Like Luke Anguhadluq (see lot 67), Luke Iksiktaaryuk’s formative years were spent engaged in hunting and other traditional activities and customs, the memories of which would provide fodder for his subsequent graphic works. Prior to migrating to the Qamani’tuaq, Iksiktaaryuk hailed from the Lower Kazan River area. This inland location meant that, amongst others, caribou and birds were the primary object of the hunt. The Herd is significant not simply for its design but in that in his decision to depict the animals without any human element, it reveals the importance that these animals held to the artist. Here, dozens of caribou are composed in fluent outlines, with no interior modelling. They are only brilliantly inked in a flat yellow by William Kanak. While the caribou all stand in staunch profile they are not rigid or inert. Heads are lowered, more in some cases than in others, and in their contours and proportions there is considerable variation. The indication of antlers is remarkably thoughtful, each with unique curvature of its own and some even foreshortened to suggest a near antler and a far one on the other side of the animal’s head. Similarly the two geese that preside regal and enormous at left, although simplified in their form, the precision of the joints of their legs and summarized wings, illustrate that their anatomy is well understood.