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Notes on the Exhibition

Linguistic Note. Until recently, Inuit were called "Eskimos." This term comes from the language of their Algonkian Indian neighbors and means "eaters of raw meat," with a somewhat pejorative overtone. The term "Inuit" is from the Inuktituk language. It means "people" or "those who are really people" as opposed to nonInuit, with the singular inuk meaning person.

The term qallunaat, Anglicized to kabloona, is also from Inuktituk and refers to all those who are not Inuit. It is a useful term for describing most Inuit collectors: "western" is the wrong direction, and "southern" seems to put Winnipeg into Dixie and excludes the Europeans who first made contact with the Inuit in the 16th century.

Artist Names. Traditionally, an inuk had no last name, or family name, and was simply named Parr, Kiakshuk, or Pootoogook, for example. For record keeping purposes, the Canadian government assigned each inuk an "E number," such as E8-471. When the Inuit objected to this practice, the government asked them to adopt a second name—usually a last name—so their names would be more unique. Generally, the portion of the name that is used to characterize an Inuit artist is the more traditional given name: Oviloo, Oopik, Pauta—rather than the last name. When the first name is a Christian name (Paul, for example) or an Inuit version of a Christian name (such as Pauloosie), both names are required because that first name is so common.

Titles. It is the usual and somewhat unfortunate practice that Inuit sculptors do not title their work, leading dealers and collectors to guess about the meaning of some pieces. One artist who does pay particular attention to titles is Matiusi Iyaituk. In this exhibition, the title Wait Out the White Out in a Snow Wind Breaker is carved directly into the bottom of his work.

Inuit Stone. Until recently, the stone of Inuit carving was all termed soapstone. However, the Inuit rarely use true soapstone, a soft rock composed of talc. The most common stones are serpentine, steatite, and argillite. A detailed geological description of these is given in the catalog Northern Rock (see the list of suggested further reading). In this exhibition it is better to assume, at the risk of occasional inaccuracy, that the stone of a particular sculpture is that generally used by the community of the sculptor, as described in Northern Rock. Certain identification of the stone would require a geological analysis of each sculpture. As this is a destructive process, it is rarely done.

—John M. Burdick
Associate Curator for the Exhibition

Further Reading

Gustavison, Susan. 1999. Northern Rock: Contemporary Inuit Structure. Kleinberg: McMichael Canadian Art Collection.
Hessel, Ingo. 1999. Inuit Art: An Introduction. New York: Henry N. Abrams.
Houston, James. 1995. Confessions of an Igloo Dweller. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
Seidelman, Harold, and James Turner. 1993. The Inuit Imagination. Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre.
Swinton, George. 1999. Sculpture of the Inuit. 3rd Edition. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
Wight, Darlene. 1991. The First Passionate Collector. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery.

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PHOTOS

Drum Dancer.

Inuit Dentistry.

Drawing Out Evils.

Fishing from Umiak.

Bird Shaman.

Old Woman Legend.