1988-1989

Mayoreak Ashoona (Inuk, b. 1946)

Ink on paper

Museums Collections, Gift of Frederick & Lucy S Herman

Reproduced with the permission of Dorset Fine Arts

c. 1976

Qaunaq Mikkigak (Inuk, b. 1932)

Acrylic wash, felt marker, color pencil, on paper

Museums Collections, Gift of Frederick & Lucy Herman

Reproduced with the permission of Dorset Fine Arts

Between 1950 and 1975, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) slaughtered an estimated 25,000 qimmit (sled dogs) while enforcing strict federal laws that regulated qimmiq handling. Organized under the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, Inuit continue to contest the government’s justification for the killings. In defiance of the RCMP ordinances, Mikkigak depicts qimmit moving freely in a hunting camp just one year after the killings ended. One of the qimmit runs untethered while others wrap themselves around the iglu (snow house) in an effort to reach the seal carcass in the foreground. Their movement anticipates a humorous situation in which the qimmit will tie themselves up, possibly entangling the tools and the two hunters with them. Mikkigak’s drawing of a commonplace interaction between Inuit and qimmit reflects the familial love and intimacy that they share. The playful expression of this bond is poignant against the backdrop of a tragic history.

2000

Annie Pootoogook (Inuk, 1969 – 2016)

Graphite and ink on paper

Gift of Frederick & Lucy S Herman

Reproduced with the permission of Dorset Fine Arts

In this drawing, Pootoogook shows an Inuit family eating in the kitchen of a pre-fabricated house. The Canadian government supplied such homes when relocating Inuit to permanent settlements in the twentieth century. The regulated grid and labeled foods call attention to the many challenges Inuit faced under government pressure to assimilate. Despite the Qallunaat (non-Inuit) products and furniture on display, the family sits on the ground and uses uluit (cutting tools) to eat fish and other native foods. In sharing a nutritious, wild-caught meal, Inuit reject processed Qallunaat foods, an act of subversion and cultural resilience.

Unknown Artist (Yup’ik)

Wood and metal

Museums Collections, Gift of Mabel & Harley McKeague

Uluit (cutting tools) are used by Yupiit and Inuit across the United States, Canada, and Greenland. The rounded blade of this ulu allows it to be rocked back and forth across the material being cut, slicing through thick meat and skins with less pressure than a straight blade. Based on the wear of the blade and handle, it was likely used as a tool before it entered the University of Delaware collection. At some point, the entire ulu was painted with a metallic silver paint. The handle was then painted with a layer of white over the silver paint. This intervention into the presentation of the ulu was likely done by Mabel McKeague to make the blade visibly shiny and appealing. She used this ulu in lectures and demonstrations of Yup’ik objects for audiences in the contiguous United States after her work in Alaska was completed.

1970-2000

Mayureak Ashoona (Inuk, b. 1946)

Serpentine

Museums Collections, Gift of Anthony & Teresa DeFazio

Reproduced with the permission of Dorset Fine Arts

This sculptural object is a kudlik, an oil lamp that Inuit use to heat the home and cook food. Women dip tufts of Arctic cotton and other small plants in oil and light them on fire along the carved edge of the stone. Young girls are given miniature lamps to play with as children, which they exchange for full-size lamps when they reach puberty. Amid introduced technologies in recent years, the kudlik has become a symbol of Inuit cultural resilience. Women continue to teach the important skills of lighting and tending lamps during gatherings