Over the last century, the size and complexity of incised ivory art expanded, with portrayals of animals and scenes of traditional life sometimes covering entire walrus tusks. This engraved tusk, however, is extremely rare, if not unique (see reference below regarding one similar work by this artist). Created by the celebrated Iqaluit artist Henry Evaluardjuk, who was born and raised in Igloolik, the medium is used here to create an expansive historical document rather than simply a pictorial scene.

Covered almost completely with syllabic text (on both sides and even along the edges), the tusk documents an Igloolik family tree, tracing the descendants of the highly respected husband and wife, Ittusardjuat (died c. 1944) and Attagutaaluk (c. 1870-1948), who are portrayed beneath, on either side. It gives a detailed list of descendants of the couple, interspersed with occasional comments about their lives, but also reveals the artist’s memories of family and community cohesion and cooperation. The story ends with the death of the wife and mother in 1948. The detailed and sensitively rendered portraits, and the subsequent occasional glimpses into the lives of their children, provide not just documentation but a glimpse of family life in the first half of the twentieth century. The syllabics were translated in 1995 by the artist, writer, and satirical cartoonist Alootook Ipellie (1951-2007).

Reference: Our research has found one other related work by Henry Evaluardjuk, The Story of the 1948 Igloolik Famine, dated to 1971; see Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, Graphite and Stone: Sculpture & Drawings - Baffin Artists in Two Mediums, (Vancouver, Spirit Wrestler Gallery, 1997), cat. 87. There are very few truly comparable works by any other Inuit artist. One person who comes to mind is the famous Cape Dorset historian, photographer, and visual artist Peter Pitseolak (1902-1973), The breadth of his interests and vision can be seen in the 1980 book, Peter Pitseolak (1902-1973): Inuit Historian of Seekooseelak, edited by Peter Bellman, and published by the McCord Museum, Montreal.