November 12, 2003
Children into Inuit culture
Saturday Sampler at library features Inuit legends and arctic life
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
From mukluks and a parka to a bone knife and home made sunglasses, 15 area children received an introduction to life in the arctic.
Last week's Saturday Sampler series at the Traverse Area District Library featured the Inuit culture and two docents from the Dennos Museum brought along arctic clothing, legends, books and a craft project for attendees. The books included an array of children's books featuring arctic children as the main characters with arctic settings and culture woven into the story.
The docents also brought along a snow knife, which the Inuit use to cut snow into blocks. These blocks are used to make igloos, which an experienced igloo maker can assemble in less than an hour.
While an important component of Inuit history and culture, many of these skills are no longer crucial to survival. Many Inuit people in northern Canada and Alaska now live in more modern housing and towns, noted Pat Fulkerson, a docent with the Dennos Museum.
"Knock on their door, they live in a house like you do, they go to a school just like you do, they have computers just like you do and they can go to stores just like you do," she told the children. "We're talking about times long ago, though sometimes they build igloos when they are out in the wintertime hunting."
Fulkerson also discussed how different sized igloos served different purposes: a smaller igloo might be used to store meat, skins and blubber. Many igloos strung together would shelter a whole family group for the winter.
"At the winter's end, they went to a new fishing and hunting ground," she added.
After the stories, each participant decorated an Inuit parka on paper, drawing on designs that evoked the arctic lifestyle. Cutting, pasting, coloring and drawing, each child made a unique parka to take home.
"All ages can do this, too," said Karen Foley, a docent with the Dennos Museum.
Saturday's program at the Traverse Area District Library is part of the outreach effort coordinated around the Dennos Museum's exhibit entitled 1953-2003: 50 Years of Inuit Art in the United States. This exhibit is at the museum through November 30 and features Inuit sculptures acquired in 1953 by the Cranbrook Institute of Science. The date and place are significant to Inuit artists because that was the first museum exhibit of Inuit Art in the United States.
The exhibit also features portions of the Dennos Museum's permanent Inuit collection, some pieces dating back to the 1950s, and items from private collections that were purchased at the museum's annual Inuit art sale. This sale began in 1960 and has provided a lucrative avenue for Inuit artists to sell their work in the United States.
Sharing the Inuit art and culture with the general public is part of the exhibit's mission.
"I think as far as the library, it draws in an audience that doesn't perhaps particularly know about Inuit art," said Kathleen Buday, curator of education and interpretation for the Dennos Museum. "Being that legends are such a strong part of their culture, it really was a perfect fit to tie into their story hour and share this culture."