final

Jessie Oonark's

Start

"Untitled" Tapestry

An Interactive Indigenous Art Viewing Experience

Watch

Read more

https://nativecanadianarts.com/artist/jessie-oonark/ https://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_inuit4.html The Arctic People - Transportation / MigrationThe Inuit The Inuit lived in an area comprising a large part of northern Earth, including Northern Canada. Parts of the Yukon, NWT, Nunavut, Quebec...Firstpeoplesofcanadhttp://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=88 Jessie Oonark (1906-1985), Inuit artist biography and portfolio"Jessie Oonark was born in the area of northern Canada known as the Barren Lands, north and west of the present-day village of Baker Lake, Northwest...Spirit Wrestler Galleryhttp://www.marysrosaries.com/Inuit_prayers.html https://blogs.ubc.ca/rudolphf/2016/11/07/inuit/ growing feathers" The greatest peril of life lies in the fact that human food consists entirely of souls. All the creatures that we have to kill and eat, all those...Ubchttp://arcticjournal.ca/featured/traditional-inuit-clothing/ Traditional Inuit clothing - Arctic JournalA means of survival One of the critical skills that enabled pre-contact Inuit to survive in a harsh environment was the women's ability to make warm...Arctic Journalhttp://collections.musee-mccord.qc.ca/scripts/printtour.php?tourID=CW_InuitClothing_EN&Lang=2 The Art and Technique of Inuit ClothingBetty Kobayashi Issenman, McCord Museum, 2007 The fur and skin clothing of the Inuit is a key factor in ensuring their survival in the northernmost...Musee-mccordhttps://www.inuitartzone.com/pages/inuit-communities https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1303132857502/1534961334399 https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/2772?lang=en Discover Inuit ArtAuthor: Published under the authority of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Date: Ottawa, 2000 ISBN: 0-662-298012 QS-...Rcaanc-cirnacQuviasukvik. The celebration of an Inuit winter feast in the centra...Quviasukvik. La celebración de una fiesta invernal de los inuit del este de Canadá. En este artículo, se analizan las fiestas de Navidad de los inuit...Openeditionhttps://arctickingdom.com/quviasukvik-the-inuit-winter-festival-and-christmas/ Quviasukvik: The Inuit Winter Festival & Christmas | Arctic KingdomHave you wondered how the Inuit celebrated the New Year and if there was a celebration that resembled Christmas? The Inuit obviously had traditions...Arctic Kingdomhttps://thebabyhistorian.com/2018/11/14/the-inuit-amauti/ The Inuit AmautiWell, I was enjoying the lovely fall colors, the warm days and crisp nights- and then that jerk Winter crept up and put an ice cube down the back of...The Baby Historian https://www.donaldellisgallery.com/offerings/inuit-eskimo/dance-mask-1 Dance Mask, Inuit CE3016 | Donald Ellis GalleryThis monumental dance mask was reportedly purchased by Jesuit missionary, Rev. Paul O'Connor, resident at Pilot Station, a Yup'ik Eskimo village on...Donald Ellis Galleryhttps://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/historical-background/inuit The InuitThe term Inuit refers broadly to the Arctic indigenous population of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Inuit means "people," and the language they speak...Facing History and Ourselveshttps://www.jstor.org/stable/25780668?seq=1 Qupirruit: Insects and Worms in Inuit TraditionsAlthough small beings such as the qupirruit (insects and worms) appear in many different contexts in Inuit culture, they have not received much...Jstorhttps://inuit.com/products/xp190610 Kolus - Inuit Gallery of Vancouver Ltd.Kwakwaka'wakwRed Cedar, Cedar Bark, Copper, Feathers30" x 23" x...Inuit Gallery of Vancouver Ltd.https://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_inuit4.html The Arctic People - Transportation / MigrationThe Inuit The Inuit lived in an area comprising a large part of northern Earth, including Northern Canada. Parts of the Yukon, NWT, Nunavut, Quebec...Firstpeoplesofcanadahttps://www.donaldellisgallery.com/offerings/inuit-eskimo/dance-mask-1 Dance Mask, Inuit CE3016 | Donald Ellis GalleryThis monumental dance mask was reportedly purchased by Jesuit missionary, Rev. Paul O'Connor, resident at Pilot Station, a Yup'ik Eskimo village on...Donald Ellis Galleryhttp://www.freespiritgallery.ca/inuitdrumdancing.htm Inuit Drum Dancing Of The Arctic--- --- --- Like many other aboriginal cultures around the world, the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic have made use of drums in some of their...Freespiritgalleryhttp://native-dance.ca/en/scholars/iglulik-inuit-drum-dance/ Iglulik Inuit Drum DanceBy Paula Conlon Inuit and Inuvialuit from east to west across the Arctic use drum dance songs or pisiit (singular: pisiq), the terms used by the...Native-dancehttps://www.inuitartzone.com/collections/inuit-art-birds

Our platform is an interactive tool that educates outsiders, visitors, and students about Oonark’s “untitled” tapestry which resides at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada. We incorporated clickable elements on some of the figures on the artwork which the viewers can interact upon to show it's comparing explicit significance. Inside our fundamental Genial.ly intuitive picture segment, we included video, images, and timelines to express Oonark’s life, career, culture(introductory video) and the artwork's whereabouts(timeline). We hope through our system, more and more people will gain knowledge and awareness with regards to Inuit and Aboriginal cultures in Canada, especially in a Canadian Arts performing facility. For addition contents on Oonark's painting, personal life and the tapestry's relation to the NAC please visit: https://nac-cna.ca/en/media/newsrelease/6120

Back

time line

Ulu otherwise called "ladies' blade" is a generally useful instrument utilized by Inuits to the skin and clean animals, cut food and children’s hair, if vital, it very well may be used as a weapon. The ulu cutting edges are frequently produced using stones(slates and shale) and the handles are made from bones, wood or ivory. The tool can be traced back as early as 2500 BCE where it would be passed down generation to generation. It was believed that an ancestor's knowledge was contained within the ulu and consequently would likewise be passed on.

The symbolic significance of the importance of birds as a symbol of flight and on a few occasions as a source of perspective to shamanism as in "Angagkok Conjuring Birds (1979). Arctic birds could also be recognized as a harbinger of spring and as the symbols of fruitfulness and resurrection in certain Inuit communities. Angakok conjuring birds by Jesse Oonark,1979. 76.2 x 55.9 cm. (30 x 22 in.)

Quviasukvik is a winter feast celebrated in the late fall or winter to build good luck for the approaching hunting season and to mark the new sun emerging after the winter solstice. Quviasukvik was the biggest celebration of the year in the Arctic area

Most of the northern Inuit communities did not hunt porcupines unless there were no other sources of food. Porcupines served many purposes, they include:

1. The material(quills) to make bows and tintacks(used for traditional decoration)
2. The ingredient for a soup which nursing mothers drank to promote lactation
3. Urine as medicine to treat hearing defects
4. Porcupine oil acted as a physic for newborn infants
5. dropped porcupine fetuses down the clothing of young girls, believing that this would secure easy deliveries for the girls in the future

Seals are heavily relied on by the Inuits, they represent much more than nourishment or protection from the elements to the Inuits, the hunters have developed a great respect for the soul of this creature, they are a focal piece of Inuit culture, cosmologies, and life itself. Inuit women developed highly skilled techniques in order to treat and use the seal in various ways throughout the seasons. They would scrape the blubber residues of the skin with an ulu then stretched and dried them for clothing or oil or nourishment. Seal hunting is a very common activity the Inuits participate in A common hunting technique called "sealing" the hunter waits patiently at the breathing hole for the seal to appear

The Inuit drum is a conventional instrument seen over the north, drumming was fundamentally performed by men in many districts. Drumming was done at different festivals including Quviasukvik or minor commendable occasions, for example, a birth of a youngster. Inuit drums are generally produced using caribous skin extended over driftwood which was mollified and molded like a ring. The handles were regularly canvassed in hiding from seals. Picture of a traditional Inuit drum What makes the Inuit drum not the same as most different drums are that the manner in which the instrument is played, Inuits drummers strike the edges of the drum to deliver the sounds instead of the skin or centerpiece. Video on how the drum is used and manipulated, performed by a member of the Indigenous community

Symbolizes hunters (males) arriving from a hunt being welcomed home by his wife dressed in an amauti.

Amauti is a typical sort of attire worn by Inuit ladies arranged in the Northern districts of Canada. Amauti contains a pocket in the back just beneath the hood for moms to convey their child in. The pouch is large and comfortable for the baby. The pouch could be adjusted by the mother from back to front for breastfeeding or for eliminatory functions without exposure to external components. 2 Inuit women wearing Amautiit (plural) Video of how the Amautiits are used and how the baby is placed in the pockets

Inuits accept that all living and nonliving things have souls, that include animals, forces of nature, inanimate objects and humans. When the spirit leaves an entity, it keeps on living in an alternate world as the Inuit considers it the 'spirit world'. Only the powerful religious leaders like the Shamans have enough power to manipulate the spirits. They use charms and dances as a method to interact with the spirit world. Shamans wore masks in most cases representing an animal while performing the ritual. Inuits believe the masks have the ability to empower the Shamans to speak with the spirits. A sample mask that a Shaman would wear during a ritual. The central face likely represents a seal spirit or “inua”. Surrounding the central image are fish, quadrupeds resembling arctic foxes, and a pair of hands(donaldellisgallery). Other than spiritual purposes, the Inuits also prayed after a hunt for the spirits of the killed animals. Appeasement with these spirits is necessary for successful hunting and fishing in the future and for preventing them to look for vengeance on the community.

Women and children would hunt birds such as ducks, geese and rock ptarmigans for food. Ducks and geese were also a good source of clothing materials. The skins of larger birds were used as towels and the wings would have been used to sweep or as a fan. Their fur would be used as a pillow or clothing filling to provide warmth. A map of where gesse, ducks and ptarmigan would appear year round in Canada On an emblematic perspective, winged animals symbolized the returning of the sun at springtime, the dissolving ice, and warming of the sunshine. The feathered creatures additionally bring a functioning part into shamanism rehearsals and other religious rituals. Ducks Playing in the Spring (1981) (AP) by Janet Kigusiuq An Inuit song/poem of ducks When we have survived the worst and the futurelooks promising.The long-tailed ducks have now returned.As they return, they are full of joyous spirit.This long-tail having heard of the joyous spirit,having heard, he could not resist to join in.He overdid it so he got sore muscles.While he rested and waited for the sore musclesto go away,His wing tips fell off.While he rested and wait for the sore musclesto go away,His tail feathers fell off.

Very little is imparted to the overall population concerning bugs/caterpillars in relation to Inuit societies. Nonetheless, there are tales that are passed down by elderlies that would involve these creatures. Bugs would be sewed to the under-garment are believed to prolong life. It is said that an elderly lady sewed a number of bugs in her boy’s clothing believing if he dies, he would eventually come to life again as these animals will come to life in the spring. This is just a story that Inuits would share from generation to generations, this was not widely practiced. Insects often appear to be masters of life and death. Tetetak is described as a hairy caterpillar that calls out”tetetak”. The Tetetak is considered as a good spirit, “said to tuck away from a sick person the cause of pain.”. This was referred to as a story where a woman adopted a caterpillar and fed it from her blood which cured her illnesses.

From a young age, boys would spend significant portions of time with their fathers and other men in the tribe learning about the skills needed to be an adequate hunter. They had to adapt stalking and killing techniques, the animal migrations and seasonal rotations, how to make lances and pointed stones, along with the spiritual aspects of having a successful hunt. When a large seasonal hunt was approaching, the men would separate themselves from the rest of the tribe for days while they fasted in order to prepare themselves both physically and mentally. Weapons utilized for chasing were produced using materials/creatures accessible in their particular area. Leveled and double-curved bows, lances, and various snares were best-fitted devices for hunting. In order to honor the spirit of the animal that had died to feed and clothe the people, nothing was wasted. The meat was eaten, fat could be rendered down to cook with, bones were removed to be utilized in soups, hides became blankets and clothing, goat hair was made into yarn and cord or stuffed into shoes during cold months, antlers became needles or handles for tools, and adornments was produced using bones, teeth, and paws.

Oonark's enthusiasm for garments structures from different locales is notable. The caribou skin adornments dangling from the tip of this current man's parka hood distinguish him as originating from the Cambridge Bay area (1983 meeting with Marion Jackson). The forceful posture may well refer to the conflict between Inuit from various regions.

Qamutiik is used for diverse travel in the Arctic, from morning gathering for families going sledding to overnight hunting trips across hundreds of miles of territory. The pressing and lashing of the sled should be deliberately balanced for it to work appropriately. The loads must be conveyed low on the sled, therefore reducing the risk of tipping. The size of the sleds varies by function and the accessibility of materials. Traditional Qamutiik used to transport goods or materials To prevent the hunters from slipping on ice, the Inuits would attach spikes called ‘crampons’ to the bottom of their boots to get a better grip. Dog sled team

The qamutiil were traditionally hauled by trained dog teams. They can be pulled by people too or, in the present time, by a snowmobile. At the point when the principal Inuits showed up in North America, they brought these arctic dogs alongside them. The dog helped with hunting as they were able to scare off the bears and other threatening animals. Their strong sense of scent could assist hunters to locate seals and other mammals. Trained Inuit hound/Arctic Dog used to pull sieds or assist in hunting actvities Pack Dog with its trainer

Click Play Button for Background Music