Helen Kalvak, (Kalvakadlak) (1901 - 7 May 1984) was a
Copper Inuit
Copper Inuit, also known as Kitlinermiut and Inuinnait, are a Canadian Inuit group who live north of the tree line, in what is now the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut and in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest ...
graphic artist from
Ulukhaktok
Ulukhaktok (Kangiryuarmiutun (Inuit languages, Inuit language) spelling ''Ulukhaqtuuq'' () and known until 1 April 2006 as ''Holman'' or ''Holman Island'') is a small Hamlet (place)#Canada, hamlet on the west coast of Victoria Island (Canada), Vi ...
(formerly Holman),
Northwest Territories, Canada.
Early years
Kalvak was born at
Tahiryuak Lake, on
Victoria Island
Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the List of islands by area, eighth-largest island in the world, ...
and raised in the
Prince Albert Sound
Prince Albert Sound (Inuit: ''Kangiryuak'') is a Northern Canadian body of water located in the Inuvik Region of southwestern Victoria Island, Northwest Territories. It is an inlet of Amundsen Gulf. The sound separates the Wollaston Peninsula ...
area. Her family also spent some time at
Minto Inlet
Minto Inlet is located east of Amundsen Gulf in western Victoria Island, at the southern end of Prince of Wales Strait in the Northwest Territories. It is long and between wide.
The inlet is part of the historical territory of the Copper Inui ...
. She lived a traditional
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
lifestyle for most of her life. Her mother was Enataomik. Her father Halukhit encouraged her spiritual gifts and taught her to be an ''
angatkuq'' (
spiritual healer
Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into a patient and effect positive results. Practitioners use a number of names including various synonyms for ...
). Although Kalvak later converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, she continued to reflect
her traditional spirituality in her artwork, along with the stories which she had learned as a child.
Later years
In 1960, Kalvak moved to Holman (present-day
Ulukhaktok
Ulukhaktok (Kangiryuarmiutun (Inuit languages, Inuit language) spelling ''Ulukhaqtuuq'' () and known until 1 April 2006 as ''Holman'' or ''Holman Island'') is a small Hamlet (place)#Canada, hamlet on the west coast of Victoria Island (Canada), Vi ...
) after the sudden death of her husband, Edward Manayok. There in 1961 she helped a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
, Rev. Henri Tardy, set up the
Holman Eskimo Co-op. It was at this time that Kalvak began her artwork. In 1965, her artwork was turned into prints and sold throughout the world.
Ten years later, in recognition of her work, Kalvak was inducted into the
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880.
History 1880 to 1890
The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...
. This was followed in 1978 by her appointment to the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
.
[Tomic-Bagshaw, Jessica. "Helen Kalvak: Pioneering Inuit Print-maker", in ''Framing Our Past: Canadian Women's History in the Twentieth Century,'' S.A. Cook, L.R. McLean, and K. O'Rourke, eds. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 2001, p. 60.] By 1978, Kalvak had produced an estimated 2,000 drawings.
[Quintana Galleries] She was no longer able to use her hands due to
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
. The following year,
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...
used her work entitled ''The Dance'' for the 17¢
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
. With 176 published prints, Kalvak is the Ulukhaktok artist with the largest body of published work.
At the time of her death in 1984, Kalvak was one of the few remaining Inuit women in Ulukhaktok decorated with traditional beautifying facial
tattoo
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...
s.
The school in Ulukhaktok is named after her.
Personal life
Kalvak was married to Edward Manayok, a singer and drum dancer. He died at a coastal outpost camp
at Walker Bay.
[Wight]
Their daughter, Elsie Nilgak, states:
"When they were trying to start the Co-op my mother was given drawing paper to make drawings. She would make drawings when we were at our outpost camp at Walker Bay n the coast north of Minto Inlet The drawings would show the way people used to dress and live. She did drawings for some of the sealskin tapestries also. There were about five women, including my mother, who sewed sealskins for the Co-op. I still remember the first drawings and designs by my mother for kamiks, parkas, mitts, and other craft items. There were about five women who made sealskin clothing and mats. I remember coming into Holman in the summer by boat to sell some of my mother’s finished drawings and I would get more art supplies to take back for her. This was after my father passed away n 1960"
Her granddaughter, Julia Manoyok Ekpakohak (born 1968), is also an artist. She was taught by Kalvak.
References
External links
''The Dance'' as used by Canada Post*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081203151606/http://www.pws.gov.nt.ca/projects/HelenKalvakSchool/index.htm Helen Kalvak School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalvak, Helen
1901 births
1984 deaths
Canadian Inuit women
Converts to Christianity
Neurological disease deaths in the Northwest Territories
Deaths from Parkinson's disease
Inuit illustrators
Members of the Order of Canada
Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Artists from the Northwest Territories
Inuit spiritual healers
Inuvialuit people
20th-century Canadian women artists
Inuit from the Northwest Territories