Parts of this publication were previously published in the exhibition catalogue Oviloo Tunnillie: A Woman’s Story in Stone by Darlene Coward Wight (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2016). The Art Canada Institute gratefully acknowledges the Winnipeg Art Gallery as its Publication Partner on this book.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
From the Author
On Friday, June 13, 2014, I received an emotional telephone call from Judy Kardosh, director of Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, to let me know that Oviloo Tunnillie had passed away the day before, on June 12. Judy urged me to organize a retrospective exhibition of Oviloo’s sculpture and told me she would help me locate many of her finest pieces. I accepted this suggestion without hesitation, but her promised assistance soon fell to her son, Robert Kardosh, as Judy herself passed away on November 30 of that same year. I would like to acknowledge the important role that Judy and Robert played in Oviloo’s career.
West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative and Dorset Fine Arts were also important to Oviloo’s career, and I am most appreciative of the knowledge shared with me by both John Westren and Terry Ryan. Pat Feheley and Brad van der Zanden of Feheley Fine Arts were of great assistance. In Cape Dorset, interviews were graciously provided by Iyola Tunnillie, Etidloi Tunnillie, Tye Tunnillie, and Nuvalinga Kingwatsiak, with expert translation by Pootoogoo (Black) Elee. My work was substantially aided by the research conducted by Odette Leroux, Marion E. Jackson, and Minnie Aodla Freeman for their important exhibition Isumavut: The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in 1994.
I am indebted to the many private collectors and public museums that allowed me to include their artworks in this study. Many staff members at the Winnipeg Art Gallery gave their usual high level of assistance. At the Art Canada Institute, my thanks go to Sara Angel for encouraging me to take on this project, and to Ruth Jones, Kendra Ward, Michael Rattray, and Emily Lawrence for their knowledgeable collaboration. Lastly, a special thank you to my husband, Roger Wight, for his continuous support of my work over the forty years I have been working with Inuit artists.
From the Art Canada Institute
The Art Canada Institute gratefully acknowledges the generosity of Marnie Schreiber and Karen Schreiber and of Alexandra Bennett, in memory of Jalynn Bennett, the Title Sponsors of this book. ACI also extends its appreciation to Dorset Fine Arts and Inuit Art Foundation, the Institutional Partners of this book.
The Art Canada Institute gratefully acknowledges the other sponsors of the 2018–2019 Canadian Online Art Book Project: Anonymous, Consignor Canadian Fine Art, Kiki and Ian Delaney, Maxine Granovsky Gluskin and Ira Gluskin, Gershon Iskowitz Foundation, the Sabourin Family Foundation, and Sandra L. Simpson.
We also sincerely thank the Founding Sponsor for the Art Canada Institute: BMO Financial Group; and the Art Canada Institute Patrons: Butterfield Family Foundation,* David and Vivian Campbell,* Connor, Clark & Lunn Foundation, Albert E. Cummings,* the Fleck family,* Roger and Kevin Garland,* Glorious and Free Foundation,* Charlotte Gray and George Anderson, The Scott Griffin Foundation,* Jane Huh,* Lawson Hunter, Gershon Iskowitz Foundation,* Alan and Patricia Koval Foundation, Phil Lind,* Nancy McCain and Bill Morneau,* John O’Brian, Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan,* Stephen Smart,* Nalini and Tim Stewart,* and Robin and David Young.*
We thank our Lead Benefactors: Alexandra Baillie, Alexandra Bennett and the Jalynn Bennett Family Foundation,* Grant and Alice Burton, Kiki and Ian Delaney,* Jon S. and Lyne Dellandrea,* Michelle Koerner and Kevin Doyle,* Sarah and Tom Milroy,* Partners in Art,* Sandra L. Simpson,* Pam and Michael Stein,* and Sara and Michael Angel.*
*Indicates a Founding Patron of the Art Canada Institute
The ACI gratefully acknowledges the support and assistance of Barry Appleton; Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron; Canada Council Art Bank (Martha Young); La Guilde (Michelle Joannette, Marie-Hélène Naud); Canadian Museum of History (Erin Gurski, Vincent Lafond); Paul and Mary Dailey Desmarais; Dorset Fine Arts (David Hannan); Estate of Charles Gimpel; ExpandingInuit.com (Rob Craigie); Feheley Fine Arts (Pat Feheley, Renzo Fernandez); Dan Froese; Government of Nunavut (Mike Beauregard); Elizabeth Grace and Susan Vella; Rick Hiebert; Hodgins Hall Auctions Ltd. (Kevin King); Inuit Art Foundation (John Geoghegan); Gail and Jerry Korpan; Library and Archives Canada (Eric Mineault); Marion Scott Gallery (Charles Bateman and Robert Kardosh); Ashley McCormick; McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Alexandra Cousins); Robert McNair; Lois and Daniel Miller; Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (Myriam Le Lan); Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia (Katie Ferrante); National Gallery of Canada (Raven Amiro); John and Joyce Price; Jane Ross; Kate Ryan; Spirit Wrestler Gallery (Nigel Reading); Tate (Fintan Ryan); Waddington’s Auctioneers and Appraisers (Anna Holmes); Walker’s Auctions (Christine Van Dusen, Dieter Hessel); Fred and Mary Widding; Winnipeg Art Gallery (Nicole Fletcher); and Andrea Zeigler.
ACI recognizes the private collectors who have given permission for their work to be published in this edition.
IMAGE SOURCES
Every effort has been made to secure permissions for all copyrighted material. The Art Canada Institute will gladly correct any errors or omissions.
Credit for Banner Images
Biography: Jerry Riley, Oviloo and Granddaughter Tye, 1990. (See below for details.)
Key Works: Oviloo Tunnillie, This Has Touched My Life, 1991–92. (See below for details.)
Significance & Critical Issues: Oviloo Tunnillie, Oviloo in Hospital Bed, c.2000. (See below for details.)
Style & Technique: Oviloo Tunnillie, Dog and Bear, 1977. (See below for details.)
Sources & Resources: Oviloo Tunnillie, 1992. (See below for details.)
Where to See: Exhibition photo of Oviloo Tunnillie: A Woman’s Story in Stone at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2016, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Courtesy of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Photo credit: Ernest Mayer.
Cover of catalogue for the exhibition Women of the North: An Exhibition of Art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic, Marion Scott Gallery, 1992.
Cover of Inuit Art Quarterly (Summer/Fall 1992) featuring Oviloo Tunnillie and Granddaughter Tye, 1990, photograph by Jerry Riley. Courtesy of the Inuit Art Foundation.
Dog team pulling a sled, c.1949. Richard Harrington Fonds, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (PA-129937). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photo credit: Richard Harrington.
Ikayukta Tunnillie with Eliakami viewing her prints, c.1978. Photo credit: George Hunter / Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.
Interior view of Clearwater Lake Sanatorium, The Pas, Manitoba, September 1950. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (PA-067514). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photo credit: Canadian Department of National Defence.
Interior view of Inuit quarters aboard the C.D. Howe, July 1957. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (PA-176873). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photo credit: Wilfred Doucette / National Film Board of Canada.
Inuit boarding the C.D. Howe, July 1951. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (PA-189646). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photo credit: Wilfred Doucette / National Film Board of Canada.
James Houston measuring a piece of soapstone, Cape Dorset, Nunavut, 1960. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (e010799886). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photo credit: Rosemary Gilliat Eaton.
Memory of My Life: Breaking Bottles, 2001–2, by Annie Pootoogook. Collection of Stephanie Comer and Rob Craigie. Courtesy of Expandinginuit.com / Rob Craigie.
Miss Ann Webster, RN, at the autoclave in the operating room aboard the C.D. Howe, c.1956. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (1983-120 NPC). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photographer unknown.
Opening of Isumavut: The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women, at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994. Courtesy of the Inuit Art Foundation.
Opening of the West Baffin Co-operative in Cape Dorset, November 1961. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (E010799833). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photo credit: Terrence Ryan.
Oviloo Tunnillie, 1992. Courtesy of the Inuit Art Foundation. Photo credit: John Graydon.
Oviloo Tunnillie, 1992. Courtesy of the Inuit Art Foundation. Photo credit: John Graydon.
Oviloo Tunnillie in Cape Dorset, 1987. Courtesy of the Inuit Art Foundation. Photo credit: John Paskievich / Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.
Oviloo Tunnillie on the steps outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, June 1992. Courtesy of the Winnipeg Art Gallery / Marion Scott Gallery. Photographer unknown.
Oviloo Tunnillie using an electric grinder. Film still from the 1993 documentary Keeping Our Stories Alive: The Sculpture of Canada’s Inuit.
Party lands from the Canadian Government ship C.D. Howe on patrol of the Eastern Arctic at Cape Dorset, July 1951. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (e005477082). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photo credit: Wilfred Doucette / National Film Board of Canada.
Self-Portrait in the Printshop, 2003, by Andrew Qappik. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery (GN2005.3.21). Courtesy of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Photo credit: Serge Saurette.
Takannaaluk, 1994, by Germaine Arnaktauyok. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery (G-98-496). Acquired with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance program and with funds from The Winnipeg Art Gallery Foundation Inc. Courtesy of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Photo credit: Ernest Mayer.
Terry Ryan and the early stable of artists in front of the print shop, 1961. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (e002265682). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photo credit: B. Korda / National Film Board of Canada.
Toonoo carving a qulliq in Cape Dorset, September 1958. Charles Gimpel Fonds, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa (e004923447). Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / The Brechin Group Inc. Photo credit: Charles Gimpel.
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