Inuk
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, and ...
Canadian artist admired for her prolific body of work. She was also a member of 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 ...
.
Biography
Pitseolak was born to Timungiak and Oootochie on
Nottingham Island
Nottingham Island ( iu, Tujjaat) is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Hudson Strait, just north of the entrance into Hudson Bay.
History
Nottingham Island was named by the English explorer Henr ...
in the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, now
Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
. Her name means "sea pigeon" in
Inuktitut
Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...
. She grew up in the traditional life of her people, with food dependent on hunting and gathering. Her culture relied on angakuit.
In 1922 (or 1923), Pitseolak married Ashoona, a hunter, in the
Foxe Peninsula
Foxe Peninsula is a peninsula found at the southern end of Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It juts out from the southerly end of the island in a southwestly direction, dividing Foxe Basin and Hudson Strait. Its western ...
of
Baffin Island
Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...
. They had 17 children, though only six (Namoonie, Qaqaq, Kumwartok, Kiugak, Napachie, and Ottochie) lived with Pitseolak until adulthood. Some died in childhood, and others were adopted out according to custom, and raised by other Inuit families.
After her husband died at the age of 40 from a viral sickness, Pitseolak raised four of the children, Kumwartok, Qaqaq, Kiawak or Kiugak, and daughter Napachie Pootoogook, herself. Years of hardship followed the death of Ashoona, which occurred sometime in the early to mid 1940s. He died in the early years of the Second World War, a time of decline in the market for furs.
Over time the loss of Ashoona led Pitseolak to become an artist. Making prints eased her loneliness and she described her art as what made her "the happiest since he died". Pitseolak's artwork later enabled her to support her family. Though her art arose from painful circumstances, it expressed mostly positive memories and experiences. As Christine Lalonde notes in ''Pitseolak Ashoona: Life & Work'': "scenes of deprivation and suffering almost never appear in her drawings, though certain images convey sadness and longing" about the passing of Ashoona.
Pitseolak is recognized as one of the first Inuit artists to create autobiographical works. Her art contained images of traditional Inuit life and contributed to the establishment of a modern Inuit art form, one that transmitted traditional knowledge and values while at the same time achieving worldwide popular and commercial success.
Pitseolak died on May 28, 1983 in
Cape Dorset
Kinngait (Inuktitut meaning "high mountain" or "where the hills are"; Syllabics: ᑭᙵᐃᑦ), formerly known as Cape Dorset until 27 February 2020, is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin ...
now Kinngait. She was survived by a large family of artists, including:
* Napatchie Pootoogook, daughter, graphic artist
**
Annie Pootoogook
Annie Pootoogook (May 11, 1969 – September 19, 2016) was a Canadian Inuk artist known for her pen and coloured pencil drawings. In her art, Pootoogook often portrayed the experiences of those in her community of Kinngait (then known in English ...
, (1969–2016), artist; granddaughter
* Qaqaq Ashoona ("Kaka") (1928–1996), elder son and sculptor
** Ohitok, sculptor – grandson
* Kiugak Ashoona (1933–2014), son and sculptor
**
Shuvinai Ashoona
Shuvinai Ashoona (born August 1961Shuvinai Ashoona at Dorset Fine Arts) is an
* Kumwartok Ashoona, son and sculptor
Artistic career
Pitseolak Ashoona was one of the first artists in the 1960s to make drawings for the print studio in Cape Dorset. She was a self-taught artist, who worked out solutions to artistic problems through what Lalonde described as "a self directed-program of repetitious drawing".
Initially Pitseolak worked sewing and embroidering goods for sale as part of the arts and crafts program. It was initiated by the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources as a way for Inuit to earn money. It was introduced by
James Archibald Houston
James Archibald Houston (June 12, 1921 – April 17, 2005) was a Canadian artist, designer, children's author and filmmaker who played an important role in the recognition of Inuit art and introduced printmaking to the Inuit. The Inuit named him ...
and Alma Houston at Cape Dorset in 1956. Upon seeing the work of her cousin Kiakshuk (1886–1966), who was part of the Cape Dorset graphic studio, Pitseolak decided to take up drawing. Her early work was well received and she soon became one of the most popular artists among those creating images for the Cape Dorset print collection.
First working with graphite pencil, Pitseolak would later move on to coloured pencil and felt-tip pens. Lalonde said these became her favored medium because their "rich and vibrant colours" best expressed "the joyfulness that characterizes her work".
Pitseolak's cousin, Kiakshuk, and Houston both inspired her to try her hand at drawing. She also worked on copper plates, but did not enjoy this technique.
In the last two decades of her life, from 1960 onwards, she produced a collection of more than 7,000 images, 233 of which were created as prints in her Cape Dorset Collection. She said these illustrated life pre-contact, "the things we did long ago before there were many white men."
Her artwork focuses on both daily life and legends, or '' Taleelayu''. Pitseolak was inspired by other artists in her community who started before her, saying: "I don't know who did the first print, but Kiakshuk, Niviaksiak, Oshawetok and Tudlik were all drawing at the beginning. I liked the first prints ... because they were truly
Eskimo
Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Siberian Yupik, Yuit) of eastern Si ...
." Pitseolak was accepted 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 ...
in 1974 and was awarded 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 ...
in 1977 for her work.
Pitseolak found prints to be the most challenging, as she said in
's book ''Pitseolak: Pictures of My Life''; "To make prints is not easy. You must think first and this is hard to do. But I am happy doing the prints." Though not active as a printmaker, Pitseolak experimented with drawing directly on copper plates and, to a lesser degree, lithographic stones.
In 1973 she narrated her story in the
National Film Board
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...
's animated documentary ''Pictures out of My Life'', directed by Bozenna Heczko and based on interviews from Eber's book. Pitseolak was also featured on a stamp, issued on March 8, 1993 and designed by Heather J. Cooper, in commemoration of International Woman's Day.
Pitseolak's work has been featured in exhibitions at Canadian museums, including the
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...
, the
Winnipeg Art Gallery
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collect ...
, the
Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...
, the
Canadian museum of civilization
The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...
s, and the
Vancouver Art Gallery
The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...
. In 1975 she had a retrospective at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...