Without Restriction? Inuit Tattooing and the Dr. Wyn Rhys-Jones Photograph Collection at the NWT Archives (original) (raw)

This article considers the implications of research conducted on cross-cultural representations of Inuit tattooing at the Northwest Territories Archives in Yellow- knife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The results however were fraught from the outset due to my interest in a group of eleven photographs from the Dr. Wyn Rhys-Jones collection, nine of which depict partially nude, tattooed Inuit women. Here I reflect on and analyze my research experience with regard to these photos, and contextualize the images alongside similar post-contact Western representations of tattooed Inuit women. In doing so I analyze archival policies, practices and responses, focusing on issues of accessibility.