Jimmie Petaulassie
Inuit
Wandering
Bear
6" L
x 3" H
This young artist resides
in the community of Cape Dorset, a small but important settlement
on the south coast of Baffin Island.
His father, Joanassie and
his brother Noah are prominent
carvers. Joanassie encouraged his sons to carve and make extra
money from their work, and he permitted them to assist him on
their early efforts.
Jimmy speaks both his native
language of Inkutitut and English. He enjoys both his life in
Cape
Dorset and particularly life on the land, where each member of
the family has their own favorite summer camp.
This artist is known for his
depictions of wildlife, particularly bears.
Cape Dorset is located north
of Hudson Bay on the southwest tip of Baffin Island, well above
the treeline and just south of the Arctic Circle.
The Inuit inhabitants have
always called the area Kinngait (pronounced king-ite), meaning
"the place of hills," but it was named Cape Dorset
in 1631 by the British explorer Captain Luke Foxe, who mapped
the region during his unsuccessful search for the Northwest Passage;
he named it in honour of the Earl of Dorset, who had sponsored
the expedition.
Today, Cape Dorset is a modern
community of nearly fourteen hundred inhabitants in the newly
created Canadian territory of Nunavut.