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“Protectors Of Our Land”
ᓄᓇᑦᑕ ᓴᐳᔾᔨᔨᖕᒋᑦ (2021) SOLD

Artist: Manasie Akpaliapik (1955 – cont.) of Ikpiarjuk / Arctic Bay Nunavut and Ontario

Signature: Signed to the bottom in syllabics

Material: Weathered whale skull, whalebone, caribou antler, muskox horn, white marble, African wonderstone, other materials.

Dimensions: 45.0” H x 24.0” W x 72.0” L

Condition: Excellent

This is a Bowhead whale Skull, found about 20km NW of Arctic Bay. The age of the skull is well over 100 years, left over from the days of the Scottish whalers who were raping the oceans and the land. Hence the need to Protect the land.

With all the changes happening on the planet at this time noticeable changes are happening in the Arctic and the Inuit culture is being threatened. Manasie thought it was important to tell the story of his ancestors and how they protected and respected the land—to teach about the old ways that he lived in his childhood and growing up immersed deeply into the nomadic way of life. Before there were communities in the Arctic Inuit people relied on the resources from the land and the sea for their survival. It took Manasie about 2½ years to carve this piece.

This is his legacy.