I refer again to Minnie Aodla Freeman from whom I have already quoted last week an extract of text, to talk about Inuktitut (Inuit language) and art. 

We Inuit have adapted and adopted many different words  to accommodate our understanding of our changing world. Very often, we make up a word that may not exist in our language in order to express something from another culture. The word “art”, for example, did not exist in Inuktitut. That is not to say that Inuit art did not exist, but it was a serious matter in the old days. Traditionally, Inuit made amulets, decorations for the body or hunting equipment, and replicas of everyday objects to attach to their clothing. A lot of traditional art was made for burial purposes. Those objects were taken seriously. 

To Qallunaat [non Inuit], some Inuit use to of charms may not some sound very serious. A lot of traditional art was used to “shoo away” bad spirits, to bring good luck when an event took place, to encourage a young person to bravery, and also to escort the dead to the good spirits rather than have their spirits floating around nowhere.  Very often a charm would be made to a newborn child. Some charms were made to bond closer a very special relationship. Some of these uses are still common today, especially for the bonding of special relationships. It was only when Qallunaat saw this traditional art that it became “art”. 

Today, the word titirtugait is very fascinating to Inuit like me. It is the word being used fro “printmaking”. Inuit from Cape Dorset feel that it could be either a traditional or a modern word. They feel it was made up during the 1950s when printmaking was introduced and somebody tried to translate the word “stencil”. They also believe that it was a word that did and that revived. They say it was once used to describe the picture-message writing on skins and tusks.  However, the significant thing is that all Inuit know what it means today.

To me, it is a word that will be debatable for years to come. It is like the word Qallunaat. Qallunaat does not mean “white people” ; it could mean either “people with beautiful eyebrows” or “people with beautiful manufactured material”.  

Reference :

Minnie Aodla Freeman, “Introduction” in Odette Leroux (ed.), 1995, Inuit Women Artists, Voices from Cape Dorset, Hull : Canadian Museum of Civilizations, pp. 15-16.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 4:57 am and is filed under Inuktitut (Inuit Language) by Aurelie Maire. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.