Although Joe Talirunili depicted travel by dog team and qamutiq in his drawings and prints with some regularity, this may be the only example of the subject in his sculpture - at least we are currently unaware of another version. The work perhaps depicts a small family apparently returning to their camp with a captured seal. The seal is lashed to the back of the sled with thick thread, as are a harpoon, a rifle, and seemingly even some of the passengers!

The sculpture is a wonderfully rustic, homespun creation in the finest folk art tradition. Talirunili was typically nonchalant about his choice of materials for implements and accessories, and this qamutiq scene is no exception. However, we are somewhat surprised by the carving’s relatively early date; Talirunili’s work from the 1960s tends to be more precisely executed; we would have guessed at a date closer to 1975. That would have situated the work among the artist’s more expressionistic migration boats made at the end of his career. We love the tool marks on this sculpture; interestingly, we see the clear traces of a tooth chisel (which is a surprise) as well as the marks of at least one rasp. Note that the figure of the mother appears to be unfinished. Family on a Qamutiq is rare and rough-hewn treasure.