Ollie Ittinuar: in memoriam

News came to us that Ollie Ittinuar of Rankin Inlet passed away earlier this week, at age 93.

He was a man of great knowledge well versed in Inuit qaujimajatuqangit. He was the leading force in two elders workshops on Inuit qaujimajatuqangit in Rankin Inlet in 2000 and 2002. As these workshops were intended to deal with sensitive knowledge, they were held outside on the land near the Meliadine river.

Ollie hosted the workshop generously, building a special cabin for the meeting. He always was a great host taking care of the meat for the feasts and the drum dancing. He played a central part in the workshops as well as in the performances, demonstrating the old techniques used by the inummariit of the past.

A son of Peter Freuchen, one of the researchers of the Fifth Thule expedition led by Knud Rasmussen, and an adopted son of Anarqaq, the famous angakkuq, he had a great interest in and knowledge of shamanic traditions as they were practised in the past.

When we had the privilege of travelling with him from Rankin Inlet to Kugaaruk by plane, in 2004, Ollie would name most of the places we could see: lakes, rivers, islands. He had travelled in this huge territory all his life!

A strong personality and very committed to the exploration of Inuit qaujimajatuqangit, he stimulated other knowledgeable elders to come forward with the knowledge they had of these old traditions.

In various books such as Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: Shamanism and Reintegrating Wrongdoers into the Community (2002) and Surviving in different worlds. Transferring Inuit Traditions from Elders to Youths (2007) published by Nunavut Arctic College, their rich knowledge and recollections are preserved.

Ollie himself prepared a manuscript on the old Inuit traditions that will hopefully be published one day. We always enjoyed our meetings and conversations with him and we wish to pay tribute to his great knowledge and commitment to the recording and preservation of Inuit knowledge.

He will be sadly missed.

Frédéric Laugrand
Université Laval
Quebec City

Jarich Oosten
Leiden University
Leiden, Netherlands

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