The Inuit artist database, compiled by the then-named Department of Inuit and Northern Affairs, remains an invaluable if incomplete resource. Emudluk appears under neither name nor disc number. Emudluk is represented in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Ian Lindsay Collection. The rarity and quality of his known works make it regrettable that he seems to have produced so little.

The strength of this bear lies in how lithe and unexpectedly elegant the animal feels. Drawn out long and low, with the narrow head thrust forward and the body carried on four firmly planted legs, it has a wonderfully convincing sense of movement and intent. Nothing is overworked. The modelling is broad and economical, the slight arch of the back, lean flanks and forward reach of the shoulders doing much of the work.

The stone, too, is exceptional, and quintessential of the early period of artistic production in Nunavik. Almost black at first glance, it is veined and mottled with passages of deep green that emerge across the head, shoulders and body. These natural markings enliven the spare surface and seem almost to describe the animal’s musculature and coat. Emudluk allows the material itself to become an active part of the sculpture.