It is unusual to encounter a narrative outside the Kiviuq cycle in Kivalliq art, and rarer still one as memorable as this. Nancy Pukingrnak draws on the account of a childless woman who secretly adopts a caterpillar, hides it in her husband’s mitten, and feeds it until it grows remarkably large. When her husband discovers it and kills it in anger, the story closes in devastation.

There is, however, no hint of that sorrow present in this work. Instead, Pukingrnak gives us a moment of intimacy and care. The woman appears calm, even protective, holding the soft, heavy-bodied creature close to her chest. Its full, swollen form suggests just how patiently and lovingly it has been nourished. Interestingly, Pukingrnak adds what is almost a speech bubble at the woman’s right breast, inscribed “ᐊᓇ / ᐊᔨᒥ / ᑎᒍᐊᑐ.” The phrase may be read as “I have adopted a tiguaqtoq,” with tiguaqtoq referring broadly to any being, human or otherwise, adopted by a person.

First Arts extends our gratitude to Veronica Puskas for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.

References: This narrative has been primarily depicted elsewhere by other artists. See The Woman Nursing her Caterpillar, by Samisa Passauralu Ivilla, illustrated in Zebedee Nungak and Eugene Arima, Eskimo Stories: Unikkaatuat, (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1969), pl 22A, p. 42. See also Legend of the Woman Who Adopted a Caterpillar, by Davidialuk, reproduced in Loveland Museum / Gallery, Survival: Inuit Art, (Loveland, CO: Loveland Museum / Gallery, 2004) p. 112. For another full version of the story, see Unikkaangualaurtaa / Let’s Tell a Story: A Collection of 26 Stories and Songs from Nunavik, with Activities for Young Children, (Westmount, QC: Avataq Cultural Institute, 2006), “Woman Adopts a Caterpillar (Auvvik),” pp. 1-2. We note that the glossary defines Tiguartuq (Tiguaqtoq) as “any animal, bird or insect adopted and raised by a human. The word also applies to an adopted human.”

ND