A Cultural Exchange: Young Canadians Experience Life in the Arctic and the Big City!

March 28th, 2012 | By Candice Hong | Filed in AK NEWS, Community News, Current Events, INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

Imagine eating raw seal, whale and arctic char, or trying some caribou stew. This March and April, students from Mississauga, Ontario and the small community of Taloyoak, Nunavut are currently participating in The YMCA Youth Exchanges Canada Program.  These students are spending a few days seeing how the other half lives.

Big city lights and tall buildings are a normal everyday landscape for most people in the city. To the Inuit students this is a completely different view from the Arctic tundra they call home. Visiting the CN Tower or going to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto are exciting adventures. The Taloyoak students will be touring Toronto, going to Niagara Falls, and staying at the homes of their city counterparts. Meanwhile, Paul Officer the principal at Riverside Public School, will be leading the Mississauga youth, while they experience the Inuit culture from eating traditional food, drumming, ice fishing, building an igloo, to perfecting the high kick during the Arctic games. This cultural exchange is not only about fun and games, but building special bonds that will last a lifetime. As a part of the Taloyoak exchange this year, the city youth will be learning what it means to be responsible Canadians. This will be done through literacy and environmental activities. Students will share favourite books, garden, and interact with elders at the senior centre.

The YMCA Youth Exchanges Canada Program allows students who would not normally get the opportunity to explore another part of Canada, a chance to step out of the classroom, and learn through engagement with a new community.  While open to all youth the YMCA program gives priority to students from underrepresented groups such as low-income families, those with disabilities, visible minorities, and First Nations students.  Cost of travel to the respective communities is fully covered through a grant.  Each community in turn relies on the
kindness of their communities to supply funding for food, local travel, and activities for participants.

Arctic Kingdom to help support this program, has equipped the Mississauga students with all the Arctic gear they need to survive the extreme weather conditions of the North. From toques, Canada Goose jackets and pants, to boots the students have the proper gear needed to stay dry and comfortable. To read more about the activities and the exchange please visit: Paul Officer’s blog.

Explore Your World, Online

June 6th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in IN THE NEWS, INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

A number of tube sites have emerged online to share curated, intelligent content while utilizing the newest technology in film and online streaming to educate and spread awareness of cultural diversity. One of these – Isuma TV – we’ve mentioned here before, with their mission to bring community-generated video into classrooms and communities otherwise lacking in high-bandwidth internet connections.

Another such site is Explore. Their mission statement -

explore is a multimedia organization that documents leaders around the world who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes. Both educational and inspirational, explore creates a portal into the soul of humanity by championing the selfless acts of others.”

The Explore site is huge in range of topics, and rich in arctic-interest content. Covering traditional Inuit knowledge, climate change, and the art of throat singing, along with some brilliant photo essays of the region and culture, there’s certainly something for everyone on this site.

Toronto’s Museum Of Inuit Art

April 30th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Art, IN THE NEWS, INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

I may need to plan a trip just to check out the Toronto Museum of Inuit Art. You can view a taste of their expansive collections online, and they’ve also posted an ‘Introduction to Inuit Art’ document on the website well worth investigating.

Introductory Guide to Inuit Art. The Guide offers a scholarly yet concise and accessible introduction to the history and range of Inuit art, as well as the museum and its collection. Useful in conjunction with a museum visit or simply on its own, the guide also features a list of major public collections in North America, a statistical look at Nunavut, an introduction to Inuktitut and syllabics, in addition to in-depth information about the Inuit co-operatives. Whether you are exploring Inuit art for the first time or are an avid enthusiast, MIA’s Introductory Guide has something for everyone.

Permanent collections area, photo via the Museum of Inuit Art website

Nunastaiq News Online has covered the museum as well, posting several photos of the design award-winning interior and has this to say about the space -

In the museum are more than 300 pieces of Inuit art spanning the last 1,000 years— and most of its collection is on loan.

The older art, dating from the Thule period (1000 to 1850) is mostly unidentified work showing a traditional lifestyle.

But, as you move through the museum’s sections, the art through the 1800s changes, influenced by the Inuit trade and contact with Western civilization.

Most Torontonians — most southerners for that matter — don’t know much about Inuit art, Jane Schmidt (the museum’s assistant curator,) says.

But once they see it, she adds, they’re hooked.

“You get people who have been to the Arctic for a week and have been profoundly affected and impressed by it,” she says. “I think what the museum does it show the variety of work (from across the North.)

“Whether they’re tourists or locals, they’re affected by the soul of it.”

Inuit Art Exhibition Shared Online

April 26th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Art, IN THE NEWS, INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

Old Qulliq Being Carried by a Woman, image via the Exhibit website, Winnipeg Art Gallery

The Winnipeg Art Gallery has created a beautiful website to share their recent exhibit ‘Nunavik North of 60′, featuring examples of Inuit sculpture and art created in communities located above the 60th parallel on the Ungava Peninsula in the region of Nunavik, Northern Quebec.

Darlene Coward Wight, Curator of Inuit Art -

Carvers who originally lived in camps near Inukjuak and Puvirnituq were the first to create sculpture for export to southern markets in the early 1950s. This is now considered the beginning of “contemporary” Inuit art and the carving industry in the Canadian Arctic which was gradually expanded to other areas. That artistic expansion included the small, more northerly Nunavik communities of Salluit, Ivujivik, Kangirsuk, Kangiqsujuaq, and Akulivik. There are many treasures from these lesser-known communities in the WAG’s collection of Inuit art and this exhibition will be an opportunity to see works that are not exhibited as often as those from larger artistic centres such as Cape Dorset and Baker Lake.

One of the best-known artists in the exhibition is Mattiusi Iyaituk (b. 1950) from Ivujivik, represented by the innovative sculpture Old Qulliq Carried by a Woman. Thomassie Kudluk from Kangirsuk (1910-1989) is well-known for his idiosyncratic carvings that communicate to the viewer through syllabic inscriptions. Makusikalla Qullialu (1930-1989) is not as well known, but his large sculpture, Caribou and Otter demonstrates his talent in this moving, anthropomorphic interpretation. The exhibition features sculptures dating from the mid-1950s to the early 2000s, by male and female carvers from all the small, northerly communities in Nunavik.

"Inupiaq Word of the Day" On Facebook

February 4th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

Here’s something to ‘like’ for sure. Anniagruk Mary Sage saw a need to connect far-flung Iñupiaq speakers and to bring the language to people who are interested in learning more about it in a positive, friendly environment. She records videos and posts them to this Facebook page, while inviting all to participate by creating content, and discussing regional differences in dialect.

From the page, her goal -

To infuse the process of learning to speak the Iñupiaq language with humor and compassion. To excite and inspire non-speakers of the language to speak and to learn. We are all learning, and it’s all ok.

More information on speaking Inupiaq can be found online at alaskool.org, including a dictionary and phrasebook. Language geek.com also has pronunciation guides and a break down of some of the dialect divisions.

Climate Change Impacting The Inuit Diet

January 10th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

Climate change has a trickle down effect – impacting the landscape of the arctic and the lives of its human inhabitants. Shifts in weather and ice freezing patterns are altering expected animal migratory patterns, and considerably affecting the Inuit way of life – specifically their diet. Not only is there less access to the traditional foods they’ve subsisted on, but modern times have brought imported processed foods which can lead to health problems.

From Cnn.com comes this article on the work of several scientists doing research into these changes and their ramifications. One of these researchers is Barry Smit, a professor at the University of Guelph, Canada. -

“People looking at the health of the Inuit have demonstrated that the traditional diet, which is almost exclusively raw meat, is in fact very healthy for them,” Smit said. “But because of the new difficulties hunting, people are adapting their diets to what’s available in the stores.

“The stores only have food that’s easy to transport and doesn’t perish, so there are no vegetables. The young people are increasingly eating highly processed junk food, so we are seeing more teeth problems and obesity.”

The difficulties in hunting are caused by shifting ice and changing migratory patterns among animals such as seals, walrus, types of whales and polar bears, which form a large part of the traditional diet, Smit said.

He also noted that the shifting ice made hunting and traveling more dangerous.

Smit said: “Ice is fundamental to their livelihoods and culture. Most of their activities involve traveling on the ice.

“Over the past decade or so, they have noticed that the behavior of the ice is changing, so their traditional roads are not as safe as they used to be.”

Junk food is a problem in many cultures at the moment, but not an insurmountable one. According to Wikipedia, the traditional Inuit diet has always been geographically limited. One positive aspect of importing food is there may be some choice in what can be brought in. An emphasis on vegetables and fruit over processed foods will be a healthier outcome to this necessary change. -

Inuit consume a diet of foods that are fished, hunted, and gathered locally. This may include walrus, Ringed Seal, Bearded Seal, beluga whale, caribou, polar bear, muskoxen, birds (including their eggs) and fish. While it is not possible to cultivate plants for food in the Arctic the Inuit have traditionally gathered those that are naturally available. Grasses, tubers, roots, stems, berries, fireweed and seaweed (kuanniq or edible seaweed) were collected and preserved depending on the season and the location.

Beatrice Deer’s Inuktitut Christmas Album

December 28th, 2010 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Current Events, IN THE NEWS, INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

It’s never too late for a little more holiday cheer. Quaqtaq-raised singer, Beatrice Deer has released a nine-song album An Arctic Christmas presenting songs in both English and Inukitiut.

Beatrice Deer, photo from her Myspace website

“I’ve always wanted to make a Christmas album. I just never got around to it,” Deer said. “There aren’t many Christmas albums in Inuktitut out there.”

Deer remembers listening to, and loving, Inuk chanteuse Susan Aglukark’s album Christmas in the early 1990s, but says there haven’t been many other Inuktitut-language holiday CDs made since.

The old hymns “O Holy Night” and “Silent Night” — which appear on Deer’s album — have already been translated into Inuktitut. Deer herself translated the song “Christmas Time is Here.”

You can find Ms. Deer online at myspace. She also has a number of videos online on youtube, including this lovely one below.

Brunswik Art Museum Shows Inuit Art

December 21st, 2010 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

According to this article, Inuit art is ‘fairly hot right now’, which I sincerely hope is an intentional pun on the part of the writer. Another way of putting it is that Inuit art is currently in demand from collectors and the public. This terrific year-long exhibit, at the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum on the Bowdoin College campus is called “Imagination Takes Shape”, and consists of around 100 prints and carvings collected by Robert and Judith Toll. Well-known contemporary artists featured in the exhibition include Padlo Pudlat, Jessie Oonark and Simon Tookoome.

The Tolls, who live in California and otherwise have no ties to Bowdoin, last year pledged their collection of Inuit art, which they have been building during a decades-long love affair with the art and culture of the Canadian Arctic, to the Bowdoin museum. This show represents the first public display of part of the Tolls’ gift. “They were looking for a home for their collection, and looking for a location where their gift could make a difference,” said museum director Susan Kaplan, who has known the Tolls for 10 years and lobbied hard for the couple to leave their collection with Bowdoin.

The couple wanted a museum that would share the collection in public displays, and also where it could be used in scholarship. Bowdoin offered both, along with the allure and history of the museum itself. Peary-MacMillan is named for Arctic explorers and Bowdoin grads Robert Peary and Donald MacMillan, and is the only museum in the United States dedicated to Arctic studies.

The show is open through December, 2011 and admission is free. More from this well-crafted article by writer Bob Keyes on the background of some of the pieces -

The Tolls began collecting in the 1960s, and focused their efforts on specific communities on the western edge of Hudson Bay. “They’ve gone for depth, not for breadth,” Kaplan said, explaining that the Tolls decided it was more important to capture the range of the Inuit experience. Many of the prints in this collection come from two primary printmaking cooperatives — one in Cape Dorset; the other at Baker Lake.

“The Tolls, in their collection, recognized that Inuit life was difficult and full of transition. You get pieces in this collection that reflect some of those themes,” Kaplan said.

Curator Genevieve LeMoine points to several examples. One of the first prints in the exhibition is a 1987 piece by Pudlat, “New Horizons.” The title implies, and the art suggests, a new day for the Inuit as they move away from their traditional lifestyle represented by ox and into a contemporary setting represented by telephone wires.

A print by Oonark speaks to the importance of community. She makes a human face in the middle of her image, then surrounds it with smaller faces that form a circle. The implication is that the individual is surrounded by ancestors, family members, friends and the larger community, and that one’s journey through life is never taken alone.

Part of Oonark’s brilliance is the double meaning of some of her work. In this instance, the print “The People” has larger implications. The faces, as they spiral outward from the center, also form the image of an igloo when viewed from above. Again, the print represents the sense of home, LeMoine said.

Inuit Women's Art Exhibition In Montreal

December 3rd, 2010 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Community News, IN THE NEWS, INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

Nunatsiaq online reports on a new show at La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse in Montreal. Women of the Arctic is the first in a planned series of exhibitions and events to highlight works by Inuit artists from Nunavik and Nunavut.

The show opened Nov 19 to an audience eager to view the work and enjoy a throat-singing performance by Evie Mark and Taqralik Partridge. The show consists of works on paper in a range of techniques including painting, drawing, and printmaking.

Some of the oldest prints exhibited at La Centrale gallery are those of the late Leah Nuvalinga Qumaluk, the well-known Puvirnituq printmaker, who passed away last August.

Her work has been shown in New York, Paris and in a number of Canadian collections.

Qumaluk created hundreds of prints since the early 1970s, including the eight exhibited.

Her narrative stone prints employ only a few colours but often many characters, like the 1972 “Morse surprenant les chasseurs” (walrus surprising the hunters) which shows a walrus emerge between two kayakers, with a flock of geese overhead.

In another, “Attente de retour des traineaux,” 1978 (waiting for the sleds to return) a group of four, hooded women’s faces seem to peer out of a blizzard.

The show is up until December 19 at Montreal’s La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse at 4296 St. Laurent Boulevard. If you’re in the area, take a moment to stop by and us know how it looks.

Director Zacharias Kunuk's Latest Film

November 15th, 2010 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Community News, INUIT, Inuit Culture/Art

Zacharias Kunuk, Inuit producer and director of ‘Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner’, recently premiered a new feature film, a documentary titled ‘Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change’.

The documentary contains five Inuktitut dialects, recorded as its two directors followed Inuit elders to document their perspectives on global warming. While we read a great deal about climate change from a scientific point of view, this film provides a first-person perspective from the people most directly affected by the changes occurring.

From an examiner.com review by Cendrine Marrouat -

“Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change” is a remarkable piece of work that invites us to reconnect with ourselves and the world around us, as well as take responsibilities for our actions. As a result, it makes us better citizens of the world, citizens that cannot accept the status quo anymore.

The Edmonton Journal has published a very moving editorial written by Mr. Kunuk, discussing his motivations for this film and for becoming a film maker -

Besides stressing the key relationship people have with their environment, Inuit values recognize the importance of working together for a common purpose, avoiding conflict and finding consensus and, especially, what we call Qanuqtuurungnarniq, the concept of being resourceful, demonstrating adaptability and flexibility in response to a rapidly changing world.

Inuit approach climate change not only as a crisis, but as an opportunity to adapt, to find new techniques for living sustainably within the natural world. One after another, elders in our film tell us that hope lies in our capacity to be intelligent, resilient and well adapted to our environment.

Having survived and thrived through past climate changes, and the daily challenge of depending on weather and animals, Inuit experience tells us that the only constant is change itself, and adaptation is the key to a successful human future. To Inuit, climate change is a human rights issue — how people adapt to change and still respect the rights of others.

‘Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change’ can be screened online, as well as downloaded from Isuma TV.