Nunavik’s FCNQ mourns death of president Eli Elijassiapik

Eli Elijassiapik of Inukjuak was a long-time supporter of the co-operative movement in Nunavik. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AVATAQ CULTURAL INSTITUTE)

Many of Elijassiapik’s carvings, such as this polar bear carving from 1952, can be found in museum collections. (PHOTO COURTESY OF AVATAQ CU;LTURAL INSTITUTE)

In 2014 FCNQ executives Aliva Tulugak and Charlie Tukkiapik hand the award for best performance to Inukjuak co-op members Adamie Inukpuk, Louisa Ningiuk and FCNQ president Eli Elijassiapik. (FILE PHOTO)

Nunavimmiut are mourning the loss of Eli Elijassiapik of Inukjuak, president of their Illagit co-operative federation, la Fédération des co-opéatives du Nouveau-Québec.

Elijassiapik, 79, died March 3.

“Eli was truly dedicated to the co-operative movement and worked every day to ensure that his local co-op and the FCNQ continued to run smoothly. His presence will be sorely missed,” the FCNQ said in a March 5 release.

Elijassiapik, born in 1936 in a camp on the Nauligarvik River, north of Inukjuak, moved to Inukjuak in 1965. He lived during the era of family camps and its semi-nomadic lifestyle and experienced the change from family camp life to community life, the FCNQ noted.

Recognized as a talented soapstone carver, his work was featured in major exhibitions in Canada, the United States, Japan, Sweden, France and Germany and can be found today in many museum collections in Canada and the U.S.

“When I first started carving, I didn’t see it as an art form… Today I see it as a way of expressing myself. Some of my carvings depict a past way of life. I also see carving as a way to preserve our culture, and I believe carving serves to express our past… Inuit have a lot of work to do. We can’t live on carvings alone, so I believe all Inuit have work to do in order to prepare for a different future,” Elijassiapik said in an unpublished interview with the Inuit Art Foundation.

At 32, Elijassiapik first became a member of the newly established Inukjuak Co-operative Association’s board of directors in 1968.

He served as president of the Inukjuak Community Council for several years. He had been a member of the FCNQ board of directors since the 1970s and first became president in 1980.

Elijassiapik, re-elected three years ago as president, hoped to remain involved as an executive committee member of the FCNQ at the end of his term as president, the FCNQ said.

As a tribute to Elijassiapik’s memory, his nephew Jobie Weetaluktuk, who works for the FCNQ, recalled an incident in Kangirsukallak, when the construction of a wooden house was underway.

Weetaluktuk’s aunt shouted out Elijassiapik’s name several times. When he answered, she cried out to him “don’t you dare fall,” because he was standing on a large drum, Weetaluktuk said.

“Everyone around broke into laughter! The possibility of Eli falling from the drum and the image was humourous!”

Elijassiapik was to receive the Order of Merit from the Conseil Québecois des co-opératives et la mutualité March 12.

“Eli was always a humble man and dedicated to serving others. The co-op was the best way he knew how. He remained loyal to the co-operative movement until his death March 3,” the FCNQ said.

Elijassiapik is pre-deceased by his wife Eva, an artist working in local crafts, and leaves behind his partner Winnie Arnamitsaaq and his children Lucy, Annie and Joannasie Elijassiapik.

He was the older brother of Simeonie Elijassiapik, now deceased, and Harry Elijassiapik, both well-known carvers.