Inuit

In this exhaustive story collection, the rich tradition of Inuit storytelling becomes accessible to the rest of Canada for the first time. Unipkaaqtut is the Inuit word meaning “to tell stories.”

This definitive collection of Inuit legends is thoughtfully introduced and carefully annotated to provide the historical and cultural context in which to understand this rich oral tradition.

Read about the origin of thunder and lightning, the tale of the man who married a fox and many animal fables from the North. Fascinating and educational, this little-known part of Canada’s heritage will captivate readers of all ages. As a work of historical and cultural preservation, this text will be invaluable to those studying Inuit.

Published in 2011

Paperback

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For thousands of years, Inuit women practiced the traditional art of tattooing. Created with bone needles and caribou sinew soaked in seal oil or soot, these tattoos were an important tradition for many women, symbols stitched in their skin that connected them to their families and communities.

But with the rise of missionaries and residential schools in the North, the tradition of tattooing was almost lost. In 2005, when Angela Hovak Johnston heard that the last Inuk woman tattooed in the traditional way had died, she set out to tattoo herself and learn how to tattoo others. What was at first a personal quest became a project to bring the art of traditional tattooing back to Inuit women across Nunavut, starting in the community of Kugluktuk.

Collected in this beautiful book are moving photos and stories from more than two dozen women who participated in Johnston’s project. Together, these women are reawakening their ancestors’ lines and sharing this knowledge with future generations.

Published in 2017

Hardcover

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Inuit art is examined in this book from prehistory to the present, especially its influence on non-Inuit artists and scholars, and their influence on it.

Part One gives a history of the main art-producing prehistoric traditions in the North American Arctic, concentrating on the Dorset. It also discusses the influence of theories such as evolutionism, diffusionism, ethnographic comparison, and shamanism on the interpretation of prehistoric Inuit art.

Part Two, with the support of interviews with Inuit artists, analyzes the influence of such theories as nationalism, primitivism, modernism, and postmodernism on 20th century Canadian Inuit art. The presence of Inuit art in the mainstream is demonstrated with a discussion of its influence on Canadian artist Nicola Wojewoda, to whose work, in addition, Inuit artists present their reactions.

Softcover
Published in 2005

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