The Inuit

What Inuit art shows

This traditional way of life is one of the big subjects in Inuit art. By showing us in drawings and
sculptures how their ancestors lived, Inuit artists are keeping their history alive. Art helps them
remember, and treasure, the ways their ancestors hunted and made protective clothing and shelter. In
their art, many Inuit are making a visual history to show how their ancestors adapted to living in one of
the harshest climates on earth.

Stories of shamans tell how they can go to the bottom of the sea, fly to the moon and back, and
transform themselves into all kinds of animals.

Arctic birds, animals and sea mammals are another important subject for Inuit artists. Powerful polar
bears, sleek seals, swift caribou, white wolves and magnificent owls are just a few of the creatures you'll
find in Inuit sculpture and drawings.

When you look closely at the birds and animals in Inuit art, you will see that each one often has its own
special character. The individual appearance of the creatures in Inuit art grows out of the respect that
Inuit gave to all living things.

Many Inuit myths and legends tell how humans and other living beings are all connected in a powerful
universe. These legends speak of the spiritual forces that are present in the Inuit world. The stories, and
the spirits they describe, continue to be inspiring sources for Inuit artists today.

A figure that appears in many works of Inuit art is the shaman. In traditional Inuit societies, people
believed their shaman was a particularly wise man, with healing and mysterious powers. Stories of
shamans tell how they can go to the bottom of the sea, fly to the moon and back, and transform
themselves into all kinds of animals.

Many Inuit art works show the shaman on his various adventures, including his visits to Sedna. In Inuit
legend, Sedna was the mother of all sea creatures and a terrifying spirit being. When Sedna was angry
because the people had broken her rules, harmony in the Inuit world was disturbed. The people went
hungry when the furious Sedna kept the sea creatures away from the Inuit hunters. The only way to
restore harmony was for the shaman to go underwater and comb out Sedna's hair which was matted
with seaweed.

The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa has a sculpture of "Sedna with a Hairbrush" by Natar Ungalaq.
The artist, who lives in Igloolik, Nunavut, has given his grey stone sculpture of Sedna a mop of dog-fur
hair and a hairbrush made of bone. Sedna looks impatient and annoyed as she waits for the shaman to
come and brush her hair.

As well as drawing on legends, the younger Inuit artists today are depicting all kinds of new subjects. The
interaction of Inuit culture with the culture of the rest of North America is leading to new art forms, and
new ideas in Inuit art.
For example, Oviloo Tunnillie of Cape Dorset, Nunavut, has made magnificent sculptures of a football
player, and of a woman wearing high-heeled shoes. In a sculpture called "This Has Touched My Life," she
shows us an unforgettable experience from her childhood. When she was six years old, she was sent
south to hospital because she was ill. She was away from home for several years.

Her sculpture shows herself as a small girl, standing with three huge adult figures. There is a man in a
suit and two women with big handbags and hats with veils. In this sculpture, Oviloo Tunnille helps us
feel how lonely and out of place she felt far from home in a society that was totally strange to her.

As Oviloo Tunnillie's work shows, Inuit art is very good at communicating strong emotions. Even though
Inuit artists use simple forms and materials, their works affect us deeply. Sometimes humorous and
happy, sometimes sad, or even frightening – or a mixture of emotions – Inuit art has a lot going on
under the surface.

Carvers for thousands of years

Inuit and their ancestors have been expert carvers for thousands of years. As well as tools and weapons,
they carved art objects from bone, ivory and wood. Ancestors of today's Inuit carved birds, bears and
other land and sea mammals, human figures and masks. Most of these objects carved thousands of
years ago were very small. Some experts believe that Inuit's ancestors wore these objects as amulets
(charms to keep bad spirits away).

The materials and the tools

Carving in stone and bone is a skill that Inuit have passed on, generation after generation. Most Inuit
learn to carve by watching, and then helping, an older relative.

I can learn to carve by watching and then helping

In Inuit art today, stone is the most popular carving material. Stone is very adaptable. Artists can work it
to almost any size and shape. Stone also comes in a variety of colours, from grey and white and black to
green and blue-green.

Getting stone to use in sculpture can be a big problem for Inuit artists. They must travel long distances
over land or by boat to get good-quality stone from quarries. Travelling these long distances is expensive
in the North.

Inuit sculptors also work with other materials – like caribou antler or musk-ox horn, when they are
available. In fact, today Inuit artists (sculptors, painters and video makers) are working with all kinds of
materials.

These include watercolours, oil and acrylic paint, textiles, video and stone from southern Canada.

Most Inuit sculptors still use small tools like chisels, hatchets and knives to carve. They use files and
sandpaper for fine work and finishing. A growing number of artists use power tools as well.

Most Inuit sculptors have to work outside, even in wintertime. This is because carving is very dangerous
for artists if they breathe in the dust from the stone.

One of the things many people remember when they visit the North is the sound of sculptors chiselling
and hammering their stone outside.
How the world discovered Inuit art

In 1948, a Canadian artist named James Houston travelled to the Arctic to make drawings of the Inuit.
He bought carvings from Inuit artists he met and shipped these art objects south. Later that year, these
pieces attracted a lot of public attention when they were exhibited in Montreal.

A few years later, when James Houston was living in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, he and a group of Inuit
artists tried an experiment. The result of that experiment was the creation of the second important art
form for Inuit art today – the Inuit print.

Prints are produced using paint and stencils or other methods. They allow Inuit artists to make several
colourful versions of an original drawing.

In a very short time, Inuit prints and sculpture became so popular, they were sold all over the world.
Today, Inuit art work is on display in art galleries everywhere. Many people around the globe buy pieces
for their private art collections.

One world-famous print is "The Enchanted Owl," a masterpiece of design created by Kenojuak
Ashevak of Cape Dorset. This beautiful owl stares out at us with its round eyes, proud and curious. The
artist has given the owl long feathers that radiate round the bird's head and body in bold strokes of
colour. Kenojuak Ashevak's love of birds is obvious in this work. Following the tradition of her ancestors,
she transformed her respect for living creatures into a fascinating work of art.

This beautiful owl stares out at us with its round eyes, proud and curious.

By looking carefully at Inuit prints and sculpture, you can learn a lot about Inuit myths and legends, how
Inuit lived in the past, and how the lives of Inuit are changing today.

Above all, you will see some very powerful art works that will stimulate your own imagination and stir
your emotions.

Animals
Seals

The Arctic is home to several seal species such as grey seals (Phoca vitulina), ribbon seals (Phoca
fasciata), bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus), harp seals (Phocini Pagophilus), spotted seals (Phoca
larga), ringed seals (Pusa hispida), hooded seals (Phoca cystophora).
Seals have always been important for Inuit as these animals provide meat thus, feeding themselves as
their dogs, fat for qulliq (traditional oil lamp used in the past and nowadays into camps out of the tundra
and during ceremonies), as well as furs and skins for making warm and water-resistant clothes. For
these reasons, seal hunting by Inuit is still relevant today. According to Inuit, seals have been essential
for their survey in the Arctic so the artists represent them into carvings, prints and drawings

Caribous (rangifer tarandus)

Formerly, caribous were essential for Inuit as source of food and raw materials for the clothing making,
the construction of summer tents in skins, the sled dogs manufacturing and tools in bone and antlers, as
well as realization of carvings and amulets. The Inuit writer Taamusi Qumaq explains us: “The caribou is
a walker and a game. He was used formerly enormously by our ancestors and their descendants: the
skin was considered as garment, its meat as food, its nerves was threads, and its skin was considered as
tents by our ancestors.” (Qumaq 1991: 224). Nowadays, Inuit still hunt caribous which all the parts of
which are used: people eat their meat, raw, frozen, dried or boiled; their skins are still used for clothes
as mittens and their bones and antlers are carved.

Within Inuit art making, caribous remain mostly represented by the male artists. Indeed, men know
perfectly well caribous to have carefully observed them for a long time while they hunt game. Artists
may reproduce so realistically their movements, their attitudes or their expressions into carving or
graphics. Caribous are Tim Pitseolak's favourite theme in Cape Dorset and Andrew Qappik’s one in
Pangniqtuuq, for examples. The animal may be depicted lonely or in herd as main topic of the artwork
or as game within a hunting scene. Caribous are also often associated with traditional myths.
Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus)

Polar bears - nanuit in inuktitut (singular: nanuq) - are omnipresent in the Inuit culture and the daily life,
formerly as today. It is not thus surprising that the bear is a subject of preference for artists in all
domains such as carving as graphic arts. Who saw contemporary Inuit carvings immediately represents
himself a polar bear… "Nanunnguaq" say Inuit people to speak about artistic representations of bears: it
can be translated by "miniature copy or replica of a polar bear" referencing to the reality. The artists
who carve or draw bears make it from their own experience, because they are also hunters. They know
bears very well as they have observed them with attention for a long time; that is why they succeed in
representing their body and their movements with so much realism and exactness.

The polar bear is not a harmless artistic subject. Considered by Inuit as an object of greed and a
prestigious source ; the bear is the animal who looks like most the Inuit people, taking place at the top
of the animal hierarchy. As an Inuk, the polar bear is a predator, what implies relations of rivalry and
competition: they hunt both the same game and represent a mutual threat. A marine and ground
mammal at the same time, the bear is cunning, powerful and comfortable in the water as on ground.
We say that humans imitate the polar bear’s way of hunting. It is not rare to find bears near villages
while they look for food and their strength inspires fear and respect. "When they are starved, polar
bears are not afraid. When they are not hungry, they are afraid of the people" wrote Taamusi Qumaq
(Sivulitta piusituqangit, 1988). Consequently, it is not surprising that the polar bear is so present in the
cosmology. He appears as one in the main sources of shaman power by taking place between the
invisible powers and the Inuit society (Randa 1986). So, shamans often used of bone or ivory amulets
representing polar bears. Today, polar bears are one of the most represented subjects by Inuit artists,
thus coming within the tradition.
Muskox (Ovibos moschatus)

Some graphic artists like Pudlo Pudlat or Helen Kalvak, and carvers as well as Lucassie Ikkiluak, Ooloopie
Killiktee, or Elijah Pitisulak, pay attention to muskox as topic of drawing, print, carving or
tapestry. Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) has inhabited the Canadian Arctic for thousands of years. A
survivor of the last ice age, these magnificent animals are perfectly adapted to survive the winter
conditions of Canada’s North; Inuit referring to them as the umingmak, meaning bearded one.

They have been an integral part of the Inuit lifestyle for centuries as one animal can provide a great
amount of meat, a warm versatile hide and soft insulating fur. The muskox has endured great
fluctuation in their numbers over the last few hundred years, mainly due to predators, harsh winters
and over harvesting by early explorers. However, today their population numbers are plentiful and
thriving, allowing local residents to once again rely on these valuable creatures.
Arctic Birds

Many kind of birds come up North during the spring time, then they leave on fall to down South.
According to Inuit hunters and scientists, the Nunavut territory has over hundred species of birds nearly
all of which are migratory such as ducks, geese, swans, loons, falcons, cranes, plovers, gulls, terns, etc.
Few birds spend the winter in the Arctic, with only great raven (tulugaq or tulugajjuaq), snowy owl
(ukpik or ukpijjuaq) or rock ptarmigan (aqiggiq).

Women and children hunt birds for food (mostly ducks, geese, white and rock ptarmigans) while they
also provide them in materials clothes. Beside a food source Inuit people had several other ways of
using birds: skins from larger birds were used as towels, wings have been used to dust, sweep or refresh
(like a fan), skins were used as make containers, slippers and if caribou were scarce parkas. Nowadays,
using birds is still relevant not only for food, but also as wings are used like a personal fan, and feathers
are useful for making warmer clothes and pillows, for examples.

On a symbolic point of view, birds are significant as mean symbol of the spring time linked to the return
of the sun, the melting ice and the warming days. Among Inuit cosmology, birds take an active part into
myths through the oral tradition and shamanism practices. Many artists from the Canadian Arctic have
birds as favorite topics: Kenojuak Ashevak, Ohutaq Mikkigaq and Ningeokuluk Teevee are one of those.
Snowy Owl (Scandiacus)

The snowy owl is a large diurnal white owl with a rounded head, yellow eyes and black bill. Inuit call the
snowy owl ukpik or ukpikjuaq, “the great snowy owl”. This bird is typically found in the Northern
circumpolar region, where it makes its summer home north of latitude 60 degrees north. These owls are
highly diurnal, although they may hunt at night as well. Prey are captured on the ground, in the air, or
snatched off the surface of water bodies. This species of owl nests on the ground, building a scrape on
top of a mound or boulder. A site with good visibility such as the top of mound with ready access to
hunting areas, and a lack of snow is chosen.

Snowy owl is part of Inuit oral stories with different myths including several versions according to areas.
This bird is consequently very popular among Inuit artists with carvers such as Padlaya Qiatsuk, Lee and
Joanasie Manning, Johnnysa and Adamie Mathewsie, Alasuaq Sharky, Pitseolak Qimirpik, Adam Alorut;
and with graphic artists as well as like Kenojuak Ashevak, Kananginak Pootoogook, Ohutaq Mikkigak,
Ningeokuluk Teevee, or Malaiya Pootoogook.