Jessie Oonark

Jessie Oonark, ( ᔨᐊᓯ ᐅᓈᖅ; 2 March 1906 – 7 March 1985) was a prolific and influential Inuit artist of the Utkuhihalingmiut ''Utkuhiksalingmiut'' whose wall hangings, prints and drawings are in major collections including the National Gallery of Canada.

Early years

She was born in 1906 in the Chantrey Inlet (''Tariunnuaq'') area, near the
estuary of the Back River in the Keewatin District of the Northwest Territories (now Nunavut)—the traditional lands of the Utkukhalingmiut ''Utkukhalingmiut'', ''Utkukhalingmiut'' (''the people of the place where there is soapstone''). Her artwork portrays aspects of the traditional hunter-nomadic life that she lived for over five decades, moving from fishing the camp near the mouth of Back River on Chantrey Inlet in the Honoraru area to their caribou hunting camp in the Garry Lake area, living in winter snow houses (igloos) and caribou skin tents in the summer. Oonark learned early how to prepare skins and sew caribou skin clothing. They subsisted mainly on trout (lake trout and Arctic char), whitefish, and barren-ground caribou. The knife used by women, the ''ulu'', their traditional skin clothing, the ''kamik'', the ''amauti'' were recurring themes in her work. Oonark has had a major museum retrospective with accompanying scholarly monograph. Despite a late start – she was 54 years old when her work was first published – she was an active and prolific artist over the next 19 years, creating a body of work that won critical acclaim and made her one of Canada's best known Inuit artists.

Utkuhikhalingmiut

She was a fluent speaker of the Utkuhiksalingmiut language. Utkuhiksalingmiut is a subdialect of Natsilik Netsilik (''Natsilik'') within the Western Canadian Inuit dialect continuum. Just as it was true for the art of other first-generation Inuit artists from that area—Luke Anguhadluk and Marion Tuu'luq—Utkuhiksalingmiut oral history and legends were strongly reflected in Jessie's artwork. In later years, in Baker Lake, they became a small minority, and fewer people could speak the language.

Biography

Jessie Oonark's parents were Qiliikvuq and Aghlquarq(Aglaguaq). Aglaguaq and his brothers hunted muskox. Oonark's spent most of her time the in Chantrey Inlet where fish were abundant. The Utkukhalingmiut had many taboos, one of which was the drawing of images. According to Marie Bouchard— a researcher, art historian, and community worker who lived in Baker Lake for many years— "Oonark's grandmother repeatedly warned her that images could come to life in the dark of night." Oonark's mother married Qiqniikpak after the death of Oonark's father. Oonark lived with her mother.

The Danish explorer, Knud Rasmussen, crossed the Canadian Arctic by dogsled and visited the Jessie Oonark's camp when she was just a teenager during his Fifth Thule Expedition. Utkuhikhalingmiut represented the first white contact. In the 1980s, Mame Jackson taped Jessie Oonark's description of the encountered broadcast on CBC radio.

Oonark was married at a young age to Qabluunaq, (Kabloona, Kabloonak) the son of Naatak and Nanuqluq from Gjoa Haven. Natak joined them in their hunting camp. Although Kabloona was "a good hunter and a respected fur trader", the family was often hungry. Their oldest daughter remembers the periods of hunger. Oonark's mother-in-law, Naatak, would boil a caribou skin into a "broth" in an attempt to appease the hunger. Even in 2007, Baker Lake Inuit kept animal bones for marrow ''patek''.

Their first daughter, Janet Kigusiuq, was born at Putuqsuqniq in the Back River area in 1926. She had eleven more children including Joshuan Nuilaliq, Mamnguqsualuq, Victoria Mamnguqsualuq, Miriam Nanuqluq, Mary Yuusipik, Peggy Gabluunaq, Nancy Pukingnaq (born 1940–), William Noah, Isumataq, Qaqurialuq, Amarouk, and Makitgag.

In the 1940s, Oonark was assigned a Disc number by the Canadian federal government— E2-384. In the 1940s, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) conducted a census of Inuit populations. They assigned the infamous identification numbering system using discs. These disc numbers were dropped during "Operation Surname" in the 1960s.

In the 1950s there was a slump in the fox fur trade. Sometime around 1953 and 1954, Kabloonak and her four youngest children died of illness in the Garry Lake area when William Noah was still a child and Nancy Pukingrnak was in her early teens and they were still dependent on her. Luke Anguhadluq, camp leader helped her at this time.

Starvation

The annual caribou migration shifted away from the area where they lived, leaving many Inuit to starve. The Back River Inuit, including Oonark and her family, had a hard time during the starvation period of the 1950s. The winter of 1957–1958 was marked by a severe shortage of country food in the Back River area. Oonark and her daughter Nancy Pukingrnak were starving. William Noah walked from their camp to Baker Lake in March to seek help. They were airlifted by the Canadian armed forces to Baker Lake.

Baker Lake

When Oonark first arrived in Baker Lake in 1958 she survived by "cleaning skins for her friend, Sandy Lunan, at the Hudson's Bay Company post, cooking meals, washing dishes and sewing traditional Arctic garments for local sale" and eventually worked as janitor at the Anglican Church. Baker Lake residents "derisively referred to the Back River people as ''qangmaliqs'' (the people who only come in to trade) and considered them to be socially backwards.

In the 1950s, because of a severe famine in the Keewatin District, many Inuit arrived in Baker Lake. A federal dayschool was opened at Baker Lake in 1957. Pre-fabricated subsidized government housing constructed from the mid-1950s. The Northern Services Officer—Doug Wilkinson— encouraged the development of the arts and crafts industry in Baker Lake. At that time the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources (DIAND) established arts and crafts projects in Inuit hamlets as part of socio-economic development (Goetz, 1985:43). Bill Larmour was the DIAND arts and crafts officer in Baker Lake from 1961 to 1962.

Artistic career

In 1958 after observing school children drawing in Baker Lake, Oonark casually remarked to the school teacher that she could draw better than that. The next summer in 1959, the teacher shared this comment with Canadian Wildlife Service biologist, Dr. Andrew Macpherson, who was in Baker Lake studying Arctic fox. Macpherson gave her coloured pencils and paper, purchased her drawings and brought some of them to Ottawa. Macpherson continued to send her coloured pencils and a drawing pad after his return to Ottawa in the late fall of 1959. In the spring of 1960 Oonark sent him twelve completed drawings in the sketchbook via the Northern Services Officer Tom Butlers.Bell was Liaison Officer, Man in the North Project, The Arctic Institute of North America (AINA)

Edith Dodds, the wife of the Northern Service Officer, Sam Dodds, sent six of Oonark's drawings to James Archibald Houston at the West Baffin Co-operative in Cape Dorset. Two of her drawings—''Inland Eskimo Woman/Eskimo Woman'' and ''Tattooed Faces''— were made into single colour stone cut prints under the name of Una (Kazan River) at the newly established Cape Dorset print shop and included in the 1960 Cape Dorset print collection and catalogue. A print from her drawing "People of lnland appeared
in the 1961 Cape Dorset Print collection. It was the first and only time the Cape Dorset print shop included work from an Inuk outside Cape Dorset. SERNNoCA Researcher in coordination with Dr. Ian McPherson, University of Victoria

In 1961 William Larmour, crafts officer with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs established a federal government arts and crafts program with Jessie Oonark as one of their key artists. In 1963 Gabriel Gely developed a printmaking program in Baker Lake. Ten experimental prints were made in 1964 and two of them were based on Oonark's drawings—"Drum Dancer" (1964).

Boris Kotelewetz, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs' arts and crafts officer, who arrived in Baker Lake in March 1966, provided Oonark with studio space and a salary.

In 1969 Jack and Sheila Butler were recruited as the new DIAND arts and crafts officers on the advice of George Swinton, artist, academic, collector of Inuit art, author of the influential book entitled ''Sculpture of the Eskimo.'' By the time they arrived Oonark was already an accomplished artist. In that year she completed a large applique wallhanging which hangs in the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly's Chamber in Yellowknife. Commercial internet-based Inuit and First Nations art gallery

In 1970 the first Baker Lake Print Collection was released and exhibited at the Art Gallery of Alberta. The stone cut print by Thomas Manik of Oonark's drawing entitled "Woman" (1970) was featured on the cover and her work was prominent in the exhibition. She continued to contribute images to the Baker Lake Print collections until 1985.

In 1970, the National Museum of Man in Ottawa organized a touring exhibition of 50 of Oonark's drawings and works by sculptor John Pangnark. It toured major galleries in Canada for eight months. Later that year, Avrom Isaacs featured Inuit artists such as Oonark and Karoo Ashevak in solo exhibitions in 1970 in the Isaacs Innuit Gallery—in the gallery's opening year. Isaacs Innuit Gallery became one of Toronto's most prestigious galleries for over thirty years. It was Oonark's first solo exhibition and in 1971 Isaacs had an exhibition of Oonark's wallhangings.

The Baker Lake Sanavik Co-operative was incorporated in 1971. The print-makers who rendered Oonark's drawings into limited edition fine art prints included Thomas Sivuraq. The printing technique in Baker Lake included colour stonecuts, stencil and lithograph on Japanese wove paper. These include the chop for Oonark and Sanavik. In the same year, Oonark received a travel grant from the Canada Council of the Arts to travel to Toronto and Montreal for the opening of the exhibitions of her drawings. The Toronto wall hangings solo-exhibition took place in April at the Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art. In Montreal, the exhibition was held at the Canadian Guild of Crafts.

Oonark's work illustrated a 1972 anthology of Inuit poetry from the circumpolar regions including Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Siberia 1972.With an introduction by Edmund Carpenter In the spring of 1972, Baker Lake print collection was released and it included five Oonark prints, two of which are based on small wall hangings. The stencil print, ''Young Woman,'' was featured on the cover of the catalogue. Later that year, an Oonark wall hanging was commissioned by The Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, was featured on the cover of their publication, ''The Business Quarterly.''

In May 1975 Oonark was elected a Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Later that year, the Baker Lake print collection is released featuring 11 Oonark prints, a new record for the artist. By 1976, Oonark was well known in her community. That year, her work was featured on two stamps for the United Nations commemorating the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements. The first day of Issue was May 28, 1976.

In 1984 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In 1986 the Winnipeg Art Gallery mounted a retrospective of her work with a major touring exhibition and catalogue both entitled ''Jessie Oonark: a Retrospective''. By 1987 Oonark already has had eleven solo exhibitions and more than fifty national and international group exhibitions.

In 1998 the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre presented a major exhibition with catalogue entitled ''Qamanittuaq (Where the River Widens): Drawings by Baker Lake Artists'' which including first-generation artist Jessie Oonark and the distinctive drawings of four of her children: Janet Kigusiuq, Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, Nancy Pukingrnak, and William Noah among many others.

In 1994 Bernadette Driscoll-Ellgelstad, curated the exhibition entitled ''Northern Lights: Inuit Textile Art from Arctic Canada'' which included wall hangings by Jessie Oonark and her daughters, Janet Kigusiuq, Victoria Mamnguqsllaluk, her relatives Ruth Qaulluaryuk and other women from the Back River area along with artists from Baker Lake.

On November 18, 2015, Oonark's 1969 wall hanging depicting a hunting scene, made of duffel, felt and embroidery floss, sold for $70,800, a new record for the Baker Lake artist. The wall hanging was one of 333 pieces of art up for sale, organized by Walker's Fine Art Auctions in Ottawa.

Style

"A strong, bold graphic sense informs all of Oonark's work. Traditional dress, women's facial tattoos, and shamanistic themes are common in her art, yet they usually appear as isolated, fragmentary forms, shaped into a graphically bold image rather than a comprehensible narrative. Oonark is also well known as a textile artist, whose wool and felt wall-hangings reveal her as a master of color and form."

Themes in her artwork

Oonark's work includes visual puns and shape-shifting, descriptive works depicting clothing, tools and cultural objects of importance to the Utkuhihalingmiut as well as images based on storytelling, legends and shamanism.

Visual Puns or

Ambiguous images

Mame Jackson, George Swinton and Jean Blodgett noted that Oonark's work reflects a high tolerance for ambiguity, a kind of double vision. For example, her work entitled "Two Fish Looking for Something to Eat" (1978), when viewed as a horizontal image, suggests two swimming fish-like creatures and depicts her version of the cannibal fish legend. When viewed vertically one figure resembles a standing woman whose face fills the amaut. Is she birthing or eating the small blue fish? The fish-figure wearing a man's parka seems to be kiss-touching rather than eating.

Jessie Oonark, although familiar with oral traditions and legends, is never satisfied with a one-layered literal illustration. The horizontal print Two Fish Looking for Something to Eat depicts her version of the cannibal fish story but her double vision leaves room for ambiguity. The cannibal fish also appears in her print "Untitled (Yellow fish)" (1977).

Jessie Oonark's verbal descriptions of her own work are often cryptic,

Shamanism

Oonark's father Aglaguaq and her grandfather were said to be shamans. Aglaquarq used his shamanic powers infrequently but Oonark vividly remembered his helping spirit— ''Uupitanaisuak.'' Aglaguaq had a daughter who is Oonark's stepsister, Kayuruq. When Janet Kigusiuk was still a baby, Anglican missionaries, Canon James and his Inuk assistant catechist Thomas Tapatai came to Oonark's hunting camp. She adopted the Anglican religion and they gave her a prayer book and a Bible. The arrival of Christian missionaries divided their small camp into two divisions—those who became Christian and those who held onto the old ways. Oonark did not participate in drum dancing nor did she follow the ways of shamanism. However she continued to depict the drum dance and aspects of shamanism in her artwork such as ''Horned Spirits'' (1970), ''Shaman'' (1970) and ''The People Within'' (1970).

The colour stonecut and stencil print on laid Japanese paper printed by Thomas Sivuraq of a drawing by Jessie Oonark called "A Shaman's Helping Spirits" (1971), in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada depicts a horned shaman, with animal helping spirits and with a small spirit on his head. Oonark's father—Aglaquarq—used his shamanic powers infrequently but Oonark vividly remembered his helping spirit— ''Uupitanaisuak.''

Drum Dance

She no longer participated in the drum dance either but she depicted images of the drum dance for example in "Drum Dance" (1970).

Shape-shifting was a popular theme seen in ''Day Spirit'' (1970).

Inuit storytelling

Oonark's mother and father and her mother-in-law Naatak, (Natak) were storytellers and these stories are richly represented in Oonark's work, such as the 1970 print entitled "Dream of the Bird Woman", referring to the Kiviuq (Qiviuk), an Inuk who faced dangerous obstacles in his journeys by kayak, which was described by Franz Boas as the most widely known Inuit legend in the circumpolar region.

Clothing and tools

The knife used by women, the ''ulu'', their clothing, the ''amauti'' were recurring themes in her work. ''People of the Inland'' (1961) depicts the Back River people. One of her best known works is "Woman" (1970) described as,

Birds

Bernadette Driscoll explained the presence of birds — in the drawing and print "Dream of the Bird Woman" and in Oonark's other artworks — demonstrated the "symbolic significance of the importance of birds as a symbol of flight and in several instances as a reference to shamanism as in "Angagkok Conjuring Birds (1979) but also as a harbinger of spring and itself a symbol of fecundity and rebirth."

Christianity

Reverend Alan Whitton was the Anglican minister at Saint Aidan's Church, Baker Lake, from 1963 until 1972. During that time his wife Elizabeth Whitton, befriended Oonark. In 1966 Elizabeth organized a sewing projects with Oonark and others where they produced mittens, parkas, slippers, duffle socks as well as appliqued images from scraps for sale. At Easter in 1968 Elizabeth Whitton asked Oonark to do drawings about their church for their local women's auxiliary magazine. Oonark's drawings included depictions of Reverend Whitton, catechist Thomas Tapatai, local Ihuit parishioners including women with traditional Inuit tattoos and the church exterior. Oonark continued to use these themes in later work, for example in her 1971–1972 wall hanging for Saint Jude's Cathedra1 in Iqaluit and in a 1971–1972 wall hanging of wool and stroud in the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario. Oonark described this wall-hanging,

In her 1984 essay entitled "Christianity and Inuit Art" and in the 1986 "Jessie Oonark, A Retrospective", Blodgett noted how Oonark blended traditional Inuit clothing and symbols with Christian motifs.ASTIS record 15820

Oonark's influence on Inuit art

In the first generation of Inuit artists working in printmaking, Oonark, together with Pitseolak Ashoona and Kenojuak were recognized quickly as significant figures, receiving solo exhibitions, scholarly attention and professional awards.
Rosemary Tovell wrote in the catalogue entitled ''Baker Lake Prints 1985'' that When Oonark died in 1985, the Canadian Eskimo Art Council (CEAC) were quoted as saying that they were pleased with the quality of her last prints and they recognized that " thout Oonark, Baker Lake as a centre for prints may never have happened. It was largely due to her enormous talent that the world's attention came to the community."

On September 4, 2016, the CBC released an article titled, "''Inuit Art Centre to Reveal Beauty of the North in the South"'' discussing Winnipeg's $65-million centre that will house the world's largest collection of Inuit art. In it, they reference the important role printmaking played, especially for female artists like Oonark, Kenojuak Ashevak and Helen Kalvak, who gravitated towards visual arts, while men focused on stone-carving which required more physical strength.

All her children, Janet Kigusiuq, Victoria Mamnguqsualuq Kayuryuk, Josiah Nuilalik, Nancy Pukirniq, Miriam Qiyuq, Peggy, Mary Yussipik and William Noah are artists.

Collections

Oonark's work is in major collections including the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, (Kingston, ON), American National Insurance Company, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art (Fort Worth, Texas), Amway Environmental Foundation Collection (Ada, Michigan), Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Victoria, BC), Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Halifax, NS), Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto,ON), Art Gallery of Windsor, Art Gallery of York University (Downsview, Ontario), Beaverbrook Art Gallery (Fredericton, NB), Canada Council Art Bank (Ottawa, ON), Canadian Catholic Conference Art Collection (Ottawa, ON), Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec (Montreal, QC), Canadian Museum of Civilization (Hull, QC), Churchill Community Centre (Churchill, MB), Clifford E. Lee Collection (University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB), Collection of His Holiness John Paul II (Vatican City, Rome, Italy), Collection of the Supreme Patriarch of All Armenia, His Holiness, Catholicos Vazken I, Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College (Traverse City, Michigan), Edmonton Art Gallery (Edmonton, AB), Glenbow Museum (Calgary, AB), Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology (Brown University, Bristol, Rhode Island), Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (Kitchener, ON), Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, ON), Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (Guelph, ON), McMaster University Art Gallery (Hamilton, ON), McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Kleinburg, ON) Mendel Art Gallery, (Saskatoon, SK), Museé des beaux-arts de Montreal (Montréal, QC), Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC), National Arts Centre (Ottawa, ON), National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON), New Brunswick Museum (Saint John, NB), Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University (Sackville, NB), Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (Yellowknife, NT), Shell Canada Collection (Calgary, AB), Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, BC), University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB), University of Lethbridge Art Gallery (Lethbridge, AB), Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies (Banff, AB) and the Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg, MB) and the Hermon Collection of Native American Art at the University of Delaware Art Gallery. Her untitled wall hanging (1973), one of her largest art works, is in the main lobby (foyer) of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Later life

Oonark began to experience numbness in her hands and feet and in 1979, when a surgical intervention failed to check the symptoms, she lost much of her manual dexterity and produced only a few more pieces afterwards. Her career had lasted roughly 19 years, but its impact on Inuit art – and on the perception of Inuit art in the larger world – is considerable. She died March 7, 1985 in Churchill, Manitoba. and is buried on Blueberry Hill in Baker Lake.

See also

*Notable Aboriginal people of Canada

Citations

References

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*SERNNoCA Researcher in coordination with Dr. Ian McPherson, University of Victoria
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*Cadorette, Jeanne. "Le Musée des Beaux-Arts Double la Collection d'Art Inuit." Le Droit (Montreal) 27 Feb. 1993.
*Canadian Arctic Producers. Biographies of Inuit Artists, Volumes One and Two. Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers, Arctic Co-operatives Limited, 1984.
*Carson, Jo. "Toronto Atmosphere Offends the Artist from Baker Lake." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 3 Apr. 1971: 13.
*Crandall, Richard C. Inuit Art: A History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2000.
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*Eber, Dorothy Harley. "Recording the Spirit World." Natural History 111.7 (Sept. 2002): 54–62.
*Endrst, Elsa B. "The Art of Attracting Fine Art." UN Chronicle 30.2 (Jun. 1993): 74.
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*Everett, Deborah & Zorn, Elayne. Encyclopedia of Native American Artists. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2008.
*Fernstrom, Katharine and Anita Jones. Northern Lights: Inuit Textile Art from the Canadian Arctic. Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1993.
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*Gale, Thomson. Jessie Oonark: Drawings, Textiles. place unknown: Gale Group, 1998.
*Heller, Jules and Nancy. North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century. New York: Garland, 1995.
*Hunchuck, S. Holyck et al. Patiently I Sing: Selections from the Tyler/Brooks Collection of Inuit Art. Ottawa: Carleton University Art Gallery, 1994.
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*Kritzwiser, Kay. "Bold Prints with Heart and History." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 27 Jun. 1970: 24.
* Volume=1–8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009.
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*McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing. Royal Canadian Academy of Arts/Académie royale des arts du Canada: Exhibitions and Members 1880–1979. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981.
*Miller, Frank L. "Andrew Hall MacPherson (1932–2002)." Arctic 55. 4 (Dec. 2002): 403–6.
*Museum of Man, Nat'l Arts Centre, Can. Arctic Producers Ltd. Oonark and Pangnark. Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers Limited, 1970.
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*Parkin, J. "The People from Within: Art from Baker Lake." Art Magazine 7.28 (Summer 1976): 66–75.
*Phillips, Ruth B. and Christopher B. Steiner, eds. Unpacking Culture: Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1999.
*Pool, Annelies. "Making Money or Making Art? Controversy Surrounds Baker Lake's New Jessie Oonark Arts and Crafts Centre to Boost Bottom Line." Up Here 8.3 (Jun–Jul. 1992): 34–6.
*Rivera, Raquel. Arctic Adventures: Tales from the Lives of Inuit Artists. Unknown: Groundwood Books and House of Anansi Press, 2007.
*Rochon, Lisa. "A Bright Northern Light." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 4 Jul. 1987: C15.
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*Souchotte, Sandra. "Jessie Oonark: Giver of Life." Uphere 1.4 (Jun–Jul. 1984): 20–4.
*Tippett, Maria. By a Lady. Toronto: Viking, 1992.
*Upstairs Gallery. Jessie Oonark R.C.A., O.C.: Retrospective 1970–1985: Prints, Drawings, Wall Hangings. Winnipeg: Upstairs Gallery, 1986.
*Upstairs Gallery. Jessie Oonark: Wall Hangings and Selected Prints. Winnipeg: Upstairs Gallery, 1983.
*Vaughan, Murray and Marguerite. The Murray and Marguerite Vaughan Inuit Print Collection / Collection d'Estampe inuit. Fredericton: Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 1981.
*Von Finckenstein, Maria. "The Art of Survival." Hidden in Plain Sight: Contributions of Aboriginal Peoples to Canadian Identity and Culture. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005.
*Wight, Darlene. The Art of Jessie Oonark from the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Winnipeg and Vancouver: Winnipeg Art Gallery and Garfinkel Publications, 1996.
*Winnipeg Art Gallery. Baker Lake, Prints & Print-Drawings 1970–1976: February 27 to April 17, 1983. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1982.
*Withers, Josephine. "Inuit Women Artists." Feminist Studies 10.1 (Spring 1984): 85–96.
*Wright, Darlene Coward. Arctic Masterpieces: The Art of Jessie Oonark from the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1997. Winnipeg and Vancouver: Winnipeg Art Gallery and Garfinkel Publishing, 1996.
*Zuk, W. M. Art First Nations: Tradition and Innovation, Arctic. Montreal and Champlain, New York: Art Image Productions, 1992.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oonark, Jessie
1906 births
1985 deaths
Inuit illustrators
Inuit textile artists
Inuit printmakers
People from Baker Lake
Canadian Inuit women
Officers of the Order of Canada
Artists from Nunavut
Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Canadian printmakers
Inuit mythology
20th-century Canadian women artists
Women printmakers
20th-century printmakers
Women textile artists
Inuit from the Northwest Territories
Oonark family