"Bird" by Takealook.
Courtesy Kath M'Closkey

Carving a Niche

Arctic cooperatives serve as
midwife to birth of Inuit art

By Kathy M’Closkey, PhD
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of Windsor, Canada
e-mail: mcloskey@uwindsor.ca

ne of the great “cultural miracles” of the 20th century occurred when the world discovered the beauty of art produced by the native Inuit people of Canada’s Arctic regions. This process, which began in the 1950s, was chronicled by Nelson Graburn, an anthropologist at the University of California at Berkeley, in a series of articles published during a 40-year period (1967-2004), in which he described the spectacular rise of Inuit art and its reception internationally.

This article draws on Graburn’s writings as it examines how the cooperative business structure helped Inuit communities that were spread across the broad expanse of northern Canada to combine forces and tap international art markets, generating desperately needed revenue for their people. A half century later, these artisan- owned businesses remain a vital cog of the region’s economy.

Fur market collapse
necessitates change
The shift to trapping animals such as white fox, which occurred at the end of the 19th century, was a short-lived financial success for many Inuit. After the collapse of the fur market in the late 1940s — due to competition from Russia, fur farms and synthetics — the Canadian government expanded its presence in the North to affirm its sovereignty and administer welfare. Until World War II, the typical Inuit winter settlement consisted of a Hudson Bay Company (HBC) store, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) post, Anglican and Roman Catholic churches and a few Inuit households whose members were employed by the non-Inuit institutions.

Dozens of small satellite camps near favorable hunting, fishing or trapping sites were spread out over a vast region. Inuit only congregated near the permanent settlements during the summer to trade, socialize or to find temporary employment unloading supply ships. The Inuit population hovered around 11,000, with 500 non-Inuit. About 60 percent of Inuit livelihood was derived from government subsidy.

Small carvings of bone, ivory or stone had played a peripheral role in trading activity with both whaling crews and the HBC. The government encouraged production of souvenirs to alleviate welfare payments and provided the HBC with credit to buy crafts.

Salea Kakashuk at her loom, 1981.
Courtesy Kathy M'Closkey


After World War II, the federal government moved into the north on a massive scale. The Cold War prompted development of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line. National and international political events forced the Canadian federal government to take more direct responsibility for its northernmost residents. Day schools and nursing stations were built alongside housing for southerners.

In 1948, painter James Houston journeyed north and serendipitously discovered the souvenirs carved by Port Harrison (now Inujjuaq) Inuit. Captivated by their charm, he brought them to the Canadian Handicraft Guild upon his return to Montreal. When Houston returned north in 1949, he purchased 300 carvings for $5 each. These sold quickly at a Guildsponsored event.

Houston returned to the Arctic, backed with $8,000 provided by the Northwest Territories Council. Although 20,000 carvings sold within three years, such rapid success nearly capsized the project. By Christmas 1952, the shipment was far too large for the Guild to handle.

Houston contacted Eugene Power, a long-time friend and successful businessman from Ann Arbor, Mich. Power purchased the entire output for $15,000 and formed Eskimo Art Inc., a nonprofit corporation that garnered exclusive importing rights into the United States. He then sold many of the sculptures through his influential connections. Throughout the 1950s, the HBC also purchased carvings, but when inventories failed to move, it stopped buying.

An oil tanker brings winter supplies
to Pangnirtung in 1981 in what was
the Northwest Terriroties, now called Nunavut.
courtesy Kathy M'Closkey.
The birth of Inuit art
Although off to a rocky start, within a decade of Houston’s inaugural trek north, Inuit carving was transformed into a multi-million-dollar enterprise. How did this miracle happen? Small producer/consumer co-ops subsidized by the federal government were organized during the 1960s. The first Arctic co-op was incorporated in George River in spring 1959. Within four years, there were 52 co-ops, including 11 in Arctic Quebec. Quebec marketed Inuit art through La Fédération des Coopératives du Nouveau Québec (FCNQ), run by Inuit managers, whereas the government of the Northwest Territories (NWT) formed Canadian Arctic Producers (CAP) in 1965 with non-Inuit management. By the mid-1970s, CAP wholesaled sculptures, fine arts and crafts to over 700 dealers in 11 countries. Building on the Canadian Guild of Crafts, CAP set and maintained standards including cultivating an elite clientele.

In 1961, the Inuit Art Section, a division of Northern Affairs, sponsored the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council (CEAC) as an advisory board of professional artists and museum personnel to oversee development and promotion of Inuit printmaking, first introduced by Houston at Cape Dorset in 1959. The board’s most controversial responsibility involved acting as gatekeeper related to the rejection of prints created in workshop co-ops. Regional styles were cultivated or sustained by outside professional advisors.

Due to controlled marketing and intensive promotional efforts, Inuit art drew high prices. Full-page ads published by the NWT Economic Development and Tourism in Inuit Art Quarterly featured a large sculpture adjacent to the phrase: “Helping Inuit artists to help themselves.” Copy adjacent to the igloo logo reads: “this tag is your certification from the government of Canada that carvings bearing this label are genuine and can be imported duty-free anywhere in the world.” Inuit artists also enjoy protection from copyright infringement and additional income can be generated through the sale of reproduction rights for calendars, stamps, illustrations, etc.

By 1975, carving had become the primary occupation of many of the 9,000 adult Inuit, providing money for expensive items such as guns and snowmobiles. Cash income per family averaged a six-fold increase in less than 25 years. By 1978, 52 co-ops sold $24 million worth of goods and generated $6.5 million in income as the single largest employer in the north. Eighty percent of the adult Inuit population belonged to co-ops.

During the 1970s, Inuit artworks also achieved widespread recognition through international touring exhibitions, catalogues and conferences. For example, Sculpture Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, was organized by CEAC, funded by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs [DINA], supported by National Museum of Man and the Department of External Affairs, and circulated internationally. The exhibit heightened demand for Inuit art. Carving and printmaking became symbols of Canadian identity globally and simultaneously the largest source of income in the North.

During 1980, the wealthiest co-ops in Quebec purchased more than $1 million in carvings. A decline in demand occurred shortly thereafter, when FCNQ’s inventory reached $2 million and CAP held inventory valued at more than $1.5 million. Co-op members sought ways to bypass costs associated with marketing through CAP by selling directly to dealers.

Eric Mitchell, general manager of CAP, cautioned against such a move, noting the low returns to Alaskan native artists who lacked a marketing system. By 1980, with the Inuit population hovering around 25,000, additional craft projects featuring jewelry, pottery or hand-sewn articles were organized in several NWT Inuit communities. But budget constraints ensued, prompting the territorial government to attempt privatization.

These efforts eventually failed. Coops took over many of the original shops, and, a decade later, the Department of Culture and Communication injected more money into the arts and craft sector, managing most facets, including acquisition of materials, production, promotion, exhibiting and marketing.

When the new Canadian Museum of Civilization (formerly the National Museum of Man) opened in Hull, Quebec, in 1989, the inaugural exhibit featured 20th Century Native Art. Of 9,000 works held in their collection, about 7,000 were created by Inuit artists. The Inuit Art Section of DINA publishes a Catalogue of Services and Collections. The IAC maintains biographies on hundreds of artists, has catalogued more than 100,000 slides, organized exhibits and maintains a large library. The nonprofit, Inuit-owned Inuit Art Foundation publishes Inuit Art Quarterly.

In 1977, anthropologist Hugh Brody wrote: “Eskimo [Inuit] carving, as it is now internationally known, is a consequence of southern domination of Eskimo economic life.” Yet the 33 co-ops currently in operation are independently owned and controlled Native businesses which operate retail facilities, hotels, outfitting, arts and crafts and property rentals, with combined revenues of nearly $100 million in 2004. Since 1986, the Arctic Co-op Development Fund has provided more than $300 million in financing. Arctic Co-ops Limited markets Inuit art to over 50 Canadian galleries and 24 in the United States and Europe. The organization also owns five retail outlets called “Northern Images.”

Women artists in spotlight
Inuit women artists have achieved widespread acclaim relative to women artists in other native societies. Between 1965 and 1990, four Inuit artists — all of them women — have received the Order of Canada. The appliquéd wall hangings from Baker Lake have achieved national fame. These immense works of art are on display at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and Legislative Assembly in Yellowknife. While working on my Master’s thesis in the early 1980s, I visited Frobisher Bay (now Iqualuit) and Pangnirtung, home of the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio. The photographs that accompany this article were taken at the weave shop and the “Misuvik” or sewing center at that time.

Since its inception, Canadian Inuit have been promoted as artists to a degree that no other ethnic group in the world ever has. Between 1971 and 1994, more than 1 million carvings were produced! The better-known artists earn very high incomes. But this “cultural miracle” would not have happened without government-subsidized cooperatives. Today, more than 55,000 Inuit live in 53 communities across the North.

In 1999, the Canadian government settled a land claims agreement by dividing the Northwest Territories into two parts. Nunavut, which means “our land” in Inuktitut, is now controlled by Inuit. A 10 x 22-foot tapestry woven by seven artists of the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio was recently installed in Nunavut’s Legislative Assembly.

Co-ops bolster Arctic economy
Although the financial importance of art production has declined relative to an increase in other means of livelihood, the co-ops continue to serve as the financial backbone of most arctic communities. Given their outstanding success over the past five decades, it’s unlikely that other forms of financing will usurp their crucial role in sustaining a broad range of Inuit-owned businesses across the North. Vive les co-ops!

The following websites contain additional information regarding the cooperative system in Arctic Canada: References
This article draws upon source material written by the following authors (for complete citations of source material, please e-mail the author at: mcloskey@uwindsor.ca): Jean Blodgertt (1980); Hugh Brody (1979); Helga Goetz (1993); Nelson Graburn (1967- 2002); Diamond Jenness (1964); Kathy M’Closkey (1996); Marybelle Myers (1984); J.K Stager (1982); Virginia Watt (1987). Photo scanning by Abby Radouski and Steve Richter.





"Sitting Bear" by Jacob Irkok.
Courtesy ABoriginArt Galleries,
www.inuit.net


"Mother and Child"
by Josephine Angma.
Courtesy ABoriginArt Galleries.







































July/August Table of Contents