KIAKSHUK (1886-1966) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
The Legend of Lumiuk, 1960 #3
Printmaker: IYOLA KINGWATSIAK (1933-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
stonecut, 15 x 23.75 in (38.1 x 60.3 cm)
14/50

Provenance
Private Collection, Santa Fe, NM.

Of the numerous stories reflected in Inuit prints across the Canadian Arctic, perhaps no narrative has received more attention than permutations of the Lumaaq (Lumiuk) story. In Kiakshuk’s manifestation, The Legend of Lumiuk, we encounter the characters at the crux of the plot twist. The hero — who has recently regained his sight — recognizing the woman’s deceit in luring him to the floe edge to harpoon a large whale that she has insisted is only a small seal, lets go of his harpoon line moments before he is dragged by sea creature. The wicked woman becomes entangled in the rope and is towed out into the icy waters.

References: Image reproduced in James Houston, Eskimo Prints, (Barre, MA: Barre Publishers, 1971), p. 47. According to Craig Mishler in his comprehensive book on the various permutations of the story, Kiakshuk’s print was the “very first to appear in the modern era in 1960.” (The Blind Boy and the Loon: The Story of a Tale, (Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 2013), p. 144.