FernFolio

Born in 1948, Normee Ekoomiak lived in a snow house in the winter and in a tent made of animal skins during the summer months. With his family, he followed the animals, moving to the sea ice in the winter to hunt seal, to the river in the spring to fish for Arctic char, and inland in pursuit of the caribou during the warmer months.
In Arctic Memories, he shares his childhood experiences of traditional Inuit life, and gives insight into the spiritual beliefs of his people through his art. Accompanied by his reflections in Inuktitut and English, are drawings, paintings and embroidered pieces that celebrate the daily lives of the Inuit, both children and adults. Ekoomiak’s work details life in the snow house, games to provide entertainment and build strong and healthy bodies, and the circle of nature among Arctic creatures.
It also explains the traditional Inuit spiritual beliefs through pictures of Sedna, goddess of the sea, and Okpik, who protects all living things in the North. Ekoomiak’s scenes of the nativity point to his Christian faith, one that exists side by side with his traditional Inuit beliefs.
Particularly interesting are Ekoomiak’s pictures, The Body Needs to Travel, in which he explains how the Inuit spread around the Arctic Circle, and Ancestral Hunters, where he depicts hunters killing a wooly mammoth in a painting completed a year before the remains of a wooly mammoth were discovered in the Arctic!
is a wonderful celebration of Inuit culture and history. Both the art and accompanying text provide a window into the lives and beliefs of the Inuit people.
FernFolio Editor