Commonly played as noise-making toys, whirligigs (sometimes known as bullroarers or buzzers) are found in cultures around the world. Strings passed through buttons or other small objects are used elsewhere, while Inuit commonly used bones and sinew. Though carved with minimal detail, this charming figure's concentration is palpable. The boy’s face, framed by a dramatic hood, draws our attention downward. His hands grip the sinew on either side of a disc, notched to suggest the rapid spinning motion of the toy. His mouth is open in a cry of delight.

References: See the 1967 National Film Board documentary Tuktu and the Indoor Games for a short demonstration of this game inside an igloo (https://collection.nfb.ca/film/tuktu-and-the-indoor-games.) For other known works by the artist, see Sanavik Cooperative, Baker Lake Sculpture 1974, (Baker Lake: Sanavik Cooperative, 1974), p. 27, which features a similar facial composition; and Marie Bouchard, An Inuit Perspective: Baker Lake Sculpture from the Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Gift of Samuel and Esther Sarick, (Baker Lake: Itsamittakarvik Inuit Heritage Centre / Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2000), p. 39. See also Harold Seidelman & James Turner, The Inuit Imagination: Arctic Myth and Sculpture, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., 1993), p. 48, fig. 25. This referenced work was sold at Walker’s, Ottawa, 3 May 2014, Lot 43.