An Inuk Holding a Beluga Whale Tail and a Knife
Twamie Okaitok, Inuit / Canadian, 1900 - 1963
Canadian Inuit
Eastern Arctic
Arctic
1950s
Soapstone, possibly darkened with soap
Overall: 5 11/16 × 2 15/16 × 1 9/16 in. (14.5 × 7.5 × 4 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Sherman P. and Anne L. Haight Arctic Collection
168.94.24437
Geography
Place Made: Puvirnituq (Povungnituk), Nunavik, Canada, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Sculpture
Research Area
Native American
Sculpture
Native American: Arctic-Central and Eastern
Not on view
Inscriptions
Incised, E9-1452; sticker: 27k6976l (?); collector's sticker: S27 removed
Label
These sculptures depict different moments after a whale hunt. In one, a hunter prepares a cut of whale meat; in the other, a person bites into a portion of food, possibly maktak. Maktak consists of raw whale skin and blubber and is a foundational part of the traditional Inuit diet and food practice. Inuit communities continue to hunt whale today, which involves participation from everyone, after which the whale meat and oil are shared among families and neighbors. In some Inuit world views, food is treated as communal property, and the sharing of hunting responsibilities and food is seen as essential to communal care.
Course History
Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Charis Boke, Summer 2024
First Year Student Enrichment Program, Rachel Obbard, Summer 2024
Exhibition History
From the Field: Tracing Foodways Through Art, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 8-November 3, 2024.
Tradition and Transformation: Twentieth Century Inuit Art from the Collection of the Hood Museum of Art, Gene Y. Kin Class of 1985 Gallery, Teaching Exhibition, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 22, 2014-December 6, 2015.
Provenance
Collected by Sherman Post Haight (1889-1980) and Anne Pardee Lyon Haight (1891-1977), New York, New York, about 1962; given to the Stefansson Collection, Dartmouth College Library, 1962; transferred to the present collection, 1968.
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