One of founding members of the Holman Co-op, Victor Ekootak began working there in 1961 while he was still living on the land. He was one of the first to experiment with drawing and printmaking in Holman in the early 1960s. His death in 1965 cut short a promising art career; his naturalistic drawing style was much admired, as was his skill at carving stone. Fighting Over a Woman is sculpted and finished with extraordinary precision and realism. And amazingly, the complex scene is carved from a single piece of stone!

Holman sculptures from this early period are relatively rare. Much better known are the silhouette-style stonecut prints which illustrate a variety of hunting and camp scenes, shamanic themes, and like this carving, sometimes scenes of violence and social strife. Fellow artists Helen Kalvak and Flossie Pappidluk created drawings on this theme, and these were translated into prints. To our knowledge Ekootak did not, but this fine sculpture is almost like a classic Holman print come to life in three dimensions.