Originally from the Ennadai Lake area inland from Arviat, Alikaswa was considered to be the community’s best drum dancer, and travelled south periodically to perform at festivals. Alikaswa is sometimes overlooked in the pantheon of Arviat art, perhaps because his sculptures tended to be quite small and unassuming.

Although his father was a famous shaman, Alikaswa’s work never depicted shamanism or the spirit world. Like most of his Arviat peers he preferred carving single figures or mothers with children. The great majority of Alikaswa’s sculptures are quite small and the figures he created, with their simple drilled facial features, often have an air of hesitancy and even melancholy. So many of his single figures exude an innocence and expectancy that we sometimes wonder if they depict children rather than adults; we wonder, too, how many are self-portraits. This charming and quite lovely sculpture embodies Alikaswa’s sensibility and our thoughts on his art perfectly.