Ennutsiak began carving in the early 1950s. From the mid 1950s to the early 1960s many of his earliest buyers would have been American armed forces personnel and Canadian workers setting up the DEW Line. Ennutsiak is best known for his charming, slightly rustic tableau-style scenes of birthing mothers, hunting and flensing, bible study, traveling on the land and other activities (see First Arts, December 2020, Lot 15).

The great majority of Ennutsiak’s scenes depict groups of people, but occasionally the artist would focus on a single subject. Woman Preparing a Skin is one of the most appealing carvings by Ennutsiak that we have seen. While the work displays the artist’s typical “rustic” overall style – Ennutsiak did most of his carving with a small axe and thus never managed to smooth or finish the “nooks and crannies” of his figures – the portrayal of the young woman herself is exceptionally sensitive. Her facial features are lovely, and the artist took great pains to careful delineate her beautifully braided hair.