In 1951, the Canadian Handicrafts Guild (now La Guilde) published an instructional booklet for distribution across the Arctic, promoting handicrafts as a new source of income. Written and illustrated by James Houston and entitled Sanajasak: Eskimo Handicrafts, it provided instructions for carving soapstone, ivory, and bone into items for southern markets. The pamphlet includes a drawing of a totem pole, comically mashing Inuit motifs with Northwest Coast influences.

Of all the variations on this design produced in Inukjuak, none were as faithful to Houston’s model as those of Isa Oomayoualook. The subject clearly captivated him, and over the next decade he produced several versions, each with similar imagery, some elongated in height and others compressed in depth. Here, the circle and dot motif has roots in Inuit cosmology. Oomayoualook’s use of the incomplete circles across the top figure raises questions as to whether these are mere ornamentation or whether there is greater significance.

MBL