The lovely bones

MIRIAM HILL

When people phone Kimmirut and ask to speak with her father, Elisapee Itulu says, she often feels like telling them to interview her — because she knows more about him than he does.

Elisapee jokes that since she’s acted as an interpreter for her father, the renowned artist Davidee Itulu, for so long, she’s capable of answering many of the questions.

Davidee was born in 1929 at Tujjaat, near Cape Dorset. He moved to Kimmirut with his family in the early 1950s and soon learned the scrimshaw work he is now recognized for across the country.

Scrimshaw is the art of carving or scratching images onto bone, then rubbing the images with ink to fill in the gaps.

Davidee, who speaks only Inuktitut, learned the technique from James Houston. And while he has passed the skill on to others, he is not aware of anyone else in Nunavut who is still practicing it.

He prefers to work on thin pieces of ivory from walrus tusks, he says. But there is quite a lengthy process before he even starts to carve the material.

A tusk can’t be used if it’s too fresh, he explains. Since the animal is from the ocean, which is a cold place, the tusk must be kept in a cold place and dried for six months before being used.

He found this out quickly when he was learning scrimshaw, he says, because when he used a fresh tusk it got very warm in his hands.

He spends a great deal of time thinking about the images that will go on the tusk, and prefers to depict the traditional Inuit lifestyle. He uses a pencil to draw the detailed image on the tusk. Only then does he break out his tools, the chisels and blades he made back in the 1950s.

“He never used electrical tools in his life,” Elisapee says. “He only uses the chisels he made a long time ago.”

A tusk about two feet long would take him more than two weeks to complete, he says. These days, it takes him longer, though, Elisapee says, because his eyesight is deteriorating from years spent working on such fine detail.

Davidee is also renowned for his carvings and prints, and while he still tries to work on carvings, he spends most of his time on scrimshaw — his passion.

Itulu’s work is represented in collections throughout North America, including the National Gallery of Canada and the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit.

Two tusks set in stone are displayed at the Iqaluit museum. They depict scenes of traditional Inuit life, animals and hunters, in black lines against white ivory. Some of Itulu’s carvings in serpentine are stored in a back room of the museum. Dating back to the 1950s, they show scenes of transformation, with heads and faces emanating from different planes of the stone.

This past June, both Davidee and Elisapee were invited to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, in Hull, Quebec, to participate in the National Gathering of Aboriginal Artistic Expression, an event featuring workshops, discussions, shows and presentations. About 250 delegates from across the country took part.

Elisapee said it was a great experience. Her father demonstrated his scrimshaw technique and she showed off her sewing and printmaking talents, as well as acting as an interpreter for her father.

Davidee is grateful for all the recognition he has received for his work, he says, because it helped him support his family for many years, and also because it allows Inuit tradition to live on.

“He’s been trying to work on his art and live in his own traditional way, telling the Inuit and qallunaat in the future about the past. He felt he had to pass it on to the next generations,” Elisapee says. “He really appreciates it because he never thought it would happen for him.”