Representing the “Sea Woman” (original) (raw)
Related papers
2019
Inuit visual arts have been a feature of Canadian popular culture since it was thrust onto the world stage in 1949. Vibrant owls, dancing bears, and drumming shamans have pervaded museum galleries and trade showrooms for seven decades. One popular, recurring figure is Nuliajuk—also known by other names throughout the circumpolar world—epithetic-ally called the Sea Woman and colloquially referred to as Sedna. Qallunaat (non-Inuit) have constructed their own narrative around these images and their art history, which can ignore the role that art plays in the lives of the artist resulting in a skewed narrative and misinterpretation. In this thesis, I interview four contemporary Inuit artists to reveal how the figure of Sedna has transformed morphologically and semantically since she first appeared on the art market nearly 70 years ago. The results of my research propose that Sedna has become an icon of Inuit identity as well as a symbol of survivance against the tides of colonialism and...
Nalunaikutanga: Signs and Symbols in Canadian Inuit Art and Culture
Polarforschung, 1976
The caneept na]unaikulak is applied in many contexts in Eskimo life anel i s best glossed in English as: sign, symbol, marker, guide, characteristic or. most aptly, distinctive feature. Literally the ward me ans "i ts imp orlau t de-confuser" because, in action-oriented Inuit culture, it is the feature wh ich facihlates the initiation of a process of recognition and action, by cnding ignorance and confusion naJugiak end supplying the key to appropriate action and role behavior. Thus nalunaikulanga characterize not only sexes and spccies but also pl aces and people. enabling the Inuit to go ab out th e i r everyday lives of relating, cooperatinq, travelling, hunting and knowing. More recently, w ifh th e growth of individualism in Inuit commercial arts, individual arti s ts ' nalunaikutanga h av e been deve lopcd as aspects of style, subject matter, de te il or even m aterials us ed. While modern sculptures arc gene rally able to e xh ib i t the tr adi tional nalunaikutanga of the SUbjCTt matter portrayed canine teeth for polar b e ar s , heaks for hawks , amauUk parkas for w crnen , hunting weepons for men, e tc .-there i s danger th at the content of contemporary Inuit ethnic arts will stultify as an exhibition of th e whiteman's nalunaikutanga of th e distinctive but il1-remembered Inuit past.
Uinigumasuittuq: The Pan-Arctic Sea Woman Tradition as a Source of Law and Literary Theory
2018
Although the pan-Inuit unikkaaqtuaq (story) of the origin of the Sea Woman is quite well-known among anthropologists, folklorists, and Religious Studies scholars, to date very little attention has been given to either the broader Sedna tradition, or its individual performances, as serious, canonical literature. This thesis thus endeavours to offer a literary reading of Alexina Kublu's "Uinigumasuittuq: She who never wants to get married" as both an exemplary work of Inuit verbal art and as a living source of law and literary theory. The structure of my thesis is as follows: the Introduction and Methodology chapters clarify in detail the philosophical and methodological underpinnings of my approach, while the bulk of the remainder of my thesis is a close reading of Kublu's own 'performance' of the story, followed by a Conclusion. The close reading itself is divided into three chapters, each roughly corresponding to the three narrative divisions within the story-herein referred to as The Dog Husband, The Storm Bird, and The Creation of the Sea Mammals-all of which are preceded by the respective sections of Kublu's text, each of which is itself quoted in full. The chapter entitled "Unikkaaqtuat Poetics" describes the manner in which Kublu's own highly contextualized performance of the text functions as a source of meta-literary critical theory, speaking as it does to issues of translation and presentation, oral-literary conventions and themes, and characterization and paradox. The chapter entitled "Kinship and Community Governance," while continuing to pay close attention to the aesthetics of Kublu's text, goes on to describe the manner in which twentieth-century colonialist incursions into Inuit physical and intellectual life sought to undermine the longstanding kinship structures that provided the foundation of traditional law and governance in traditional Inuit society, and suggests that, given this context, Kublu's own performance of the tale functions as a life-giving act of 'decolonial love.' The chapter entitled "Uinigumasuittuq and Violence Against Women" describes the manner in which Kublu's text Brandvold iii speaks powerfully to the pressing issue of violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Although the brutal act of gender-based violence at the heart of the Sedna story is frequently 'softened' or rewritten in other contemporary versions of the tale, most likely to stave off concerns that the tale somehow endorses violence against women, I argue that, on the contrary, this deeply disturbing, climactic act of violence-as well as the devastating consequences attending to this act of violence-actually warn against violence and mistreatment. Finally, in the Conclusion, I suggest some possible ways in which Canadian readers and auditors might respond to the Sea Woman story. 1 The word 'goddess' is a bit of a misnomer here, as can be seen from Qitsualik's comment above. As Daniel Merkur explains, although certain prominent metaphysical beings have been described by Western observers as 'gods' or 'goddesses,' the Inuit themselves "have no term corresponding precisely to 'deity' or 'god'" (37). Merkur quotes Knud Rasmussen here: The idea of a God, or group of gods, is altogether alien to their minds. They know only powers or personifications of natural forces, acting upon human life in various ways, and affecting all that lives through fair and foul weather, disease, and perils of all kinds. These powers are not evil … but they are nevertheless dangerous owing to their unmerciful severity where men fail to live in accordance with the wise rules of life decreed by their forefathers. (29) Of course, as the story has increasingly left its culture of origin to circulate as World Literature, the term 'goddess' has been frequently used as a descriptor for the Sea Woman.
Inuit women and graphic arts: female creativity and its cultural context
The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 1989
In contrast to the Euro-American art world and many fourth world societies, women have attained a remarkable place as leaders in the emerging Inuit art movement. The author examines this female preponderance in terms of artistic genius, economics, self-determination, traditional decision-making and southern marketing techniques.
Representations of Inuit Culture in the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Material Culture Review Revue De La Culture Materielle, 2007
This paper examines issues of representation and interpretation of Inuit art at the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The author uses a semiotic and post-colonial approach to analyze the objects and informational text used in the museum's exhibit of Inuit art. Questions are raised about the aim of the exhibition, its intended audience, the messages communicated and exactly whose history is presented. Problems associated with the signifying elements are discussed in light of the ability for deeply held attitudes to be revealed through the choices made by the writers and designers of the exhibit.
Exchanging stories. Art and identity of an Arctic people
Nordisk Museologi
Sámi Stories. Art and Identity of an Arctic People is an exhibition created and curated by the Northern Norway Art Museum and Tromsø University Museum to commemorate the bicentennial celebrations of the Norwegian Constitution. The exhibition debuted at the Northern Norway Art Museum in Tromsø, Norway, before traveling to New York City and Anchorage, Alaska. This paper shares stories to demonstrate the roles that museums can play in the interpretation and representation of Sámi cultures. Additionally, the shared discussion will advance educational outreach in Alaska and elsewhere concerning similarities and di erences surrounding the adoption of indigenous concepts, practices, values and worldviews.