaqhivaktuq—taamna ilittuqhimajara arlingnaqhunilu. Itqaumainnaqhunga uvamnut haffumani Natkusiak qanuq ingilravakhuni Alaskamit, qaujihaqhuni ukunanngat qaujihaqtit ikajuqhimavlutik nunaliuqhuni Ulukhaktok. Taamnalu itqaumainnaqhunga una Natkusiak inuuhimajuq nutaaqpiarmik timinganit, annaivluniuk Ilihariaqhimalraaqtuq, nalvaaqhunilu nakuuqpiaqtumik tingmialiqinirmik iluani uvamnut, Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk. Atuinnaqtatka hunanik angmaumainnaqtut pivalliajaami anirninga Natkusiak ublumimut tadja atuqtavut unipkaaqhugit unipkaangit, tuhaqtittugu uvuuna hanaujarnigut, aullaaqhunga nutaamut nunamut ilauqatigiikhugillu tamainnut inuuhimajut ilitquhingit. Una atiq qulaanunngaqhugu majuqqanut uvanilu kiglinganut nunarjuarnut. Inuuhira unalu timiga kalikuungujuq anirniuvluni, Natkusiak, hanaujaqtiujuq.

COURTESY THE ARTIST

QULAANIITTUQ

Agnes Nanogak Goose — Nakuujumik Anguniaqhimajuq 1973 Ujararnut hanaugaq 43.8 × 58.4 cm IHUMAGIJAAT WADDINGTON’S

AKILLIQ (ATAANIITTUQ)

Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk — Tiliuqhimajangit uvannga Ihumamikkut (tukinga) 2020 Imarmut ivitaalgit 22 × 28 cm HANAUJAQTIP IHUMAGIJAAT

OPPOSITE (TOP)

Natkusiak, “Billy Banksland,” with his dog Mike at M’Clure Strait, Northwest Territories, 1916 COURTESY CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY PHOTO GEORGE H. WILKINS

NOTES

IHUMAGIJAAT CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY PIKSAA GEORGE H. WILKINS

1 Ilitturnaittut qanuq Natkusiak turaarviujuq imaatut “Billy Banksland.” Una atiq ilitquhirluanga uvannga hulivakhuni ilauqatigiinnaqhugi Inuinnaunngittunut qaujihaqtit, qaujihaijunut unalu qilalugaqhiuqtut havakhuni aviktuqhimajumi.

Nalunaittuq una atiq “Banksland” tiguaqhimajaat hamna Natkusiak anguniaqtiuvakhuni naniriaqtiuvlunilu uvani Banks Island mi.

2 Attiqtuiniq malikhimajangit aadjigiinngittut tamainnut Inuit nunaliit uuminngaluuniit ilagiiktunut ilitquhirijangit.

3 Aliknak, havaangit ilaliutijangit iluani Holman Ukiunnguraangat Titiraujarningit Kititiqhimajangit uvanngat 1967-1994, aallatqiingujut nalunaiqhimajaujut Alec Aliknak Banksland, Peter Aliknak Banksland unalu Aliknok tamainnut kititiqhimajangit titiqqanmit.

Relations

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AKILLIQ (QULAANIITTUQ)

Natkusiak, “Billy Banksland,” qinmiatalut Mike uvani M’Clure Ikirahak, Nunakput, 1916

Family Lines

In March 2020, artists Maureen Gruben and Sonya Kelliher-Combs were set to embark on a reciprocal artist exchange through the IAF Circumpolar Exchange Program— a longtime dream of two artists who share an aesthetic affinity and a deep mutual respect for one another’s work.

Due to global health concerns and travel restrictions, an already long journey became impossible. With flight routes cancelled and borders shut, Gruben and Kelliher-Combs embarked on residencies separately, but together. Over the summer months, the artists shared notes, images and numerous stories via email, FaceTime and telephone.

The following pages capture an intimate look at the seeds of their collaboration thus far.

Sonya Kelliher-Combs

Shorelines

Maureen Gruben

Anchorage, Alaska

Tuktuyaaqtuuq (Tuktoyaktuk), Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT

61º, 10’27” North, 149º, 59’54” West

69º, 26’00” North, 133º, 01’35” West

ANC

SEA

YUB

YEV

YVR

THE IAF CIRCUMPOLAR EXCHANGE PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH SUPPORT FROM THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS. SONYA KELLIHER-COMBS’S RESIDENCY WAS FURTHER SUPPORTED BY THE NORDIC LAB, AN INITIATIVE OF GALERIE SAW GALLERY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS.

Collage and assemblage, at their core, are rooted in the desire to make something new from the existing, to find connections—between images, objects, materials and ideas that might seem incongruous. In this Portfolio, we profile six artists working from Alaska to Såpmi who harness the possibilities of collage to reconfigure the personal, cultural and political narratives shaping their lives.

6 ARTISTS WORKING IN COLLAGE

ARCTIC

REMIX

PREVIOUS SPREAD

Da-ka-xeen Mehner (b. 1970 Fairbanks) — My Right-of-Way, Winter 2009 Digital image 61 × 116.8 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST

Leanne Inuarak-Dall b. 1993 Vancouver, BC

ABOVE

Leanne Inuarak-Dall (b. 1993 Vancouver) — Qittianituu 2019 Mixed media 61 × 46 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Pulling disparate pieces into a cohesive whole and exploring complex feelings about identity and belonging distinguish Leanne InuarakDall’s deepening collage practice. While it may not immediately resemble a traditional self-portrait, her composite work Qittianituu (2019), meaning “in the middle,” is a reflection of her identity as an Inuk woman raised in the South of Canada, away from her ancestral land. In Qittianituu, she pairs rapid sketches of her own face and body alongside synthetic materials such as bubble wrap and sheer polyester that invoke the Arctic landscape and northern lights, and sets these symbolic fragments of her identity against a backdrop of images of nuna clipped directly from an issue of Inuit Art Quarterly.

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“There are photos of the land that I didn’t grow up on and I have to contend with my only access to it being in a magazine,” she reflects. “I am always wondering what I am able to claim. And the viscous black ink in Qittianituu represents a fluidity I feel in my identity.”

Despite her ever-evolving relationship to her identity, Inuarak-Dall finds a sense of freedom through collage, moving pieces at will to satisfy her aesthetic goals.

A multidisciplinary artist, her pieces often take many layered forms, transforming from sketched concept art to collage and sometimes reaching their final incarnation in a woven tapestry.

– Emily Henderson

Fall 2020

Chantal Jung b. 1988 San Jose, California

California-transplanted Nunatsiavimmiuk artist Chantal Jung thoughtfully layers recycled magazine snippets into snapshots of personality, building a nesting space with each application for the intimate in her collages.

One of her best known series pairs floral themes with portraits of friends and family, which uncovers personal and communal histories. “People get very excited about sharing their favourite plants,” Jung explains. “There’s usually a personal story that goes with them.”

“I think about the environment of Labrador,” she says of the intertwined relationship of flowers and identity that guide her work. “The flowers and plants there have their own narrative of colonization. It’s seeing them kind of like our relatives, similarly to how we see humans.”

Jung’s collages recently sprang to life in Black Belt Eagle Scout’s music video supporting “I Said I Wouldn’t Write This Song” (2020)—Jung’s first work of animation.

The music video navigates the Alaskan scenery of Black Belt Eagle Scout’s Iñupiat heritage and ends with a sentiment that saturates Jung’s work: building awareness of climate change and the important shift to environmental friendliness. Through short film, collage, animation and zine-making, Jung explores identity and what it means to be an Inuk living in California. “It’s hard to learn about things if you’re not there, but I want to create more short films that focus on all kinds of different things that I still carry with me [wherever] I go,” she says.

– Bronson Jacque

RIGHT

Chantal Jung (b. 1988 Happy ValleyGoose Bay) — Sydnie 2018 Mixed media 33 × 24 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST

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Arctic Remix

Two bowls of the most delicious-looking blueberries flank pipes filled with the reports of industry. Centred on top is a photo of the Alaskan landscape with the vegetation in its summer peak suddenly interrupted by a strip of starkly cleared brush. In Alaska, that long strip of cleared brush hides a river of oil that runs from Prudhoe Bay along the Arctic coast to Valdez. The My Right-of-Way series of collages interrogates the effects and history of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and how Tlingit/N’ishga artist and educator Da-ka-xeen Mehner’s personal history is intertwined with the pipeline.

“It’s a space that we utilize. We walk the open trail into [the] space today, and use it to access hunting grounds. But that space we utilize is there through oil production,” says Mehner. The construction of the pipeline was a catalyst for the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act, the largest land claims settlement in US history. “It is this scar that moves along Alaska, but [is also] utilized as a gathering place and access point. It wasn’t conceived that way, but it has become that for us.”

As a form that brings together disparate elements and builds new connections, collage is a media that helps Mehner interrogate himself and his role in world: “My practice fluctuates through what’s happening broadly within the world, and also internally with a microscopic look at my own life. It’s always this interplay in looking at the world and trying to make sense of it, and then trying to create the individualized place where I exist within the world.”

– Michael Stevens

Da-ka-xeen Mehner b. 1970 Fairbanks, Alaska

BELOW

Da-ka-xeen Mehner (b. 1970 Fairbanks) — My Right-of-Way, Summer 2009 Digital image 61 × 116.8 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

52

Fall 2020

Jerome Saclamana b. 1963 Anchorage, Alaska

ABOVE

Jerome Saclamana (b. 1963 Anchorage) — Mammoth Ivory Bear Mask c. 2003 Mammoth ivory, whalebone, feathers and baleen 15.2 × 10.2 × 2.5 cm COURTESY STONINGTON GALLERY

Relations

Shamans have long been a fascination for Iñupiaq artist Jerome Saclamana. He was assigned a book report on shamans while he was fastidiously refining his craft at a high school carving program. Since then, he has researched them extensively. “I wish I had saved that report,” he admits. The standing shaman figures he is best known for were developed during his time in Fairbanks, Alaska, with a sizeable chunk of walrus ivory and a pencil. “It took a lot of pencil marks, erased pencil marks, before I was satisfied.”

Although he defines himself as an ivory carver from a long line of ivory carvers, Saclamana relishes adding different composite pieces to the ivory base. “Whether

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a piece of a harpoon tip, or even a chunk of a walrus or fossilized ivory, it really complements the piece [and] makes it stand out,” he says.

He has a system for certain sculptures— whale shamans, for example, are treated with baleen, baleen hair and further walrus ivory inlay, while he details masks with fossilized ivory—but he will affix old artifacts to his sculptures when he has access to them. Fossilized whalebone, which takes on minerals from the environment around it, is one of Saclamana’s favourite materials. As it doesn’t reveal its colours until carved, sanded and polished, he is left in suspense until the very end.

– Jessica MacDonald

Arctic Remix

COURTESY GÖTEBORGS AUKTIONSVERK PHOTO LISA THANNER AND NICKLAS ELMRIN

Questions of Sámi self-determination and history drive Katarina Pirak Sikku’s artmaking, which encompasses collage, photography, drawing, installation and text. Her works narrativize the erasure of Sámi identity, both cultural and individual, by the colonial practices of the Swedish state.

Her 2014 exhibition at Bildmuseet in Umeå, Sweden, entitled Nammaláhpán, recounts the story of the Swedish State Institute for Racial Biology and the lasting effects it has had on Sámi and other Indigenous communities in the region. One piece she calls a Memory Map traces foot prints on the floor and lines upon the gallery’s walls, connecting photographs, handwritten lists of events and the ideas of Herman Lundborg—the head of the Swedish Institute of Race Biology. Pirak Sikku was inspired by a court case wherein the Sámi residents of her mother’s area had to prove their inhabitancy: “My mother’s

Inuit Art Quarterly

54

Katarina Pirak Sikku b. 1965 Jokkmokk, Sweden

ABOVE

Katarina Pirak Sikku (b. 1965 Jokkmokk) — Om jag hade stålar #04 2019 Mixed media 30 × 30 cm

cousin told this story of being asked to prove his mother’s birthplace. The court asked, ‘But can you show it? We have to find something in the ground.’ But she was born during the winter—when you don’t leave any traces...The Memory Map is a family history, but also my main path through the race biologist’s history. I have mapped him so you can see how we are linked together.”

This history of displacement that Pirak Sikku interrogates carries over into her collage Om jag hade stålar #04 (2019), which was commissioned by Faktum, a magazine sold by people living in homelessness and social alienation in Sweden. Pirak Sikku overlaid this portrait of one of Faktum’s sellers, Lena, with her interpretation of Lena’s aspirations, giving a narrative to the portrait; if Lena’s needs could be met, she yearns for a splendid home for homeless dogs.

– Michael Stevens

Fall 2020

Mattiusi Iyaituk b. 1950 Ivujivik, QC

Sculpture is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when imagining “collage,” but Mattiusi Iyaituk’s dynamic stone sculptures carry a strong sense of artistic composition that combine different materials to tell a unique story. Iyaituk has often gleaned inspiration from stories that his parents used to tell him.

“I just imagine them and make sculptures about the stories that I used to hear, for instance [about] mermaids and shamans and shamanism,” he says. Nowhere is this more evident than in Iyaituk’s piece Hunter Happy To Bring Home Fresh Caribou Meat (2000). The differing patterns and lines in the base stone and the face contrast beautifully between the light and dark pieces of serpentinite, and the antler lends cohesion to the whole story, creating a striking effect that perfectly reflects the title.

Iyaituk is versatile and creative, and his work, which he describes as “multimedia abstract forms,” is distinctive among Inuit carvers. Though he began learning more common detailed and traditional techniques

from his peers, he soon learned that abstraction is a more suitable form for translating his dreams into art. One that has earned him an international reputation.

Though sculpture is Iyaituk’s preferred practice, he has honed his craft and sensibility, working across a variety of media throughout his long career including: jewellery making, drawing, printmaking and glass blowing. He notes that “I just like to make something nice that’s different from our cultural art.”

This inquisitive nature lends itself well to his collage-style pieces and we continue to benefit from his experimentation with combining different materials like alabaster, serpentinite, granite, marble, glass and caribou antler. Iyaituk’s mixture of locally sourced materials with imported marble, alabasters and granite suit the nature of the stories he depicts—traditional shamans whose travels encompass both Inuit land and far off places like the moon and other worlds.

– Napatsi Folger

RIGHT

Mattiusi Iyaituk (b. 1950 Ivujivik) — Hunter Happy To Bring Home Fresh Caribou Meat 2000 Serpentinite and antler 25.4 × 33 × 12.7 cm COURTESY EXPANDINGINUIT.COM

Relations

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Arctic Remix

Reclaiming Our Names ᐅᑎᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ ᐊᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ

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Reclaiming Our Names: Overcoming the erasure of Inuit identity in archival photos

ᐅᑎᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ ᐊᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ: ᐊᔾᔨᑐᖃᕐᓃᑦᑐᑦ ᐊᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᔭᖅᑕᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᑎᖅᑎᑕᕗᑦ

—

by Natan Obed

— ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑐᖅ ᓇᑖᓐ ᐅᐱᑦ

Housed in archives across Canada, photographs of Inuit taken largely by southern photographers and ethnologists once told a romanticized story of the North and its ruggedness. For many Inuit, however, these collections tell a very different story: one of cultural erasure and a corrupted record of their lived experience. In this essay, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President, Natan Obed, considers these images, giving a name to a painful past, and flashing a light on possible futures. ᑲᓇᑕᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᑐᖅᑯᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ, ᐊᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᖃᓗᓇᓄᑦ ᐊᔨᓕᐅᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᐅᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐱᐅᓯᑎᓐᓇᓱᒃᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓇᓱᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ. ᐃᓄᖕᓄᓪᓕ, ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐅᓂᒃᑲᐅᓯᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᖏᒻᒪᕆᒃᑕᖓᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖃᖅᐳᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑲᐅᓯᕆᓪᓗᓂᔾᔪᒃᓗ: ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᑦ ᓄᖑᓴᖅᑕᐅᓲᖑᕗᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᑦ. ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᒥᑦ, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐱᕇᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᑦ, ᓇᑖᓐ ᐅᐱᑦ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂ ᐋᓐᓂᕈᑎᒋᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂ ᐊᓂᒍᖅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᒧᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ.

PREVIOUS SPREAD

1 Atteusiak Anna Ataguttiaq with Elisapee Ootova on her back and Tapisa Inuutiq on her left, Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, 1932 ALL COURTESY LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA (LAC) PHOTO D.L. MCKEAND LAC E002344337

ᓴᐅᒥᖕᒥᑦ ᑕᓕᖅᐱᖕᒧᑦ

ᐊᑎᐅᓯᐊ ᐋᓇ ᐊᑕᒍᑦᑎᐊᕐᒃ ᐊᑕᒍᑦᑎᐊ ᕐᒃ ᐊᒫᑐᖅ ᐃᓕᓴᐱ ᐆᑦᑐᕙ ᐆᑦᑐᕙᖕᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᓕᖅᐱᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ ᑕᐱᓴ ᐃᓅᑎ ᐃᓅᑎᕐᒃ ᕐᒃ, ᕿᕿᖅᑖᓗᒃ, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ, 1932 ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᔪᒥᑦ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᖅᑯᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᔨ ᑎ. ᐃᐅᓪ. ᒪᒃᑭᐊᓐᑦ

LAC E002344337

3 Martha and Enosil playing cat’s cradle, Iqaluit, Nunavut, between June– September, 1960 PHOTO ROSEMARY GILLIAT EATON LAC E010975368

ᒫᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓅᓯ ᐃᓅᓯᕐᒃ ᕐᒃ ᐊᔭᕌᒃᑑᒃ, ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᐅᑯᓂᐊᓂ ᔫᓂ–ᓯᑎᐱᕆ 1960

ᐅᐃᓕᐊᒻᒪ ᐹᐳ ᓄᓕᐊᖓᓗ ᕆᔩᓇ ᐹᐳ, ᓇᐃᓂᒥᑦ, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᑦ 1921–22 ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᐊᕝ. ᑕᐸᔪ. ᐅᐊ

LAC E011369232-005_S3

Inuit Art Quarterly

PHOTO F. W. WAUGH LAC E011369232-010_S1

ᓇᑖᓂᐅ ᐃᓕᐊᑦᓱᒃ, ᕼᐊᓐᓇᕆ ᐅᐃᑉ ᐊᒻᒪ ᒪᐃᑯ ᐊᑦᓵᑕᑦᑐᔪᒃ, ᓇᐃᓂᒥᑦ, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᑦ 1921–22 ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᐊᕝ. ᑕᐸᔪ. ᐅᐊ

ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᕈᔅᒥᐊᓕ ᒋᓕᐊᑦ ᐃᑕᓐ

LAC E011369232-010_S1

LAC E010975368

4 Danny Sateana, Markoosie Eetuk, Ray Sateana, Annie Ford and John Sateana, Salliq, Nunavut, 1964 PHOTO HEALTH CANADA FONDS LAC E002216413

ᑖᓂ ᓵᑎᐊᓇ, ᒫᑰᓯ ᐃᑐᒃ, 2 William Barber and ᕋᐃ ᓵᑎᐊᓇ, ᐋᓂ ᕗᐅᑦ his wife, Regina Barber, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᔮᓐ ᓵᑎᐊᓇ, Nain, Nunatsiavut, ᓴᓪᓕᖅ, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ, 1964 between 1921–22 ᐊᔾᔨ ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ PHOTO F. W. WAUGH LAC E011369232-005_S3

6 Nathanael Idlilliantsyok, Henry Webb and Michael Atsatatojok, Nain, Nunatsiavut, between 1921–22

7 Kadluk, Arviat, Nunavut, 1937 PHOTO D.B. MARSH LAC E007914506

ᑲᑦᓗᒃ, ᐊᕐᕕᐊᑦ , ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , 1937 ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑎ. ᐱ. ᒫᕐᔅ

LAC E007914506

OPPOSITE

8 Portrait of an Inuk man PHOTO CHARLES GIMPEL LAC E011211843-V8

ᐊᓐᓂᐊᖃᖅᑕᐃᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ

LAC E002216413

5 Helen Konek between 1949–50

ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓂᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᒃ ᐊᖑᑎ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓴᕐᓕ ᒋᒻᐳᓪ

PHOTO RICHARD HARRINGTON LAC E011205257

LAC E011211843-V8

ᕼᐃᓕᓐ ᑯᓂᒃ 1949 ᐊᒻᒪᓗ 1950 ᐊᑯᓐᓂᖓᓂᑦ

FOLLOWING SPREAD

9 Inuit girl Pitula sitting on blankets indoors.

Picture taken at Lake Harbour, NWT, Summer 1939 PHOTO ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE COLLECTION LAC E006581019

PHOTO GEORGE HUNTER / NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA LAC PA-183439

ᒪᒃᐱᒐᖓᓂᑦ

ᐊᕐᓇᖅ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᖅ ᐱᑐᓚ ᐱᑐᓚᒥᒃ ᐊᑎᓕᒃ ᐃᒃᓯᕚᖅᑐᖅ ᑐᐱᐅᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ. ᑕᓐᓇ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑭᒻᒥᕈᒻᒥᑦ, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕐᒥᑦ, ᐊᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ 1939-ᖑᑎᓪᓇᒍ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐸᓖᓯᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᑲᑎᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ

LAC E006581019

10 Imaapik Jacob Partridge (right) and an unidentified man seated on a mattress in a tent, Iqaluit, Nunavut, 1960

ᑲᖏᕐᔪᐊᕐᒃ ᑲᖏᕐᔪᐊ ᕐᒃ ᓴᕕᓕᐅᖅᑐᖅ, ᓄᓕᐊᖓᓗ, ᓂᕕᐊ ᓂᕕᐊᕐᒃ ᕐᒃᓴᕐᔪᒃ ᓴᕐᔪᒃ ᑐᒃᑐᑉ ᐊᒥᐊᓂᒃ ᓴᓇᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᓕᖅᓯᕐᒥᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᕐᖑᑕᖓᑦ ᐃᒃᑲᑦ ᓇᓚᒃᓗᓂ ᑐᓴᕐᓇᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᑎᑕᒃᑐᒥᒃ, ᖃᒪᓂᑦᑐᐊᖅ, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᔪᕐᔨ ᕼᐊᓐᑐ / ᑲᓇᑕᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ

LAC PA-183439

DESCRIPTIVE CAPTIONS IN THE BLOCK ABOVE WERE PROVIDED BY THE CREDITED INSTITUTIONS. THE INUIT ART QUARTERLY HAS TRANSLATED EACH INTO INUKTITUT, BUT NO EDITORIAL INTERVENTION HAS BEEN TAKEN

ᖁᓛᓃᑦᑐᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑎᑎᖅᑲᑐᖃᐅᕗᑦ ᑎᒥᐅᔪᓂᑦ ᑐᔪᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ. ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᑐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᕿᒥᕐᕈᐊᒐᓕᕆᔨᖏᑦᑕ ᑕᒪᕐᒥᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᓕᖅᑎᓯᒪᕙᐃᑦ , ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᖃᐃᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᙱᓚᑦ

PHOTO ROSEMARY GILLIAT EATON LAC E010868908

ᐃᒪᐱᒃ ᔭᐃᑯᑉ ᐸᕐᑐᕆᑦᔾ (ᑕᓕᖅᐱᐊᓂᑦᑐᖅ) ᐊᒻᒪᓇ ᑭᓇᐅᒋᐊᒃᓴᖓᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔾᔨᔭᐅᓯᒪᖏᑦᑐᖅ ᐃᒃᓯᕙᖅᑐᒃ ᐊᓪᓕᖅᐸᒥᑦ ᑐᐱᕐᒥᖢᑎᒃ, ᐃᖃᓇᐃᑦ, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ, 1960

ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᕆᑦᓴᑦ ᕼᐊᕆᓐᑕᓐ

ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᕈᔅᒥᐊᓕ ᒋᓕᐊᑦ ᐃᑕᓐ

LAC E011205257

LAC E010868908

58

11 Kangirjuaq working on a snow knife, while his wife, Niviaqsarjuk makes caribou footwear and their grandson Ikkat listens to music, Qamanittuaq, Nunavut

Fall 2020

The original caption for this photograph was E****o. Taken by Charles Gimpel in 1958, what we know is that this man was originally from Iglulik, NU, and that this was taken on a beautiful day near the ocean. How can we know the photographer but not the person in the photograph? He has yet to be identified through Project Naming, but knowing that he is from Iglulik will help focus the research.

It is tragic but far too common that archival photographs lack basic personal identification information for Inuit. ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᔾᔨᖑᐊᖅ ᐃᒪᓐᓇ, ᐃᔅᑭᒧ. ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᔪᕕᓂᖅ ᓴᕐᓕ ᒋᒻᐳᓪᒧᑦ 1958-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᐊᖑᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃᒥᐅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓯᓚᑦᑎᐊᕙᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑕᕆᐅᑉ ᖃᓂᒋᔮᓂᑦ. ᖃᓄᕐᓕ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓇᔭᓇᔭᖅᐳᒍ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᔨᒥᒃ ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᖏᖢᑕ ᐊᖑᒻᒥᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᒥᒃ? ᑖᓐᓇ ᑭᓇᐅᒪᖔᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᔭᐅᒋᐊᖃᖅᑐᖅ ᑖᒃᑯᑎᒎᓇᖅ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᖑᐊᓂᒃ, ᖃᐅᔨᒪᒐᓗᐊᖅᖢᑕ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃᒥᐅᑕᐅᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᑭᓇᐅᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᔭᐅᑲᐅᑎᒋᓇᔭᖅᑐᖅ. ᖁᕕᐊᓇᖏᑦᑐᐊᓘᒐᓗᐊᖅᐳᖅ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᑐᖅᑯᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂ ᐊᔾᔨᖑᐊᑦ ᓇᓗᔪᓄᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᑦ ᑭᒃᑰᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᕙᖕᒪᑕ.

8

For most Canadians, photography is the window into the lived experiences of Inuit, and our homeland, Inuit Nunangat. However, photographs have also served as the building blocks for persistent stereotypes and generalizations about our people and our experiences that continue today. There are vast archives of photos taken by researchers and government officials who documented all aspects of our way of life through a colonial lens, yet omitted the most critical aspect of our identities—our names.

It’s easy to dismiss this as a mere oversight. But names have power, and when we weren’t rendered nameless through such omissions, we were renamed, our Inuktut names often intentionally misspelled to make them more pronounceable to southerners, or replaced altogether. The first recorded name change occurred in 1776 on the northern Labrador coast, now Nunatsiavut, where Kingminguse was converted to Christianity and baptized by the Moravian Missionaries as Petrus. This practice of renaming, and the introduction of surnames continued in Labrador throughout the 1800s with the increasing influence of the Moravian Church.

The erasure of our names became commonplace, with wideranging effects throughout Inuit Nunangat. It was a colonial tactic that caused disruption in Inuit naming practices and family connections, while stripping us of our identities. The most drastic instance of this came with the replacement of our names with alpha-numeric identification tags (ujamiit in Inuktitut), beginning in 1941. The purpose of this system was to make it easier for the federal government to organize paperwork. Refusing to address us by our given names demonstrated an unwillingness to learn about who we are, and suggested that our names and identities, our language with its diversity of dialects, were irrelevant and unimportant.

How do we overcome the erasure of our identities that began long ago but also manifests itself in present day depictions of Inuit? It starts with reclaiming respect for our individuality, our culture and language, and the recognition of our right to self-determination as a people.

Relations

ᑲᓇᑕᒥᐅᑕᓄᑦ, ᑕᑯᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᑕᖁᖃᑦᑕᖅᐳᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᕕᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂᑦ. ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᓄᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᑐᐃᓐᓈᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᑦᑎᓂᓗ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᒧᑦ ᑎᑭᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ. ᑐᖅᑯᖅᑕᐅᓯᔪᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒐᕙᒪᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᔪᕕᓃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑭᒃᑰᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᐊᔪᕐᓇᙱᑦᑐᑯᓘᕗᖅ ᓱᖁᑎᒋᖏᓪᓗᒍ ᑕᒪᐃᑦᑐᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ. ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐊᑏᑦ ᓴᙱᓂᖃᖅᐳᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᐃᒪ ᐊᑎᖅᑖᙱᓐᓂᕈᑦᑕ ᐊᑎᑦᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᓚᐅᖅᐳᒍᑦ. ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᐃᒪ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐊᑎᖅᐳᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᑕᐅᕙᒃᐳᑦ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᓄᑦ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ, ᐅᕙᓘᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᑕᐅᒻᒪᕆᒃᓗᑎᒃ. ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᖅ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᑎᖅ 1776-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᓚᐸᑐᐊᑉ ᐅᐊᖕᓇᖓᓂᑦ, ᒫᓐᓇᓕ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᕙᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᑦ, ᑕᒫᓂ ᑭᖕᒥᖑᓯ ᐅᒃᐱᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑯᕝᕕᕆᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᒧᕆᕕᐊᓐᒥᐅᑕᓄᑦ ᐊᑦᑎᖅᑕᓚᐅᓪᓗᓂᓗ ᐱᑦᑐᕈᔅᒥᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᑕᐃᒃᑯᐊ ᒧᕆᕕᐊᓐᒥᐅᑦ ᑐᒃᓯᐊᕐᕕᖏᑦ ᐊᑎᑦᓯᔪᑎᒋᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᑲᔪᓰᓐᓇᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᖓᓂᑦ ᓚᐸᑐᐊᕐᒥᑦ 1800-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ. ᐊᑎᑦᑕ ᐲᔭᖅᑕᐅᕙᖕᓂᖏᑦ ᓱᓕ ᒫᓐᓇᒧᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑉᐳᖅ, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᒃᑐᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᒻᒪᕆᒃᖢᓂ. ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᕐᒥᑎᑐᑦ ᐊᑐᕈᑎᒋᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᐊᒃᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᐊᑦᑎᖅᓯᔪᑎᒋᕙᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᖁᓯᑐᖃᖏᑦᑎᑐ ᒪᓕᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᓯᐅᑎᑦᑎᕗᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᓪᓚᕆᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᐅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ, ᑭᒃᑰᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᓗ ᐊᓯᐅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᐋᓐᓂᕐᓇᕐᓂᖅᐹᖑᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐲᖅᓯᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓈᓴᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᐅᔭᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᐱᑎᑦᑎᖔᖅᖢᑎᒃ 1941 ᐊᑐᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᒐᕙᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᔪᕐᓇᖏᑎᑕᐅᓇᓱᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᓕᕌᖓᑕ ᐸᐃᑉᐹᓂᒃ. ᐊᑐᕈᒪᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᑎᑐᖃᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑭᒃᑰᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᓱᖁᑎᒃᓴᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᐅᔨᔪᒪᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑭᓇᐅᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑎᖅᐳᑦ ᑭᓇᐅᓂᖅᐳᓪᓗ, ᐅᖃᐅᓯᑐᖃᖅᐳᓪᓗ ᓇᓂᕐᒥᐅᑕᐅᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᓗ ᓱᖁᑎᒃᓴᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ. ᖃᓄᕐᓕ ᑕᐃᒪ ᐊᓂᒍᐃᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᖅᐱᑕ ᑭᒃᑰᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐲᔭᐃᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑕᐃᓱᒪᓂᑐᖄᓗᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᓱᓕ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᓱᖁᑎᒃᓴᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ? ᐱᒋᐊᕐᓂᖃᕈᓐᓇᖅᐳᖅ ᐅᐱᒍᓱᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑕ ᑭᒃᑰᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ, ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᑐᖃᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᑕᖅᓯᓯᒪᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑕ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓅᖃᑕᐅᓂᖅᐳᑦ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᐱᒋᐊᕐᓂᖃᓲᖑᒋᕗᖅ ᐊᑦᑎᖅᓯᓲᖑᒐᑦᑕ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᑕᐅᖃᖅᑕᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᕿᒥᕐᕈᐊᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ

59

Reclaiming Our Names

In some instances, harmful or derogatory remarks were included in photo captions. This candid shot of “Pitula” was originally accompanied by this statement: “a supposedly beautiful E****o girl, taken at Lake Harbour, NWT, Summer 1939.” Today it is accompanied by a new caption, “Inuit girl Pitula sitting on blankets indoors. Picture taken at Lake Harbour, NWT, Summer 1939.” This is a stark reminder of the lack of awareness and respect afforded Inuit and the urgency of efforts to correct official records. ᐃᓛᓐᓂᒃᑯᑦ, ᐋᓐᓂᕐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓂᑦ ᐱᐅᖏᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᖑᐊᓂᒃ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ. ᐅᓇ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ “ᐱᑐᓚ” ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓂᖃᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᐃᒪᓐᓇ, “ᐃᓂᖁᓇᖅᑐᑯᓗᒃ ᐃᔅᑭᒧ ᐊᕐᓇᖅ, ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑲᖏᖅᖢᒑᐱᖕᒥᑦ, ᐊᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ 1939-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ” ᐅᓪᓗᒥᓕ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᒪᓐᓇ, “ᐃᓄᒃ ᐊᕐᓇᖅ ᐱᑐᓚ ᕿᐲᑦ ᖄᖓᓂᑦ ᐃᒃᓯᕚᖅᑐᖅ ᑐᐱᐅᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ. ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑲᖏᖅᖢᖔᐱᖕᒥᑦ, ᐊᐅᔭᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ 1939-ᒥᑦ.” ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᐃᒃᐱᖕᓇᖅᑐᒻᒪᕆᐊᓘᕗ ᐃᖅᑲᐃᕙᒃᖢᑕ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᐱᒍᓱᖕᓂᖃᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᕙᒃᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᖑᐊᑦ.

9

ᐱᖁᔨᓪᓗᑕ. ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐱᕇᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕈᑎᒋᕙᒃᑕᖏᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᕈᑕᐅᕗᖅ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᑕᐃᒪᖓᓂᑐᖄᓗᒃ ᐋᓐᓂᕈᑎᒋᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓅᖃᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᓂᐱᖃᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᑲᑎᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ, ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒻᓗ. ᐅᓪᓗᒥᓕ, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᐳᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᓕᖅᐳᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᔪᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇᑦᑎᐊᖅ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᑦᑎᓐᓄᓪᓗ. ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓯᔪᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᐅᖃᑦᑕᖏᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᐱᖁᑎᒋᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᑲᔪᕈᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐊᑦᑎᖅᓯᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᐅᔪᒥᒃ, ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᑭᒃᑰᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔾᔪᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ, ᐃᓄᖕᓄᓪᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᖅᑭᓕᐅᔮᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᑐᖅᑯᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᑦ ᕿᒥᕐᕈᐊᖃᕐᕕᖏᓐᓂ ᑐᖅᑯᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᕕᖏᓐᓃᑦᑐᓂᒃᓗ. ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᑲᔪᕈᑕᐅᒻᒪᕆᖕᓂᐊᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓅᓂᖅᐳᑦ ᖃᓄᕐᓗ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖃᓚᐅᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑲᐅᓯᖃᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᓕᕋᑦᑕ. ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᓕᕐᒥᔪᒍᑦ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖃᓚᐅᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ.

2017-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐱᕇᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᐸᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᒥᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑦᑐᑦ ᑐᓂᔭᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑕᒫᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᓄᑦ ᐃᓕᑕᖅᓯᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᓂᒍᐃᑎᑦᑎᓇᓱᒃᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᑦᑎᐊᖅᑕᐅᕙᓚᐅᖏᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᑎᑦᑎᑕᐃᓕᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᑦ ᒐᕙᒪᖓᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᓯᑳᑯᒥᒃ ᐱᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᒥᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᑎᖅᑎᓇᓱᒃᖢᑎᒃ 22-ᖑᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑎᒥᕕᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑎᒡᓕᒃᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᕗᓂᕐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓗᕕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᐱᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓄᑦ 1920 ᐊᑐᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᓂᒃ ᑐᓂᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᒋᕗᑦ ᐃᓄᕕᐊᓗᖕᒥᐅᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᐊᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐋᖕᓕᑲᒥᐅᑦ ᑐᒃᓯᐊᕕᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓄᑕᖅᑲᓄᑦ ᑲᑎᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᕕᓂᕐᓂᒃ ᑐᒃᓯᐊᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᐱᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᓴᐃᓐᑦ ᔮᓐ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᖓᓂᑦ. ᐊᕐᕌᓂᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᕕᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᐅᔪᒧᑦ ᑯᕆᔅᑕ ᔭᕙᑦᔅᑭᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᕿᑎᕐᒥᐅᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᐊᓄᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᒃᑑᑦᑎᐊᒥᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᑦ. ᐊᓯᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦᑕᐅᖅ, ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᐃᓐᓇᕋᓱᒃᐳᒍᑦ ᐅᑎᖅᑎᑦᑎᓇᓱᒃᖢᑕ ᑭᒃᑰᓪᓚᑦᑖᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓅᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᓱᓕ ᒫᓐᓇᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓕᑕᖅᓯᓯᒪᖏᑦᑐᓐᓄᑦ ᑭᒃᑰᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᔪᓚᐃ ᓄᖑᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᐃᑦᒪᓐᑕᓐᒥ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐊᖅᓴᖅᑏᑦ ᐊᑐᕈᒪᔪᓐᓃᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᐸᒃᑕᕕᓂᖏᓐᓂ ᐊᑎᕐᒥ ᐅᑭᐅᑦ 100 ᐊᓂᒍᖅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᑐᑭᖓ ᐱᔾᔪᑕᐅᓗᐊᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑖᓐᓇ ᐊᑎᖅ ᐲᖅᑕᐅᑲᐅᑎᒋᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᐃᒪᖓᓂᑐᖄᓗᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔪᕕᓂᖅ ᐲᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓅᓂᕗ ᐱᔾᔪᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᐅᑎᖅᑎᓐᓇᓱᖕᓂᕗᑦ ᑭᒃᑰᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᒻᒪᕆᓕᖅᐳᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᐃᒪ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐱᕇᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᕆᕗᖅ. ᓯᕗᓪᓕᕐᒥ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᔅᑭᒨᒥᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᒃ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖕᓂᖅᐳᖅ ᐊᑎᖅᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐱᕇᒃᓴᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᒃ 1971-ᖑᑎᓪᓇᒍ ᐃᓅᓂᖅᐳᑦ ᐱᔾᔪᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᑐᖃᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑕ. ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦᒥᑦ 2001-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᕕᓕᐊᒻ ᑕᒍᕐᓈᖅ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᖑᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᕆᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑕᒑᖅ ᑰᓕ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᖓᓂᒃ, ᐊᔾᔨᒋᑐᐃᓐᓇᕐᒪᒍ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᓂ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᕙᖕᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. “ᑕᓐᓇ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᕐᓂᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᒃᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐊᓘᕗᖅ” ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᖢᓂ. “ ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᐊᓯᐊᒍᑦ ᑕᑯᔪᓐᓇᐃᓪᓕᕗᒍᑦ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ.”

It starts with ensuring that we always name Inuit who appear in photographs in our own publications, and demand it of others as well. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s National Inuit Strategy on Research (NISR) shifts the power imbalance that has rendered us anonymous in photography, and gives our people a voice in how information about us was and is collected, stored and used.

Today, Inuit are developing partnerships to create research that is equally valuable to the historical record and to our communities. To correct gaps in existing records, we have developed our own archives and helped to launch programs such as Project Naming, which aims to identify Inuit, First Nations and Métis in archival photos housed at Library and Archives Canada. This helps us in more personal ways as well—the people in those images are members of our own families, and by telling their stories, we are reclaiming our own histories.

Work is also underway to repatriate our history in other forms. In 2017, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami created the Inuit Cultural Repatriation Award. It is presented each year to organizations that demonstrate leadership in recognizing and respecting Inuit cultural rights and working to overcome the misappropriation of Inuit cultural heritage. The Nunatsiavut Government and the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, received the inaugural award for their work to return the remains of twenty-two Inuit stolen from their graves by a museum curator in the 1920s.

Subsequent awards have been presented to the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre and the Anglican Church General Synod Archives for repatriating the artwork and letters of children collected by missionaries at St. John’s E****o Residential School. Last year, the award was presented solely to Inuit working to preserve our history: Nunavut anthropologist Krista Ulujuk Zawadski and the Kitikmeot Heritage Society in Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), NU. In other avenues, we continue our work to reclaim our identity as a people from those who still brand themselves and their products with an outdated and offensive identifier. In late July, Edmonton’s Canadian Football League team decided at last to cease use of the nickname they had worn for more than 100 years. Terminology is only part of the issue. In this instance, the word is removed from its context and dismisses the long-standing history linked to the invalidation and oppression of our people.

The movement to reclaim our identity is shown in the history and name of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami itself. Originally known as the E****o Brotherhood of Canada upon its founding, our national organization was renamed Inuit Tapirisat of Canada in 1971 to reflect our name for ourselves in our own language. Writing in Inuktitut magazine in 2001, William Tagoona recalled founding president Tagak Curley speaking about the shift in wording, and its parallel effect on the way the world saw us.

“It was such a bold move,” he wrote. “Now, we couldn’t see ourselves being called anything else.”

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This heartwarming scene of Ikkat listening to music with his grandparents, Kangirjuaq and Niviaqsarjuk, was taken in March 1946, in Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU. Because of Project Naming, this vital context now accompanies the image.

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ᐅᓇ ᐊᔾᔨᖑᐊᑦᑎᐊᕚᓗᒃ ᐃᒃᑲᑦ ᓈᓚᒃᑐᖅ ᑐᓴᕐᓈᕈᑎᒥᒃ ᑎᑕᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᖃᑎᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᐊᑖᑕᑦᑎᐊᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᑲᖏᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓈᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᓂᕕᐊᖅᓵᕐᔪᒃᒥᒃ, ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᒫᕐᓯ 1946-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᖃᒪᓂᑦᑐᐊᕐᒥᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᑦ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᐊᑎᕐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᐱᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑖᓐᓇ ᐊᔾᔨᖑᐊᖅ ᓱᓕᔪᒥᒃ ᐊᑎᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓯᒪᔪᖅ.

Reclaiming Our Names

Pulâttik Angiggak, Mark Igloliorte, oil on canvas, 2019

TOPOGRAPHY TYPOGRAPHY OCTOBER 17 - NOVEMBER 21, 2020

MARK IGLOLIORTE TANIA WILLARD

Get the Goods, Tania Willard, digital composite image, 2020

Woman with Fish and Kakviak

kaiv

unidentified artist, Nunavik, ca. 1952

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1444 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal H3G 1K4

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www.elcalondon.com | info@elcalondon.com | 514-282-1173

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Quvianaqtuk Pudlat

www.feheleyfinearts.com gallery@feheleyfinearts.com 65 George Street, Toronto

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416 323 1373

Palaya Qiatsuq, “Owl with Chicks”, 13 x 13 x 12 Inches, Serpentine

BATTLING CARIBOU, coloured pencil & ink, 23.75 x 50.25 in.

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CONTEMPORARY & HISTORIC 606 VIEW STREET VIC TORIA, B.C. 250 380 4660

W W W . M A D R O N A G A L L E R Y. C O M

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CURATORIAL NOTES

Piujut Arnaqsiutit Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum FEBRUARY 16, 2020–ONGOING IQALUIT, NU

BELOW

Germaine Arnaktauyok (b. 1946 Iglulik) — Hand/Arm Tattoo 2019 Lithograph 45.7 × 63.5 cm COURTESY NUNATTA SUNAKKUTAANGIT MUSEUM PHOTO PAMELA WOOD

by Jessica Kotierk with Napatsi Folger

Piujut Arnaqsiutit, an exhibition of new work by renowned Iglulik-born illustrator Germaine Arnaktauyok, is a celebration of Inuit femininity and beauty. As two longtime admirers of Arnaktauyok’s work, we were both ecstatic when we were offered the opportunity to work on this project. As the Manager/Curator of the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit I was honoured to be able to curate the show at the museum in Iqaluit, NU, while Napatsi Folger wrote the introductory text for the exhibition. Choosing how to arrange these singular pieces for a local audience was an extraordinary process— it was also a treat to see them firsthand.

Inuit Art Quarterly

Thirteen new prints by Arnaktauyok featuring women’s bodies, limbs and faces, fill the walls of the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum. Each is covered in tunniit, a feature of Inuit culture that has long fascinated the artist. Her interest in traditional tattooing predates the current revitalization of the practice, with her earliest artistic depictions dating back to a print from 1999, Tattoo Lady, which features a nude woman resplendently seated, proudly baring tattoos on her face, arms and thighs.

Germaine Arnaktauyok began her career in the 1960s, when she attended school in 64

Winnipeg, MB, and was encouraged to take art classes on the weekends. She eventually enrolled in the Fine Arts Program at the University of Manitoba School of Art, and moved on to study commercial art at Algonquin College in 1969. Since then her work has become instantly recognizable for her distinct and precise style and for her frequent explorations of the relationships between mother and child. Her work emphasizes the connections between mothers and their infants, sometimes linking them with sweeping braids or even showing babies growing in the womb, as in her print Mother Earth (2007).

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CURATORIAL NOTES

ABOVE

Comb I 2019 Lithograph 33 × 20.3 cm PHOTO INHABIT MEDIA

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Installation view of Piujut Arnaqsiutit COURTESY NUNATTA SUNAKKUTAANGIT MUSEUM PHOTO PAMELA WOOD

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The works in this show depart from the maternal element of Arnaktauyok’s usual motifs, while staying true to her penchant for making art that beautifully captures Inuit femininity. In her latest works, Arnaktauyok focuses on womanhood not from the perspective of motherhood, but rather from a broader perspective distinct from the social roles that women embody. Women’s combs, traditionally tattooed faces and arms and the Inuit women themselves who don all these elements are captured in the works on view in Piujut Arnaqsiutit—tattooed ladies combing their hair with ornately carved women’s combs!

Hair in Inuit artmaking is a particular favourite for me, so the Tattoo Lady prints were exciting to come across when I was unpacking in preparation for the show. The women combing their hair were so much more sumptuous and larger than life in person, while the linework of the subject’s hair is almost transfixing to look at. The images of hair, tunniit and traditional bone and ivory combs that comprise this collection of works feature fine linework, in rich browns and blues and inky blacks. Because of this minimal palette, the sepia and mahogany tones in prints like Comb II, and the deep cobalt in Forearm/Hand Tattoo really popped when placed in relation to the black and white images on display.

While installing the pieces throughout the museum space, my experience of the art changed from unpacking each piece to arranging the room. During each stage of

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the project—unpacking, framing, installation or lighting—I fell in love with every print for a different reason. These are works that grow on, and with, you.

The museum has a movable wall that was installed for the exhibition, which is used to harness that notion of a dynamic experience of the art, and it was interesting to see local visitors’ reactions to the change in the familiar open room. The wall was placed in the centre of the entrance to the exhibition and acted as the screen for a projected short video interview of the artist produced by Inhabit Media. In the video, Arnaktauyok provides some context on the history of her name and the reasoning behind her choices to draw feminine objects. In true Inuk fashion she states plainly that those feminine subjects are the most familiar to her.

It was interesting to see how some visitors responded to the questions posed by the video playing on loop, particularly about Arnaktauyok and her decision to sign and legalize her last name, which, unlike many Inuit at the time, was not her father’s name but the name of an important woman to her family. For non-Inuit visitors, responses varied from interested to surprised, depending on their knowledge of Inuit naming practices. As Inuit familiar with these, and the government surname policies imposed on Inuit in the mid-twentieth century, we talked about how differently the show might be interpreted by a largely non-Inuit audience during the show’s scheduled stop in Toronto, ON.

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CURATORIAL NOTES

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Tattoo Woman II 2019 Lithograph 35.6 × 35.6 cm PHOTO INHABIT MEDIA

Inuit Art Quarterly

At the show’s opening at Nunatta Sunakkutaangit on February 16, 2020, visitors had the opportunity to speak with Arnaktauyok, who attended and spoke about each piece of her work to an enthusiastic crowd. Renowned traditional tattoo artist Hovak Johnston also spoke on the subject of tunniit as an overarching theme of the exhibition, enriching the experience of attendees with insight into the history of the Inuit tattoo revitalization movement. The presence of such acclaimed Inuit women was not lost on the audience, which included many local Inuit and tourists alike, visiting on the tail end of the first Nunavut International Film Festival.

Arnaktauyok, also an acclaimed illustrator for numerous children’s books, including beloved titles Uumasuusivissuaq and A Sled Dog for Moshi, continues to experiment in 66

new formats, most recently designing the stage backdrops for Artcirq’s widely celebrated performance Unikkaaqtuat. Many of the books illustrated by Arnaktauyok were on display or for sale at the opening of the exhibition.

Though Nunatta Sunakkutaangit was closed for much of the spring due to COVID-19, the books and prints from the show are still available online for sale and visitors have been permitted to come by appointment since July 2020. Prior to the global pandemic that has forced many art institutions to close, the intention was to bring Piujut Arnaqsiutit to Toronto, ON. Unfortunately, that portion of the show’s tour is still up in the air, but we are hopeful that audiences in Toronto will have the opportunity to see these prints. Piujut Arnaqsiutit is still planned for a final exhibition in Yellowknife, NT, set to run from June 2021 to June 2022.

Fall 2020

WITH EVERY ARTWORK ACQUISITION, YOU SUPPORT FIRST NATIONS, INUIT AND CANADIAN ARTISTS, AS WELL AS LA GUILDE’S MISSION.

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John Houston admiring Caribou (1948), the first work of contemporary Inuit art.

Conlucy Nayoumealook (1891-1966) of Inukjuak, Nunavik.

Photo: Dennis Minty

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TRIBUTE

In Memoriam: The Inuit Art Quarterly Remembers

Markoosie Patsauq (1941–2020)

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Celebrated Inuk writer and novelist, Markoosie Patsauq, passed away this March at home in Inukjuak, Nunavik, QC. Patsauq is best known for his groundbreaking novel, ᐊᖑᓇᓱᑦᑎᐅᑉ ᓇᐅᒃᑯᑎᖓ (Harpoon of the Hunter) (1970), which is widely considered the first published Inuktitut novel.

Born in a camp near Inukjuak, Patsauq was among the last generation of Nunavimmiut born into traditional life on the land and among those who endured forced relocation to Qausuittuq (Resolute Bay), NU, in the 1950s.

Eventually returning to Inukjuak in the 1970s, he dedicated many of his talents as a writer, thinker and community leader to activism, petitioning the federal government for an apology for forced relocation, which was finally issued in 2010. In 2018, Patsauq published an influential serial memoir entitled “Exile in Childhood: One Man’s Memoir” in Nunatsiaq News to ensure the tragedy he and his community endured was properly recorded.

His breakout novel, Harpoon of the Hunter, was first published serially in Inuktitut (ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ) magazine in 1969 before being translated. It has since enjoyed 12 subsequent translations to other languages. Drawing from Inuit oral tradition he learned from his elders and community, the novel depicts pre-contact life in the Arctic, following young Kamik as he transitions into adulthood, tracking a bear. Harpoon of the Hunter is regarded for its formal innovation as it follows the perspectives of Kamik and his fellow hunters; the community members who have stayed behind at camp; hunters from a neighbouring camp; and the bear they track.

The original English edition is McGill-Queen’s University Press’s best-selling book, and though never out of print, a new English translation will be published this fall. Patsauq was closely involved in the translation of the new edition, which aims to stay truer to the original Inuktitut version. Described by many as witty, wise and deeply kind, Markoosie Patsauq left a lasting mark in Canadian literature, and will be remembered for generations to come.

Joseph Illuapik Palluq (1943–2020)

Inuit Art Quarterly

© PRODUCTIONS CERF-VOLANT

Renowned Iglulingmiuk carver and community arts supporter Joseph (Jaipeth) Illuapik Palluq passed away in May in Lake Clear, ON, at the age of 77.

Born in Iglulik, NU, in 1943, Palluq began carving at the age of nine and established himself as a prolific artist during the 1970s. His large-scale representations of the animal life of his childhood home in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, including carvings of polar bears, walruses, wolves, muskoxen and dogs, are noteworthy for their fine detail and for his respect for the qualities of the wide variety of materials he mastered, including steatite, ivory, wood and whalebone.

Palluq moved to Ottawa, ON, in the late 1990s to further pursue his career, eventually settling in the small, tightly knit community of Lake Clear with his partner, Roberta Della-Picca. Both Palluq and Della-Picca became active in the arts community and public life of the Ottawa Valley, with Palluq carving a steatite bust of local Olympian runner Melissa Bishop following her success at the Pan Am Games and World Championships in 2015. Palluq also passionately defended the environment of Lake Clear during his time there, donating many carvings and sculptures to the Lake Clear Conservancy for ecological protection initiatives.

Palluq’s carvings have been included in exhibitions across North America, including Vancouver, BC, and Boston, MA. A well respected member of his artistic communities, Palluq’s empathy, thoughtfulness and carving skills will be missed.

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Fall 2020

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NEWS

Updates and highlights from the world of Inuit art and culture

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Signs donated to the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum COURTESY NUNATTA SUNAKKUTAANGIT MUSEUM

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“Remembering Our Ways: Film and Culture in Iglulik” in IAQ’s Summer 2019 issue © INUIT ART FOUNDATION

Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum Acquires Signs from Black Lives Matter Protest Two hundred protestors took to the street in Iqaluit, NU, on June 5, 2020, to protest police brutality and racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd in May in Minneapolis, MN. Afterwards, curator Jessica Kotierk of the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum sent out a call asking for donations of signs and other ephemera from protestors. “There is a long history of demonstrating and gathering in Iqaluit,” said Kotierk.

Policing in the North has long been, and remains, a contentious issue. The signs acquired at the Nunatta evidence this turmoil, bearing slogans like “Skin colour is not reasonable suspicion,” and “Canada is racist.” For the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum, these signs fill gaps in the collection of objects representing community history from the recent past.

Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory Wins Sinchi Indigenous Artist Award Multidisciplinary artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory has won the inaugural Indigenous Artist Award of the Sinchi Foundation, an international organization that seeks to uphold the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by creating Indigenous allies around the world. “I am so very honoured to have received this award,” said Bathory in a statement released May 21. Bathory received a grant through the award worth 2,000 euros to fund a community project of her choice.

Inuit Art Quarterly

Tuktuyaaqtuuq Carving Project Unveils 5,000 Pound Statue

Riit Longlisted for the 2020 Polaris, Shortlisted for SOCAN Prize

Inuvialuit carvers Derrald Taylor Pokiak, Ronald Nuyaviak, John Taylor and Derek Taylor created a marble monument to the history of Tuktuyaaqtuuq (Tuktoyaktuk), Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, that features the faces of past community leaders and animals, such as beluga, which are fundamental to community sustenance. “We’re really happy with [the statue],” said head carver Pokiak, who worked with community Elders to design the monument.

The Polaris Music Prize announced in June that their longlist for the Canadian Album of the Year includes Riit’s debut ataataga. Barely a month later, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) announced that her song #Uvangattauq, from the same album, was in the running for the 2020 Songwriting Prize, which awards $5,000 to the best song by an emerging Canadian songwriter.

Ataataga is the debut album for Riit, who is known for her combination of katajjaq and electropop in her songs, often sung in Inuktitut. Since its release in October 2019, ataataga has also garnered a Juno award nomination for 2020 Indigenous Music Album of the Year.

Kablusiak Receives a 2020 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Award Ten Alberta-based artists and performers have been awarded 2020 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Awards— among them is Inuvialuk artist Kablusiak.

Established in 2003, the annual award celebrates and promotes artistic excellence in the province, with winning artists each receiving a $10,000 cash prize.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Indigenous Screen Office Dedicate Millions to Inuit Content Independent television broadcasting service Inuit TV will receive $2.4 million in funding over three years from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. to develop Inuktut-language content. “The board of Inuit TV would like to thank the many volunteers and partners across Nunavut that have supported us over the years,” said Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, president of Inuit TV Network.

This is the second major investment in Inuit film recently; the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) announced earlier in the summer that production company Red Marrow Media—helmed by Arnaquq-Baril and Stacey Aglok-MacDonald—will be one of 19 Indigenous film companies in Canada to receive funding under the Netflix Apprenticeship and Cultural Mentorship Grant, part of the ISO’s efforts to broaden the Indigenous presence on the platform.

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Inuit Art Quarterly Wins Gold at National Magazine Awards The 2020 National Magazine Award for Best Short Feature Writing was awarded to Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik for her piece, “Remembering Our Ways: Film and Culture in Iglulik.” Makkik, whose piece was published in the IAQ’s Summer 2019 issue, is a producer, translator and Igloo Tag Coordinator for the Inuit Art Foundation. This is the first Gold Medal for the IAQ at the National Magazine Awards.

This year’s NMAs also awarded IAQ its second Honourable Mention nod for Best Magazine: Art, Literary & Culture.

Fall 2020

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LAST LOOK

Pia Arke Legend I-V

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Pia Arke (1958–2007 Ittoqqortoormiit) — Legend V (detail) 1999 Mixed media 214 × 182 × 4 cm ALL COURTESY LOUISIANA MUSEUM OF MODERN ART ACQUIRED WITH FUNDING FROM ANKER FONDEN © PIA ARKE

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Legend I-V 1999 Mixed media 214 × 908 × 4 cm (each panel 214 × 182 × 4 cm)

Part of a series of five massive mixed-media collages, Legend V (1999) is evocative of much of Pia Arke’s (1958–2007) multifaceted artistic legacy. Through photographic imagery, handwritten notations and cartographic elements, the Kalaaleq artist rigorously explored familial and cultural relations as well as those to space, place and time as they intersect with the legacies of Danish colonialism. By superimposing Danish place names on intimate snapshots and adorning her collages with imported foodstuffs—including rice, coffee and sugar—Arke similarly maps the flow of global commodities as well as the effects of colonial exchange. Here the literal traces of far flung goods and the names of Danish explorers— Grant, Hall, Petermann, Dauggard, Jensen and others—remain but are reconfigured in new hierarchies. Now part of the permanent collection of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen, Denmark, Arke’s Legend I-V series purposefully resituates Greenland as the whole of this contained universe, with lively and joyful figures as its centre.

“I make the history of colonialism part of my history in the only way I know,” Arke once wrote, “namely by taking it personally.”¹ Through her work, Arke makes the processes of community apparent—both the good and the bad—ultimately leaving it to the viewer to form and reform their own relationships to Arke’s subjects.

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1 Pia Arke, Scoresbysundhistorier (Copenhagen: Selskabet & Kuratorisk Aktion, 2003), 13.

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Fall 2020

Times have changed.

But the market for Inuit art has only grown stronger.

Since our auction of the William Eccles Collection of Inuit Art in 1978, we’ve been gratified to witness this artform’s tremendous expansion.

Please enjoy a few highlights from the Eccles Collection auction. Note the prices realised in 1978 and their equivalency in 2020 dollars reflecting the rate of inflation.

MANNO, 16 cms SOLD FOR $7,000 IN 1978 OR $27,380 IN 2020 DOLLARS

KAROO ASHEVAK, 12 cms SOLD FOR $650 IN 1978 OR $2,540 IN 2020 DOLLARS

waddingtons.ca 275 King Street East, 2nd Floor Toronto, ON M5A 1K2

JOHN TIKTAK, 25.5 cms SOLD FOR $2,400 IN 1978 OR $9,390 IN 2020 DOLLARS

JOE TALIRUNILI, 22.75 cms SOLD FOR $2,700 IN 1978 OR $10,500 IN 2020 DOLLARS

Inuit Art inuitart@waddingtons.ca 416-847-6191

Amplifying Indigenous voices from across Canada through the TD Art Collection Image Credit: Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Inner City, 2015, Acrylic on canvas, 142.2 x 121.9 cm, Photo Barb Choit, Courtesy Macaulay & Co Fine Art, TD Bank Corporate Art Collection.

Learn more at td.com/art.

Visit TD Gallery of Indigenous Art at 79 Wellington St. West in Toronto. ÂŽ The TD logo and other TD trade-marks are the property of the Toronto-Domion Bank.