Inuit Docent Handbook - Dennos Museum Center



INUIT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

A Docent Guide

Fall 2006

The Enchanted Owl, Kenojuak Ashevak, Stonecut, Cape Dorset 1960

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction to the Inuit Partnership Program

a. Goals

b. Guiding Principles

2. Inuit Partnership Overview

a. Museum Visit Description

b. Classroom Visit Description

c. Teacher Contact Checklist

d. Teacher Materials

e. Recommended Research Materials

3. History of the Collection

4. History of the Inuit People

5. History of Inuit Printmaking

6. Climate Change

Left: Docent Folly Michael leads a group of students through an Inuit game.

Right: Docent Mary Keenan shows off student artwork.

HISTORY OF THE INUIT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

The Inuit Partnership Program is an extremely strong educational program of the Dennos Museum Center. Each winter we invite 6th grade classes to participate in this program which exposes them to Inuit culture through our world-class collection of Inuit Art.

The program began in 1995 in response to a desire by the Museum to use the Inuit collection in a way that would alert the community to this artistic and cultural treasure in their midst. An advisory committee of docents, educators, art specialists, and community members spent hours creating a program that would answer the school’s need for materials and information to support their 6th grade Canadian studies, and the Museum’s hope for the active use of the Inuit collection. The original program took a semester to complete; now it is condensed into several weeks of exposure to Inuit culture.

This program, a point of pride for the Education Department, and the Museum as a whole, continues to evolve to meet the needs of local teachers, while meeting the Museum’s mission to engage, entertain, and enlighten the community.

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Docent Ted Kidd explains the Sedna myth to students in the Power Family Inuit Gallery.

PROGRAM GOALS

Students will:

• Recognize the importance and educational value of the Dennos Museum Center’s Inuit Art Collection.

• Use the Inuit Art Collection to help address the Michigan Department of Education Social Studies and Visual Arts curriculum standards and benchmarks.

• Become acquainted with the last hunting culture of Canadian North America.

• Compare Canadian Inuit with Michigan Woodland tribes.

• Internalize and apply the concept that art reflects culture.

• Understand the ramifications of Inuit transition from life on the land to life in the settlement.

• Connect culture and change in Inuit culture with that in our own.

• Create a piece of artwork in the Inuit tradition.

Concepts for the Surprise Visit:

• The art of any culture is filled with information about its people.

• We are more alike than we are different.

• We are open-minded when we study other cultures.

Concepts for the Museum Experience:

• The Museum’s collection of Inuit art is unique, accessible, exciting, and inspiring.

• What you learn in the museum can be used in looking at and creating art throughout your life.

• Art mirrors life and conveys dreams, legends, and myth.

• There are many approaches to understanding another culture.

• Art can be well-planned and thought out or very spontaneous.

• The physical demands on a typical Inuit 6th grader are far greater than the physical demands on a typical local 6th grader.

Docent guiding principles:

• The museum is fun, creatively stimulating, and educational.

• All children deserve our kindest, keenest, most encouraging support to reach their potential.

• Children of different cultures share common problems, fears, and joys.

• We must model what we want children to emulate.

INUIT PARTNERSHIP PROCESS

1. The Curator of Education reserves the dates for the Inuit Partnership program.

2. Each fall letters are sent to 6th grade teachers with dates available for the Inuit Partnership Museum Visits.

3. After receiving their letter, teachers call or email the Curator of Education in the fall to book a date for their museum visit.

4. Docent teams pick their schools at the first Inuit Partnership Training Meeting.

5. The team leader or team representative contacts the teacher to set up details for the classroom visit, museum visit, and additional resources (books, movies, etc.). Docents should use the Teacher Contact Checklist to facilitate this communication (see forms section).

6. The team leader or team representative sends out the Inuit Partnership Teacher Packet and Teacher Forms.

7. A docent from the team visits the school for an in-class orientation to Inuit culture.

8. The classes visit the museum to experience printmaking, Inuit games, and an interactive tour of the Power Family Inuit Gallery.

9. Docent Teams send out thank-you notes to teachers.

A student enjoys Inuit Games in the Milliken Auditorium.

MUSEUM VISIT DESCRIPTION

The Museum visit is usually two hours and thirty minutes in length. Suggested timings are 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 A.m. or 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. That being said, due to the great number of late start schools and limited bus availability, the Dennos Museum Center Docents are flexible to teacher needs regarding scheduling tours.

Tour Introduction (15 minutes)

Assemble students in the auditorium for a brief introduction including:

• Introduce docents

• Dennos Museum Center Inuit Art collection (2nd largest in continental United States)

• Museum Rules

• Identify restroom locations

• Break into three groups

Tour Rotations (45 minutes each)

• Auditorium: Inuit Games and Drumming

• Janice Room: Printmaking

• Inuit Gallery: Interactive, hands-on tour

In the case that a room in unavailable, the Discovery Gallery or Sculpture Court will be used for the games and drumming or printmaking.

Tour Wrap-Up (5-10 minutes)

Assemble students in the auditorium. Lead docent will:

• Ask a few students what they learned.

• What was their favorite activity?

After the organized tour, the students may visit the restroom, explore the Discovery Gallery or current exhibits, and go in the Museum Store at the teacher’s discretion. STUDENTS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A CHAPERONE AT ALL TIMES.

DOCENTS: Be sure that the fee is paid or arrangements have been made to pay before the school group leaves the building. The teacher and one chaperone for each 10 students are admitted free. All other adults are required to pay the usual admission. Give each teacher an evaluation form with a stamped envelope, a glossy photo and a free pass for each student.

BE FLEXIBLE, WEAR YOUR NAMETAG, AND GIVE THEM A BIG SMILE!!!

CLASSROOM VISIT DESCRIPTION

The classroom visit is 40-60 minutes in length.

1. Introduce yourselves to the class.

2. Show the film, Kenojuak (22 minutes). Make sure to reserve the film for the date ahead of time and bring back to the museum that day.

3. Discussion (15 minutes). Please choose any of the following to structure your discussion of Inuit Culture.

a. Differences between life today in Nunavut and life in the early 1950s.

b. Survival skills.

c. Housing.

d. Transportation.

e. Importance of animals for clothing, transportation, food, shelter, etc.

f. Education (then and now).

g. Health issues (then and now).

h. Art (do they still draw? Carve?).

i. What has not changed in Nunavut since the early 1950s?

4. What to expect when you visit the Dennos Museum Center

a. Art Project: bring your drawings!

b. Demonstration and participation in Inuit games, dancing, and throat singing: bring your poems!

c. Interactive Gallery Tour.

d. Bring your poems.

DOCENTS: Be sure to call the teacher in the school you will be visiting to arrange the date and time you will be arriving. Call him/her the day before to again confirm you arrival time. Always leave your name and phone number where you can be reached.

You will also need to work with the teacher to arrange a TV and VCR for the showing of the film. If it is a large group they may be able to arrange for a screen set up in library or similar room for the hour.

Docent Ginny Fiegel dressed as an Inuit woman for a classroom visit.

INUIT PARTNERSHIP TEACHER CONTACT CHECKLIST

Verify the following information regarding the tour reservation:

Teacher: School:

Number of Students: Number of Chaperones:

Date of Museum Visit: Time of Museum Visit:

Date of Classroom Visit: Time of Classroom Visit:

Questions for the Teacher:

Are there any special needs?

On the date of their museum visit, what Inuit-related topics will they have studied?

Do you want to use the museum’s Frozen Fire books?

Pick Up Date:

Return Date:

(Inform/Check with the Curator of Education)

Do you want to watch the Kenojuak film?

During classroom visit? (encouraged)

Make sure they arrange for TV/VCR and appropriately sized room.

Another date:

(If the film needs to be sent, inform the Curator of Education)

Lunch plans:

(If they need to eat lunch at the museum, let the Curator of Education know ASAP to reserve space)

Reminders for Museum Visit

• Come in Auditorium doors

• Bring Poems

• Bring Sketches

• Divide the group into 3 groups before arrival (unless the group is very small).

• Cost is $3/student

• One Chaperone per 10 students is free, any additional is $4/adult.

• Students wear large first-name tags.

• Leave backpacks, water bottles, coats, etc. on bus.

TEACHER MATERIALS

These forms and worksheets should be sent to the teacher along with the teacher packet after the docent teams contact the teacher to set up the classroom visit. Master copies will be available in the docent forms folders.

1. Agenda

a. Make sure that you fill out the top of this sheet before sending it to the teacher

2. Chaperone Responsibilities

3. Art Project Worksheets

4. Resources Available from Dennos Museum Center

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A student works on a stencil project during an Inuit Partnership tour.

DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER

INUIT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

Cost for the visit is $3 per student

Date: Time:

School: Teacher:

Number of Students: Number of Chaperones:

Suggested Agenda:

Pre-Boarding

Gym shoes recommended for Inuit Games.

Distribute large print name tags (first names only)

Divide students into three groups

Introduce chaperones

Give chaperones a copy of the agenda, review their responsibilities and ask them to turn off cell phones or pagers.

Review manners, Museum rules, and expectations

Review Agenda

Board buses or cars

Arrive at the Dennos Museum Center

Cars may park in the Museum Gated Parking Lot, the arm rises as you enter the parking lot and the receptionist in the museum lobby will give you the code for exiting the parking lot.

School buses drop off students and park in the Cherry parking lot, which is the first lot on the left as they proceed down College Drive.

Enter the Museum using the Milliken Auditorium entrance

Sit down in the first row center seats

Coats, bags, boots, water bottles, etc. will be left in the auditorium if it is not possible to leave them in vehicles

PLEASE INFORM DOCENTS OF ANY SPECIAL NEEDS OF THE STUDENTS.

CHAPERONE RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Help move the students from one session to the next.

2. Monitor the use of lavatories between sessions.

3. Monitor the Gift Shop. Please stay with students until everyone from the group is finished.

4. Monitor the students while touring the exhibits.

5. Stay with their assigned group of students and assist as needed.

6. Any other duties assigned by the teacher.

(Note: Teachers and chaperones are responsible for disciplining students. If a student’s behavior is distracting or disruptive, the docent may ask the chaperone to remove the student from the group.)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GIVING YOUR TIME!

We hope that you have as much fun as the students do!

The students in your group are:

ART PROJECT PREPARATION

On the day of your class visit to the Dennos Museum Center, the art project will be making a block print. The Inuit create stone cut prints by carving into rocks and then pulling prints from them. You will carve into a piece of rubber-like material and do some printing. Because of limited time during your visit, it is important that you come prepared with a design ready to be carved. You design should be simple. Please avoid detail, numbers and letters. Remember that the printed image will be in the opposite direction of what you draw!

We suggest drawing something related to Inuit life, like an animal that lives in the Arctic, an igloo, or an Inuit, but this is your project. Be creative and have fun! These rectangles are the size you will be working with the day of your visit. Make sure to bring your sketches with you to the Museum!

RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR LOAN

DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER: INUIT ART AND CULTURE

VIDEOS

Videos may be on loan for three days only. Please call (231) 995-1029 to reserve a video. TBA mailing service may be used for schools in outlying areas, Traverse City teachers are encouraged to pick up all materials from the Museum directly.

Inuit Arts, Volume 1, National Film Board of Canada, 1987, VHS

A collection of four videos featuring Inuit artists working in a variety of media. Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak is a film essay showing one printmaker’s sources of inspiration and stone-printing technique. The Living Stone is a look at the art of carving stone, ivory and bone. Sanandguagat: Inuit Masterworks shows scence from an exhibition of carvings, juxtaposed with images of the artists and the lands where they live. Pictures Out of My Life presents the work of Pitseolak, one of the most famous Cape Dorset artists. Total running time: 91 minutes.

Songs in Stone: An Arctic Journey Home, A Triad Films Production, directed by John Houston, 1999

Shot primarily on Baffin Island in the wilds of the Canadian Arctic, this film pays tribute to the scuptors and printmakers of Cape Dorset, and to James Houston and the late Alma Houston, whose historic collaboration launched Inuit art onto the world stage. Running Time: 45 minutes.

Easter in Igloolik: Peter’s Story, Bullfrog Films, 1987

After eight months of darkness, the Inuit celebrate the coming of light in the Northwest Territories, gloriously captured on camera at dawn. During preparations for and celebration of the Easter service at the local church, the Inuit approach to the Christian faith and the incorporation of some of their traditional spiritual beliefs are described. The festivities pleasantly culminate with an igloo building contest. Running time: 25 minutes.

How to Build an Igloo, National Film Board of Canada, 1950.

A demonstration of igloo-building in Canada’s far north, showing how the site is selected and how blocks of snow are used to make a snug shelter in only an hour and a half. As the camera follows each stage, the commentary explains the process. Running time: 10 minutes.

BOOKS

Books need to be reserved ahead of time to ensure that there are enough for every student. Teachers must pick up books from the Museum and drop them off on the arranged date. Call (231) 995-1029 to reserve books.

Frozen Fire, James Houston, 1984

James Houston's book, Frozen Fire not only tells an exciting story of two teenage boys struggling for survival in the Canadian Arctic, it also sheds an insight into the lives, beliefs, and customs of the Inuit people.

Show Me: A Young Inuk Learns How to Carve in Canada’s Arctic, Ann Meekitjuk Hanson, 1991.

Naulaq is a young boy in the Canadian Arctic who is curious and eager to learn important skills. This story explores hi learning about stone carving and his culture. This story is presented both in English and in Inuktitut.

OTHER RESOURCES

The Dennos Museum Center Educational Library has a large collection of books and videos which are available for a teacher’s individual research needs. These will soon be available through the Osterlin Library at Northwestern Michigan College. Teachers interested in these materials should contact the Museum for more information at (231) 995-1029.

THE DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER INUIT ART COLLECTION

In 1960, Wilbur C. Munnecke, a Chicago publishing executive who summered in Leland, Michigan, donated a rare collection of Inuit carvings to the Mark and Helen Osterlin Library on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College. Under the auspices of the then Library Director, Bernard C. Rink, an exhibition and sale of the carvings were organized. Enough Inuit art was sold to support a year round exhibition program and to invest in more carvings, as well as the newly developed stonecut and sealskin prints. By 1964, the Inuit Art Exhibit and Sale was noted as an annual event, and the NMC Library was made one of the few Inuit art outlets in the United Stated authorized by the Canadian government to sell Inuit art.

From that rather inauspicious beginning, the collection grew to hold over 1,000 objects, equally divided between original stonecut, stencil, and lithograph prints, whalebone and stone sculptures, drawings, textiles, and artifacts. It has achieved prominence as one of the most historically complete collections of Contemporary Inuit Art in the United States. For almost 30 years the collection was housed in the Osterlin Library before accession into the Dennos Museum Center’s permanent collection. The cornerstone of the collection is now on permanent exhibition in the Power Family Inuit Gallery, where objects are rotated on a regular basis.

The collection is comprised of the works of over eighty Inuit artists from various communities across the Canadian Arctic. Instrumental in bringing Inuit Art to the United States was Ann Arbor businessman Eugene Power, who, along with James Houston, facilitated an exhibition of Inuit Art at the Cranbrook Institute of Science in 1953. Power went on to found Eskimo Art Incorporated, a non-profit organization created to promote an appreciation for Inuit Art and become the first in the United States to import Inuit Art. In 1995 his son donated a major part of his father’s private collection to the Museum.

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Woman of the Sea, Soroseelutu Ashoona, Stonecut, Cape Dorset, 1976

HISTORY OF THE INUIT PEOPLE

Prehistoric Period

Inuit origins date back approximately 4000-5000 years. Anthropologists believe that from Asia, ancestors of present day Inuit crossed the Bering Land Bridge to Alaska, and traversed the Canadian Artic to the eastern most point of Greenland. Originally inland caribou hunters, these Paleo-Eskimos adapted to coastal environments, hunting seals and walruses as they migrated across the tundra. It is this adaptation to marine hunting which occurred sometime after 900 AD that marks the beginning of the Inuit culture.

Historic Period

Three cultures pre-date the Inuit; the Pre-Dorset (2000-800 BCE), the Dorset (c.1000 BCE - 1300 CE) and the Thule (c.900 -1800 CE). During the Thule period a major change in whale hunting technology occurred allowing men to become more proficient at hunting, and thus, more dependent upon whales as primary food source. The present day Inuit are direct descendants of the Thule people, with the transition occurring around 1800.

Period of Contact

The 19th century ushered in one of the most profound changes in Inuit culture. While French and English explorers reached the Arctic as early as the 16th century, continued contact with the Europeans did not occur until the second half of the 19th century. Sparse interaction during the early part of the century created insignificant impact, but, by the 1860, whale products and meat became a valuable commodity in Europe. Substantial contact occurred when the European industry moved its company to Hudson Bay. It is at this point that the real threat to Inuit culture began.

To take advantage of early spring whaling, Europeans found a way to “winter over” in Hudson Bay. “Wintering over” created an immediate dependency upon the Inuit for meat, supplies and clothing; consequently, the whalers traded guns, whaleboats, tobacco, sweets and other supplies to the Inuit. Not only did the Europeans bring commodities to this foreign land, but also diseases that the Inuit’s immune system was unable to handle.

By 1915 the whaling industry was replaced by the fur trading industry, when the fur of the arctic fox became popular in Europe.

Contemporary Period

For the Inuit, a semi-nomadic way of life prevailed until approximately 1950, when the Canadian government took responsibility for their health, education and welfare, and encouraged them to relocate to permanent settlements where food, clothing and shelter would be provided. Once relocation was achieved, the complex task before the Canadian government was acculturation; allowing for the continuation of cultural evolution, while adapting to a life of western world values. For the Inuit, adapting to this newly imposed social structure was perhaps more challenging than understanding the rhythms of the land.

The person largely responsible for guiding the Inuit toward adjustment and economic stability was the artist, James Houston, who first visited the Arctic in 1948. While there, Houston received some small carvings in return for his sketches. Struck by the nature of these simply carved forms, Houston requested from the Canadian Handicrafts Guild, assistance in purchasing carvings for the purpose of planning an exhibition in Montreal. So successful was the exhibition that Houston returned to the Arctic a year later as a representative of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild stationed in Cape Dorset on Baffin Island. By 1956, the Canadian government appointed Houston the Northern Service Officer for the Cape Dorset area and charged him with the task of helping the Inuit move toward financial stability by developing and promoting their existing art forms of stone carving and needlework. While men carved and women appliquéd and created stencils with the guidance of Alma Houston, James’wife, a sense of creativity and personal expression through drawing and needlework was fostered. It is against this backdrop that the Contemporary Period of Inuit Art emerged.

It was not until 1957, however, that Houston introduced the concept of printmaking to the Inuit. This often told historic moment began one night while he sat with Osuitok, an Inuit stone carver. Osuitok began to carefully examine several packages of cigarettes that lay on the table. As he pondered, he commented on how difficult it must be for the artist to make each design the same from pack to pack. Astounded, Houston suddenly realized that the Inuit artist had no concept of how images are mechanically reproduced. To demonstrate the art of printing, Houston picked up a walrus tusk incised by Osuitok, rubbed ink over it, put paper over the inked tusk, and rubbed until the incised lines left an impression. Houston then repeated this process over and over. Astonished at the magic of what he saw, Osuitok realized that his people could reproduce their own images. As a result, Houston requested ink, rollers, and paper from the Canadian government, and experiments in printmaking began. Houston soon applied his knowledge of Japanese woodcut techniques to the indigenous materials of the Arctic; namely stone, and began teaching Inuit carvers the art of stonecut printmaking. In early 1958, experimentation with sealskin stencil prints began. Large patterns were cut from stretched sealskins and paint-soaked brushes make of polar bear hair here used to apply color. Today, a waxed paper technique is used for stencil prints.

In 1959, Cape Dorset artists produced their first edition of prints. Early prints incorporated the techniques of stonecut and sealskin stencils, and in 1972, lithography was introduced. Each year up to fifty original drawings are selected to become prints. Once an edition is created, only fifty sets of hand-pulled prints are published to be sold throughout the world.

Looking toward the eventual goal of economic solvency, cooperatives formed to produce, promote, and sell Inuit art. By 1970, the new government of the Northwest Territories took responsibility for the development of Inuit arts and crafts. Today, the cooperative’s responsibilities extend beyond the development of economic stability. They offer an exchange of goods and services from art to commercial fisheries and act as a proving ground for new businesses by providing retail, accounting, managing, and marketing support.

Survival

Inherent in every aspect of Inuit life is the nature of survival. Living on the land and by the fruits of the land required strength, stamina, ingenuity, and a spiritual connection with nature that allowed one to co-exist harmoniously within the Arctic environment. Survival was dependent not upon conquest, but upon understanding the seasonal changes and cycles, observing the migratory patterns of birds and caribou, taking only what was necessary and returning what was not. Consequently, a legacy of respect and comprehension of the natural world’s rhythms have shaped the value system by which Inuit live.

Crucial to survival was the land “offering up” its bounty to provide food, clothing, weapons, and shelter for the Inuit. Thus, a successful hunt became the essence of survival. It was the responsibility of every hunter to kill an animal and accept its gifts. By the same token, it was an act of greed to take an animal that was not needed. Nature’s powerful elements have, by necessity, produced honesty, integrity, sharing and co-operation amongst the Inuit.

Arctic Wildlife

Until the 1950s, the Inuit were dependent upon Arctic wildlife for survival. Respectful of this condition, hunters came to understand the very nature of each animal. When the sea was frozen over in the winter months, the primary hunting activity was catching walrus at the edge of the ice and seals at their breathing holes. As the weather warmed and the sea opened, seals could be taken as they basked in the sun on ice floes. Finally, when spring arrived, hunting activity shifted to caribou and camps were set up inland.

The short summer months were busy with catching fish from inland lakes, which were then dried and stored. Hunting walrus from kayaks in the open waters, one of the most dangerous Inuit activities, involved tying kayaks together for greater stability. Caribou, hunted in the fall, provided the Inuit with long dense fur needed to make warm, wind-proof parkas.

Nomadic Life: Skin Tents and Snow Houses

Traditionally, the Inuit are perceived as nomadic, yet, their movement was systematically organized, following seasonal cycles and natural migratory patterns of animals. Winter months were spent living on or near sea ice. Spring warmth brought movement inland to hunt caribou and birds and to fish the inland lakes. Whether on land in skin tents, or in snow houses on frozen water, camp was the nucleus of family life. Life on the land necessitated clearly defined roles for both men and women and resulted in an interdependent community structure. Men were considered the primary providers. They hunted for food and fashioned tools and implements, built kayaks and sleds, and constructed shelters for their families. Women held the role of nurturer to both children and husband. After cleaning and preparing skins for sewing, a woman provided a complete set of clothes for her family every year. Critical was her ability to construct waterproof sealskin boots.

Meeting the challenge of the Arctic environment fostered cultural values that paid homage to a sharing ethic. Hunting expeditions were organized in groups and a successful hunt meant dividing the catch among group members. Children gradually took on the responsibilities of their respective role models. Girls carried young children on their backs and sewed mittens, and boys traveled with their fathers on hunting trips.

Intricately woven into the fabric of daily life were communal taboos. Respect for each other, as well as the land, governed behavior. The fear of reprisal was far greater than the temptation to act inappropriately, and it consequently shaped a culture respectful of the natural world.

The Spirit World

Responding to the human need to understand forces greater than the mind can comprehend and to make sense of catastrophic natural events, Inuit turned to the unseen; the spirit world. Life was as intimately bound to the spirit world as the natural world. Governed by these forces, the Inuit believed that all elements of existence, animate and inanimate, human or animal, were imbued with spirits.

Inuit belief recounts a time when human and animal lived as one, when souls were interchangeable. Integral to this belief was the shaman, the most powerful person in the community. The shaman could communicate with spirits and acted as intercessor between the physical realm and the spiritual realm. His or her responsibilities were to cure the sick and counteract evil forces, as well as communicate with the spirits who controlled a hunt’s success or failure.

Missionaries attempted to suppress this belief system, but it has become the cornerstone of legends handed down from generation to generation and is commonly depicted in their imagery.

Present Day

Present day Inuit life no longer necessitates hunting and fishing and travel from summer to winter camps as a means of survival. Although the Inuit have been relocated to settlements where they live in wood houses, many men still continue to hunt and many women adhere to the traditional roles of preparing the meat for food and skins for clothing.

On April 1, 1999, the map of Canada changed for the first time in fifty years with the creation of Nunavut Territory. The Northwest Territories was split, and approximately two million square kilometers of the central and eastern Arctic, (one-fifth of Canada’s landmass), became Nunavut, which translates to “Our Land” in their native language, Inuktitut.

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is one of the most innovative of the “modern day treaties” accomplished in Canada. Some of the more outstanding of its 41 articles include the following:

• Title to approximately 808,185 square miles (2,093,190 km) of land

• Equal Inuit representation on various governmental boards; including wildlife management, resource management, and environmental boards

• The right to harvest wildlife on lands and waters throughout the Nunavut Settlement Area

• A share of federal government royalties for Nunavut Inuit from oil, gas, and mineral development on Crown lands

Inuit life is very different in the Canadian Arctic today. The advent of satellite technology has had a profound effect on isolated Inuit Arctic communities. While strong traditional values and ethics are woven into the fabric of many Nunavut communities, Inuit are now adapting and using home computers, telephones, cable TV, and the Internet. Dog teams, once the only mode of transportation, have been replaced by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, and airplanes in order to travel across the frozen north more quickly and efficiently. Maintaining the codes and rituals of this nomadic, tribal society governed by complex ideas of honor and loyalty remains a challenge. Their art serves as a reflection of the Inuit’s desire to document their history and preserve a treasured heritage.

A note on the word Eskimo

The term Eskimo was given to the Inuit by the Algonquin, an Indian tribe who inhabited North America long before the Inuit. In Algonquin, Eskimo means “eaters of raw meat.” The Inuit prefer the word Inuit, because that means “the people” in their language. The term Eskimo is sometimes used in a derogatory fashion. The Museum prefers to use the work Inuit out of respect for the Inuit people.

INUKTITUT LANGUAGE

Inukyitut is the language spoken by Inuit living in Northwestern Canada. Inuktitut words are sometimes very long. They are built up by putting small pieces in the middle (infix) or at the end (suffix) of a simple word.

Simple Words:

Tuttu = caribou (pronounced took-too)

Nanuq = polar bear (pronounced na-nook)

Arlu = killer whale (pronounced ar-loo)

Malik = follow (pronounced mah-lick)

Infixes:

-siuq- = hunt (pronounced see-ok)

-guma- = want (pronounced gooma)

-ngi- = not (pronounced like the ‘ngi’ in longing)

Suffixes:

-titut = just like a (pronounced tea-toot)

-punga = I (pronounced poonga)

-putit = you (pronounced put-it)

-puq = he or she (pronounced pok)

You can use these words to make up sentences. If you use the affix –mik, it shows that a word is the object of a sentence. For example:

Marcusi arlu-mik malik-puq. (Marcusi follows a killer whale)

Marcusi-mik arlu malik-puq. (A killer whale follows Marcusi)

Or you can make one long word. For example:

Arlu-siuq-guma-gni-punga. (I don’t want to hunt killer whale)

You can put the words in any order you like. Just remember that affixes always come after infixes, and that infixes always come after single words. For example:

Amag = to carry

Amuat = carrying pouch

Amautik = parka with carrying pouch

Amariik = mother carrying child in the amautik

Vocabulary List

Agloo Seal’s breathing hole in the ice

Amautik parka with carrying pouch for child

Arnaviaq Female snow bunting

Ataata Father

Arlu killer whale

Ayayut Inuit Drum

Bannock Inuit bread

Eskimo eaters of raw meat

Igdlo house

Igloo dome-shaped house made of snow blocks

Inuit the people

Inuk one Inuit person

Inukshuk pile of stones, a marker

Inuktitut the Inuit language

Iqaluk fish

Isumatag one who thinks

Kabloona white people

Kamiks inner boots of felt or duffel

Kayak long, narrow hide boat for one person, used for hunting

Komalik sled

Komatiq sledge

Kudliq soapstone lamp

Malik follow

Mukluk boots

Nanuq polar bear

Nauttiaq wildflower

Nuglutang game

Oogruk bearded seal

Oopik owl

Parka hooded jacket

Qupanuavik male snow bunting

Tupik summer tent

Tuttu Caribou

Ulu large, crescent-shaped bone knife used for scraping hides

Umiak large boat able to hold 10-12 people

Words for Snow

Igluksaq snow for making an igloo

Aput snow on the ground

Aquilluqqaqa firm, but not quite firm enough for a snow house

Ganik falling snow

Masak wet snow, typical of spring

Mauya soft, deep snow

Pigtug snow being blown in a blizzard

Pukak snow of granular consistency, not good for building a snow house

Inuktitut Phrases

Good morning Ullaakut ood-laa-koot

Good afternoon Unnusaakut oon-noo-saa-koot

Good evening Unnukut oon-noo-koot

How are you? Qanuippit ka-noo-ee-peet?

I’m fine Qanuingi(tunga) ka-noo-ee-ngee-(too-nga)

Thank you Nakuqmiik na-ko-meek

You’re welcome Ilali ee-laa-lee

It’s cold Ikkinaqtuq ee-kee-nak-took

When? Qaanga kaa-nga?

Is it open? Maatuingava maa-to-ee-nga-va?

Do you understand? Tuukisiviit too-kee-see-veet?

Me, too Uvangetaau oo-va-nga-ta-oo

Come here Qaigiit kae-ee-geet

Field of Verse, Anirnik Ragee, Lithograph, Cape Dorset, 2004

INUIT TIME LINE

Prehistoric Period

2000 – 800 BCE

Pre-Dorset People

• Inland caribou hunters cross the Bering Land Bridge from Asia to what is now Alaska

• Inuit ancestors migrated from Alaska to Nunavut

• Adapting to marine hunting, making spears, bows, and arrows

1000 BCE – 1300 CE

Dorset People

• Soapstone lamp

• First igloo, kayaks, and sleds

• Masks made of bone and ivory

900 – 1800 CE

Thule Culture

• Assimilation with Dorset people

• Advances in whale hunting led to dependency on whales as primary food source

• Made incised hair combs, needle cases, and harpoons

1250-1500 CE

• Contact with Vikings in Greenland

• By 1400 the Norse colonies fade

1800 – 1860 CE

Inuit Culture

• Shamans at intercessor

• Small carving approach to animal spirits

Period of Contact

1860 – 1915

Whaling

• Whale products become popular in Europe (baleen, bones)

• Whaling industry moves to Hudson Bay

• European settlers trade guns, tobacco, sweets and disease

1915-1930

Fur Trading

• Replaces whaling as primary means of trade

• Community hunting style replaced by independent trapping until fur market collapses

• Nomadic life prevails again after fur trade collapses

• Missionaries develop written Inuktitut

• Impoverished existence leads to housing initiatives by Canadian government

Contemporary Period

1948. Jim Houston first comes to Hudson Bay

1953. Canadian Government establishes the Department of Northern Affairs (Houston is named Administrator)

1953. Eugene Power meets J. Houston and forms Eskimo Art Incorporated

1959. First Arctic Cooperative incorporated at George River

1963. Wilbur Munnecke, Board member of Power Eskimo Art Inc. donates his collection of Inuit Art to Northwestern Michigan College. Bernie Rink, NMC’s librarian, holds the first NMC Inuit Art exhibit and Sale

1991. Dennos Museum Center is built to house NMC collection of 545 pieces

[pic]

Cape Dorset today, Photo from .nu.ca

GENERAL INFORMATION ON NUNAVUT

Size

Area of Nunavut: 1,900,000 sq. km

Area of Canada: 9,970,610 sq km

A few comparisons

Greenland: 2,175,600 sq km

Germany: 357,047 sq km

China 9,596,961 sq km

Sweden: 449,964 sq km

United States: 9,631,418 sq km

Traverse City: 22.5 sq km

How far north?

Arctic Circle 67º

Grise Fjord 77º

Coppermine 68º

Iqaluit 64º

Rankin Inlet 63º

A few comparisons

Ottawa 45º

Stockholm 59º

Moscow 56º

Berlin 52º

Rome 42º

Beijin 40º

Traverse City 45º

Population

Total Population of Nunavut: approximately 22,000

Total Inuit Population of Nunavut: Approximately 17,500

Iqaluit is the largest community in Nunavut. It has a population of 4,000 and is located approximately 2,000 kilometers from Ottawa. The mean temperature in January is -30ºC and in July is 10ºC.

The Economy

Nunavut’s economy is characterized by a traditional subsistence economy and a relatively young wage economy. The subsistence economy includes the hunting of caribou, seals, whales, walrus, and fish for food and clothing. The main sectors of the wage economy are government (~40% of all wage-jobs), mining (85% of mining jobs are held by non-residents of Nunavut), construction and services sector, tourism (contributes $30 million annually), fur industry, and arts and crafts (2,500 earn some or all of their income from the arts).

Nunavut – A Chronology (from the Government of Canada)

4500 BCE to 1000 CE: Successive waves of Inuit enter and move throughout what is now the Canadian arctic.

1670: King Charles II of England grants the Hudson’s Bay Charter, giving the Hudson’s Bay Company a trading monopoly over much of what is now the Canadian North. This area is named Rupert’s Land

1676-1678: English navigator Martin Frobisher explores the east coast of Baffin Island. Over the next three centuries, many navigators follow, seeking a Northwest Passage to Asia.

1845: English explorer Sir John Franklin sets out with two vessels in search of the Northwest Passage. On the brink of success, he and his crew disappear after their ships become icebound. Franklin’s disappearance spurs search missions that continue into the 20th century.

1870: The Government of Canada acquires Rupert’s Land.

1880: The British government transfers the Arctic Islands to the Government of Canada.

1926: The Arctic Islands Game Preserve is established as an exclusive Inuit hunting preserve. The Preserve is subsequently expanded in 1929 and 1942 to cover most of the remaining islands and parts of the mainland.

1939: The outbreak of World War II leads to the establishment of military bases in the eastern arctic.

1963: The Government of Canada introduces the first legislation to divide the Northwest Territories (NWT), but it dies on the order paper.

1966:The Carrothers Commission advises against division within the next 10 years, but recognizes it is inevitable, given the sheer size of the NWT.

1973: The Government of Canada establishes its first Comprehensive Land Claims Policy. The aim of the policy is to exchange undefined Aboriginal rights which had never been dealt with, for a clearly defined package of rights and benefits set out in a land claim settlement agreement.

1973: Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC), the national political organization representing the Inuit, begins a study of Inuit land use and occupancy, which shows the extent of Inuit Aboriginal title in the Arctic.

1975: The first fully elected Government in NWT takes office.

1976: ITC calls for the creation of Nunavut territory as part of a comprehensive settlement of Inuit land claims in the NWT.

1977: The NWT Inuit Lands Commission proposes to the Government of Canada that a new territory and government be established in Nunavut, along the lines of Inuit political institutions.

1979: A second seat for the NWT is created in Canada’s House of Commons. The new parliamentary riding, called Nunatsiaq, encompasses approximately the same territory as Nunavut.

1980: The NWT Legislative Assembly votes in favor of dividing the territory.

1982: A territory-wide public vote results in 56 percent of voters in favor of dividing the NWT.

1984: The Inuvialiut, Inuit of the western Arctic’s Beaufort Sea region, finalize their land claim settlement agreement.

1990: Nunavut land claim agreement-in-principle affirms Inuit, territorial and federal government support for the creation of the territory of Nunavut “as soon as possible.”

1992: A majority of voters in the NWT approve the proposed boundary for dividing the NWT.

1992: Inuit of Nunavut vote in favor of approving their land claim settlement.

1993: The Nunavut Final Land Claim Agreement is signed by Inuit, the Government of Canada, and the Government of the NWT.

1993: The Nunavut Act to create Nunavut and the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement Act are enacted by Parliament.

1994: The Nunavut Implementation Commission, a group established to advise the federal government on aspects of creating Nunavut, holds its first meeting.

1995: The Nunavut Implementation Commission releases Footprints in New Snow, a detailed plan for the design of the Nunavut government.

1995: In a public vote, 60 percent of Nunavut voters choose Iqualuit over Rankin Inlet for the new capital.

1997: The federal government appoints former Member of Parliament Jack Anawak to serve as Interim Commissioner of Nunavut. The Office of the Interim Commissioner is to follow up on the work of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, including recruitment of a public service for the new territory.

February 15, 1999: Residents of Nunavut hold their first election for members of their Legislative Assembly

April 1, 1999: Nunavut and its new government are inaugurated; and the Nunavut coat of arms and flag are unveiled.

MAP OF NUNAVUT

PRINTMAKING

Inuit Prints are produced in five northern communities: Cape Corset, Baker Lake, Holman, Pangnirtung, and Povungnituk. They encompass a wide variety of print media; including, stonecut, stencil, lithography, etching, engraving, silkscreen, and linocut. Prints are released in annual collections accompanied by a catalogue. They are generally pulled in limited editions of 50 or less. Each print is signed and inscribed with the name of the artist, printmaker, title, edition number, and year.

Printmaking among the Inuit began in the 1950s as one of the many arts and crafts projects initiated by the Canadian government in an attempt to encourage economic independence. Cape Dorset was the first community to experiment with printmaking, where it was introduced by James Houston in 1957. Their first collection was released in 1959 to enthusiastic southern audiences, and, inspired by this success, other communities soon followed suit.

Each community has developed independently, and differs in imagery and technique.

Cape Dorset

Cape Dorset was the first community to attempt printmaking under the enthusiastic leadership of James Houston, an artist and employee of the Department of Northern Affairs. The earliest experiments used sealskin stencils (later replaced by stencil paper), woodcuts, and stonecuts. The sources for the earliest images were incised tusks and inlaid sealskin designs. Houston encouraged people to draw, and purchased drawings as resources for the printmakers. Copperplate engraving was introduced in 1961, and lithography in 1962 by Terry Ryan, who followed Houston as the artists’ principal advisor.

Cape Dorset prints are still released in annual catalogued collections and remain among the most sought after by collectors.

Povungnituk

In 1961 the Povungnituk Cooperative Society, under the guidance of Father Andre Steinman, hired instructors to introduce printmaking techniques to interested artists. The first collection was published in 1962 in the same catalogue as the 1962 Cape Dorset collection.

The imagery of these prints emphasizes realistic scenes of the traditional way of life. Stonecut is the medium of choice, and original drawings are often dispensed with as the artist carves directly on the stone. The stone block is then sold to the Co-op, much like an original drawing would be, and its use dependent of the needs of the print shop. The stone is often very evident in the final print, with surrounding uncut stone forming a border or background around the bold images. Artists from other Arctic Quebec communities have also participated in printmaking activities, and joint catalogues published.

Holman

Beginning in 1960, Father Henry Tardy encouraged the making of drawings with a view towards starting a print program. An artist was sent to Holman to offer instruction, and he encouraged the use of local limestone to make stonecuts. The first exhibition of Holman prints was held in 1965.

Stonecutting and printing techniques were initially kept very simple. The first prints were made by tracing the original drawing onto the stone block with a cutting tool, destroying the drawing in the process. Current collections are dominated by stencil techniques which produce a soft-painterly effect.

The ability of Holman artists to change, develop, and adapt has allowed their production to continue and remain vibrant for over forty years. Artists are now well-known for the unique Holman graphic spirit – detailed, naturalistic depictions produced through delicate tonal gradations and the depiction of spatial depth.

Baker Lake

Baker Lake is 320 km inland of the coast, and as a result, its people had very little contact with outside influences. The Inuit in the Keewatin district lived traditionally on the land until the 1950s, when starvation and disease forced the survivors into settlements where services were available. A variety of advisors initiated a number of arts and crafts programs over the years, but it was not until the arrival of artists Jack and Sheila Butler in 1969, that the printmaking program took off. The Butlers solicited drawings for images and offered to teach printmaking to those Inuit who wanted to learn. By 1970 the first collection was released.

Stonecut/Stencil is the most commonly used technique, and the prints are often technically complex. Silkscreen is also used. Baker Lake imagery is generally bold and colorful with an emphasis on shamanistic and supernatural subject matter.

Pangnirtung

Printmaking was introduced in Pangnirtung as a project sponsored by the Government of the Northwest Territories, and its first collection was released in 1973. Prints from Pangnirtung depict daily activities of traditional life on the land, with an emphasis on whaling

In 1988 the print shop closed due to lack of government funding. In 1992 a new collection was issued by the independent Uqqurmuit Inuit Artists Association, funded by money raised in the community. Pangnirtung continues to release annual print collections.

Identification of Symbols on Inuit Prints

Out of the hundreds of drawings executed by Inuit artists, only a small percentage of these drawings are selected by the cooperative to be represented in the annual print collection produced by each community.

Each print is accompanied by a variety of syllabic symbols, common to the Inuit, but uncommon to us. These symbols are the identifying signatures of the artist, printmaker, cooperative, and the Inuit Arts Council. The general format has been standardized and is used by all cooperatives in Arctic Canada. Sometimes artists may choose to organize the symbols horizontally and all four syllabics may not be included. NOTE: This does not mean that it isn’t an original or authentic print.

The first syllabic is the name of the artist

The second syllabic is the name of the stonecutter or printmaker (more often that not, this is a different person than the artist)

The third syllabic represents the cooperative

The fourth syllabic is the seal of approval from the Inuit Arts Council

On the left: The symbols from Kenjuak’s Enchanted Owl. Note that it does not include the seal of approval from the Inuit Arts Council.

On the right: The symbols from Napachie Pootoogook’s Inuit Family Playing Ball.

INUIT DRAWINGS

In drawing, the hand of the artists is supremely evident. The pressure of pencil on paper, the methodical gestures in the laying down of lines and the conjuring of an image with a simple mark all serve to make drawing the artist’s most immediate form of self expression.

In traditional Inuit culture, which is rich in oral history, drawing as it is known in the Western sense did not exist. It was not until James Houston introduced paper and graphite pencils that the Inuit began to make the type of drawings for which they are now known. Terry Ryan, a colleague of Houston’s, and the manager of West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, introduced colored pencils. These drawings were made primarily as visual resources for the printmaking programs and were not readily available to collectors. Instead, the drawings were purchased by the Co-operatives, used as the basis for creating a print image (a collective endeavor important for its economic goals) and rarely seen as an end in themselves.

However, many artists, like Pitseolak Ashoona, were enchanted by this independent medium and produced significant and perceptive autobiographical works of art. As Inuit artists became more practiced and cognizant of the communicative powers of visual art, it followed that their drawings developed into compelling documents for storytelling and sharing the traditional values of their families and communities. Spiritual and mythological themes, family, and nomadic life, scenes from the hunt, and living on the land, are all recorded in Inuit drawings. Stylistic differences and influences can be seen in comparing the images from the Cape Dorset area with that of Baker Lake and other art communities in Nunavut.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Information Current as of Fall 2006

Over the past ten to fifteen years, there have been many warnings that human activity on the earth has been hurrying a climate change, a part of the natural evolution of the earth’s weather patterns. There has been much finger-pointing, many attempts to ignore what was happening, and now we must deal with the climate change. The changes for us, here in the Midwestern part of the United States of America, have actually been minimally trying, but the effects on Inuit from Alaska to Finland have been tremendous.

The signs of warming in the Arctic are not merely anecdotal.  Last month, NASA climate experts reported that for the last two years, arctic sea ice has been melting in summer and winter at rates far higher than anything seen before. Some of the Arctic villages that are in danger from rising water levels due to the melting of the Ice Cap would take millions of dollars to move. In the old days, the ancestors simply would have loaded their dogsleds and moved inland across the winter ice, not today.

In Alaska, in some spots the winter temperatures have spiked 10 degrees since 1971. Sea ice volume has declined 15% and thinned from 10 to 6 feet in places. With the ice go staple foods – whale, walrus, seal and waterfowl, even polar bear. Glaciers are retreating by 15% and lose half their thickness every decade. Disease and insects encouraged by warmer weather are savaging millions of acres of evergreen trees in the lower part of the state. Melting permafrost is buckling roadways.

There are those who are trying to find a positive outcome for this situation. An ice-free Arctic would offer new fisheries and faster shipping. Oil exploration would be easier and farmers could grow more crops.

There have been an increased number of stranded hunters, who must travel 30 miles or more to find prey. This burns more fuel and puts them in more danger. One hunter reported that his umiak, which should be seaworthy for a decade, will not last 5 years in the warmer weather.

Conditions of climate change:

1. Temperatures are up more than 10 degrees since 1971.

1. The ice fishing season moved from January to October.

2. The berry picking moved from August to July.

3. The hunting season moved from June to May.

2. The shoreline is eroding at rate of 15-18 feet per year and threatens homes and road.

3. Melting permafrost threatens foundations of houses, factories, pipelines, and roads.

4. Finland and Norway Inuit report warmer temperatures in fall and spring melt top layers of snow which refreezes as ice, making normal reindeer foods unavailable.

5. Canadian Inuit report emaciated polar bears as a result of their curtailed opportunity to stalk seals due to shrinking ice cover. The polar bear has been moved into the threatened category after being reassessed as vulnerable for the 2006 Red List. Also other animals' pelts are thinning, fish flesh is becoming mushy, slush and weak ice are making it impossible for travel.

6. As ice disappears, more ships come in and bring more chance for oil spills and accidents due to uncharted waters.

7. Pangnurtung not prepared for 400 tourists arriving on a cruise ship unannounced.

8. Nunavut now tied to oil and gas revenues; however, when they are burned they are a source of greenhouse gases, which affect climate change, which is changing their lives.

What other repercussions will come from this climate change, we can only guess. Inuit have adapted to one of the most challenging climates in the world, will they be able to adapt to these changes? Is there a way to help?

Thank you to all of the docents who participate in the Inuit Partnership Program! You are making a lasting impression on and widening the knowledge of an entire community through your hard work.

The 2006-2007 Inuit Partnership Committee

Mary Anne Rivers

Lynn Robison

Jim Laarman

Shirlee Davidson

Pat Coats

Dotty Stulen

&

Diana Bolander

Curator of Education and Interpretation

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