Qiatsuq Shaa
Inuit
Inukshuk
4 1/2"
H x 2" W
Qiatsuq Shaa is the son of
the renowned Cape Dorset sculptor Aqjangajuk Shaa. His mother,
Kilabuk and his two brothers, Qavavau and Pudlalik, are also
carvers. Qiatsuq began carving when he was ten years old. Although
he is a self-taught artist, Qiatsuq learned many techniques by
watching his father carve.
The Inupiat people of the
Arctic have been crating Inukshuk for generations - initially
full size figures, used as a device to drive herds of caribou
and other game into enclosed areas where they could be more easily
taken during the hunt.
Today, these cultural icons
are recreated as decorative art for collectors - as well as sacred
talismans that bring success to a hunting party.
In the Inuit language, Inukshuk
translates literally as "the shape of man."
Cape Dorset is located north
of Hudson Bay on the southwest tip of Baffin Island, well above
the treeline and just south of the Arctic Circle.
The Inuit inhabitants have
always called the area Kinngait (pronounced king-ite), meaning
"the place of hills," but it was named Cape Dorset
in 1631 by the British explorer Captain Luke Foxe, who mapped
the region during his unsuccessful search for the Northwest Passage;
he named it in honour of the Earl of Dorset, who had sponsored
the expedition.
Today, Cape Dorset is a modern
community of nearly fourteen hundred inhabitants in the newly
created Canadian territory of Nunavut.
