One of the most defining characteristics of traditional Inuit life was the almost continuous hunt for food, and first generation artists from Qamani’tuaq depicted hunting and fishing scenes regularly. But Two Families Fishing is no ordinary fishing scene; rather it seems quite enigmatic, charged with symbolism as much as with action. The male figures certainly seem engaged in hunting fish with kakivak spears, but the role of the kneeling women is unclear. Are the wives directing the men, or cheering them on - or are they instead simply occupying the thoughts of the husbands as they fish? And what of the fish? The double-fish image, with the large fish each consuming a smaller one, shows that Oonark is seemingly more preoccupied with aesthetics and symbolism (and symmetry) than the depiction of actual fish as prey. While inspired by thoughts of fish and fishing, the image is more an imagining or a visualization than a “scene” per se. Interestingly, the structure of the drawing, and even the way it mixes line-drawn and filled-in figures, reminds us of Oonark’s Challenging Wrestle from the same period (see First Arts Auctions, July 2020, Lot 44). Overall, Two Families Fishing is a unified, balanced, and thoroughly intriguing composition.

References: Oonark’s propensity to depict a high degree of symmetry is best seen in her later works. For similar examples of opposing figures, see Jean Blodgett and Marie Bouchard, Jessie Oonark: A Retrospective (WAG, 1986) cats. 58, 67, 74. See also Marion Jackson et al, Qamanittuaq (Guelph: Macdonald Stewart, 1995) cat. 64.