About & Topics
Channel 51: Igloolik was an exhibition presented across Humber Galleries' two locations celebrating 30 years of industry-changing video production coming out of Igloolik, a remote community of 1600 people in Nunavut. The exhibit challenges stereotypes about ways of life in the North. Guest curated by Asinnajaq, Channel 51: Igloolik brings together a reading room and mediathèque with titles from Arnait Video Production and Isuma Video Collective dating back to 1988; and film paraphernalia, artwork, historical objects from Isuma's own collection, and the making of the internationally renowned film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner.
Exhibit Topics:
- Inuit Media
- Indigenous Resurgence
- Hunting & Food Sovereignty
- Suicide
- Colonization & Missionization
- Climate Change
- Resource Extraction
- Contemporary Inuit Culture
Images - Channel 51: Igloolik
Susan Avingaq, Marie-Helene Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu, Mary Kunuk, Mary Qualitaluk
Unakuluk (Dear Little One), 2003.
Blanket
Natar Ungalaq
Shaman Spirit
Green Cape Dorset stone, marble, raven claw, walrus whiskers
Zacharias Kunuk
Headpunch
Green Cape Dorset stone
View of Atanarjuat screening room at North Space
Polaroids depicting scenes from the filming of Atanarjuat, on display at North Space
Rubber feet used as props in the filming of Atanarjuat, on display at North Space
Channel 51: Igloolik Chill Zone reading room at L Space
Channel 51: Igloolik Chill Zone film screening area showing the blanket from Unakuluk (Dear Little One), L Space
Education Guide
An Education guide is a document compiled for each exhibit that includes information on the exhibit, curator, artist(s), art work and its meaning, topics, readings & articles, and resources.
These guides are helpful and are used by both faculty and students as they provide valuable information in a concise form.
NOTE: A large number of the further readings and the resources in each guide are sources gathered from Humber Library and can be found there.
Humber Library Resources
Isuma by ISBN: 9780773533691Publication Date: 2008-04-03Since winning the Camera d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001, Igloolik Isuma Productions has been among the most well-known and influential indigenous film companies in the world. Isuma's premier movie, Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) - the first-ever feature film produced by the Inuit and presented entirely in the Inuktitut language - has received numerous awards and critical acclaim. In Isuma: Inuit Video Art Michael Evans explores multiple aspects of the production company's filmmaking, including its cultural and political stances, its embrace of folklore and respect for ancestors, and its role in the Arctic community of Igloolik. In-depth interviews with the people of Isuma and a thoughtful analysis of their films reveal how the producers combine their vision of Inuit wisdom and honour with the demands of modern filmmaking to create compelling and visually stunning films that share Inuit culture with an international audience.Isuma: Inuit Video Art is a pragmatic, comprehensive and accessible study, bringing Isuma's Arctic to life while positioning its efforts within a larger frame of indigenous media and cultural expression.
Atanarjuat by ISBN: 9781552451137Publication Date: 2002-12-20A naked man running for his life across the ice, his hair flying ... Paul Apak Angilirq and Zacharias Kunuk grew up hearing the incredible legend of Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner. So, when they became filmmakers, the project they were most eager to tackle was the story of love, murder, revenge and shamanism that had haunted them since childhood. And tackle it they did. Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner, the first feature film scripted in the Inuktitut language and made almost entirely by Inuit filmmakers and actors, has become a legend of its own, even taking the Caméra d'Or prize for best first feature at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. This book presents the entire screenplay of Atanarjuat in a dual-language edition (in both Inuktitut syllabics and English), and contextualizes it with interviews with the filmmakers, detailed explorations of the legend of Atanarjuat and of the Inuit culture and large full-colour photos with detailed captions throughout. It is, simultaneously, a document of a spectacular film and an incredible culture.
Red Skin, White Masks by ISBN: 9780816679645Publication Date: 2014-09-07WINNER OF:Frantz Fanon Outstanding Book from the Caribbean Philosophical AssociationCanadian Political Science Association's C.B. MacPherson PrizeStudies in Political Economy Book Prize Over the past forty years, recognition has become the dominant mode of negotiation and decolonization between the nation-state and Indigenous nations in North America. The term "recognition" shapes debates over Indigenous cultural distinctiveness, Indigenous rights to land and self-government, and Indigenous peoples' right to benefit from the development of their lands and resources. In a work of critically engaged political theory, Glen Sean Coulthard challenges recognition as a method of organizing difference and identity in liberal politics, questioning the assumption that contemporary difference and past histories of destructive colonialism between the state and Indigenous peoples can be reconciled through a process of acknowledgment. Beyond this, Coulthard examines an alternative politics--one that seeks to revalue, reconstruct, and redeploy Indigenous cultural practices based on self-recognition rather than on seeking appreciation from the very agents of colonialism. Coulthard demonstrates how a "place-based" modification of Karl Marx's theory of "primitive accumulation" throws light on Indigenous-state relations in settler-colonial contexts and how Frantz Fanon's critique of colonial recognition shows that this relationship reproduces itself over time. This framework strengthens his exploration of the ways that the politics of recognition has come to serve the interests of settler-colonial power. In addressing the core tenets of Indigenous resistance movements, like Red Power and Idle No More, Coulthard offers fresh insights into the politics of active decolonization.
Dancing on Our Turtle's Back by ISBN: 9781894037501Publication Date: 2011-06-15Many promote Reconciliation as a "new" way for Canada to relate to Indigenous Peoples. In Dancing on Our Turtle's Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence, and a New Emergence activist, editor, and educator Leanne Simpson asserts reconciliation must be grounded in political resurgence and must support the regeneration of Indigenous languages, oral cultures, and traditions of governance. Simpson explores philosophies and pathways of regeneration, resurgence, and a new emergence through the Nishnaabeg language, Creation Stories, walks with Elders and children, celebrations and protests, and meditations on these experiences. She stresses the importance of illuminating Indigenous intellectual traditions to transform their relationship to the Canadian state. Challenging and original, Dancing on Our Turtle's Back provides a valuable new perspective on the struggles of Indigenous Peoples.- The Journals of Knud Rasmussen: a sense of memory and high-definition Inuit storytelling byCall Number: PN1995.9.E83 J68 2008Publication Date: 2008The Journals of Knud Rasmussen: A Sense of Memory and High-definition Inuit Storytelling includes the complete original English and Inuktitut screenplays of the prize-winning film, over 100 startling color and black & white photographs and 25 pieces of writing reflecting on themes of memory, history and Isuma's unique approach to filmmaking as Inuit storytelling.
Alternative Media in Canada by ISBN: 9780774821643Publication Date: 2012-04-25Alternative media hold the promise of building public awareness and action against the constraints and limitations of media conglomeration and cutbacks to public broadcasting. But what, exactly, makes alternative media alternative? This path-breaking volume gets to the heart of this question by focusing on the three interconnected dimensions that define alternative media in Canada: structure, participation, and activism. The contributors reveal not only how various kinds of alternative media - including Indigenous, anarchist, ethnic, and feminist media - are enabled and constrained within Canada's complex policy environment but also how, in the context of globalization, the Canadian experience parallels media and policy challenges in other nations.
Restoring the Balance by ISBN: 9780887557095Publication Date: 2009-03-01First Nations peoples believe the eagle flies with a female wing and a male wing, showing the importance of balance between the feminine and the masculine in all aspects of individual and community experiences. Centuries of colonization, however, have devalued the traditional roles of First Nations women, causing a great gender imbalance that limits the abilities of men, women, and their communities in achieving self-actualization.Restoring the Balance brings to light the work First Nations women have performed, and continue to perform, in cultural continuity and community development. It illustrates the challenges and successes they have had in the areas of law, politics, education, community healing, language, and art, while suggesting significant options for sustained improvement of individual, family, and community well-being. Written by fifteen Aboriginal scholars, activists, and community leaders, Restoring the Balance combines life histories and biographical accounts with historical and critical analyses grounded in traditional thought and approaches. It is a powerful and important book.- Suspending Damage: A Letter to Communities byISBN: 00178055Publication Date: 2009Volume 79, Issue 3
In this open letter, Eve Tuck calls on communities, researchers, and educators to reconsider the long-term impact of "damage-centered" research--research that intends to document peoples' pain and brokenness to hold those in power accountable for their oppression. This kind of research operates with a flawed theory of change: it is often used to leverage reparations or resources for marginalized communities yet simultaneously reinforces and reinscribes a one-dimensional notion of these people as depleted, ruined, and hopeless. Tuck urges communities to institute a moratorium on damage-centered research to reformulate the ways research is framed and conducted and to reimagine how findings might be used by, for, and with communities. (Contains 1 table and 4 notes.) 
Arctic Dreams and Nightmares by ISBN: 9780919441477Publication Date: 1993-01-01An intricate blending of written and visual imagery, this book is an Arctic journey interpreted through the mythological world of Inuit. With twenty short stories and accompanying pen ink drawings, it is the first publication to exclusively feature the writing and artwork of Alootook Ipellie.
Other Resources
BOOKS
Robinson, Gillian. Isuma Inuit Studies Reader. Isuma Publishing, 2004.
Karetak, Joe;Tester, Frank and Tagalik, Shirley, ed. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: What Inuit Have Always Known to Be True. Black Point: Fernwood Publishing, 2017
Flynn, Rosa. Exploring Inuit Culture Curriculum. Montreal: Isuma Distribution International Inc., 2006.
Richardson, Boyce. Drum Beat: Anger and Renewal in Indian Country. Summerhill Press, 1989.
The following are links to various articles & videos relating to the theme of this exhibit.
Film List
- Qaggiq (Gathering Place), 1988, 00:55:00: Isuma’s first recreated fiction. In winter 1930s, four families celebrate the coming of spring.
- Nunaqpa (Going Inland), 1991, 00:58:00: In summer 1930s, families hunt summer-fat caribou for the hard winter ahead.
- Saputi (Fish Traps), 1993, 00:30:00: As summer ends three families build a saputi to trap fish.
- Nunavut (Our Land) Series, 1995: 13 part dramatic television series follows the lives of five fictional families living on the land in the Igloolik region in 1945.
- Nanugiurutiga (My First Polar Bear), 2000, 00:48:00: An 11-year old is taught to catch his first bear by his grandfather.
- ** Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, 2001, 2:41:00: Winner of 2001 Camera d’Or at Cannes, Atanarjuat is an ancient legend from the Igloolik region and an epic story of jealousy, murder, and love.
- Anaana, 2001, 00:52:00: Vivi Kunuk–mother of Zacharias Kunuk–recounts her life story, which contains the experiences of Inuit people in the last 70 years.
- Artcirq, 2001, 00:50:00: Story of Igloolik’s Artcirq Inuit youth circus, growing out of a desire to use circus and art to celebrate life and reject suicide.
- Arviq! (Bowhead!), 2002, 00:52:00: In 1994, fulfilling the dying wish of a respected Elder, Igloolik hunters spark controversy when they illegally catch a Bowhead whale.
- Kunuk Family Reunion, 2003, 00:48:00: Zacharias Kunuk’s family gathers at their traditional home camp. Stories are shared as the family honors the ancestors who came before them.
- Angakkuiit (Shaman Stories), 2003, 00:48:00: Inuit memories and experiences of shamanism in the Igloolik region.
- ** The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, 2006, 01:53:00: The great shaman Avva and his family return to their home community of Igloolik, that lately has taken up the teachings of Christian missionaries.
- Issaittuq (Waterproof), 2007, 00:45:00: After a violent incident a young man is sent to an outpost camp, where a hunter is waiting for him.
- Maana (Now), 2007, 00:05:00: A young Inuk becomes aware of the impacts of global warming on his community.
- 407, 2007, 00:09:00: Short film highlights the importance, in a small Arctic community, of saying “hello.”
- Exile, 2008, 00:42:00: With devastating first-person accounts of survival, Exile tackles the subject of the 1953 High Arctic Relocation from an Inuit point of view.
- Inuit Piqutingit (What Belongs to Inuit), 2009, 00:49:00: A group of Nunavut elders travel to five museums to identify tools and clothing collected from their ancestors.
- Tungijuq (What We Eat), 2009, 00:07:23: Inuit singer Tanya Tagaq talks back to the anti-seal hunting lobby on the eternal reality of hunting.
- Qapirangajuq (Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change), 00:54:00: Elders and hunters discuss the social and ecological impacts of global warming from an Inuit point of view.
- Unikaat Sivunittinnit (Messages from the Past), 2012, 00:60:00: Shot in 1992, elders tell stories about their family’s ajaja songs before recording them in an Igloolik studio. Inuktitut: no subtitles.
- Inuit Cree Reconciliation, 2013, 00:46:00: Zacharias Kunuk and Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond explore the impacts of an 18th century conflict between Inuit and Cree in Northern Quebec.
- Attatama Nunanga (My Father’s Land), 2014, 02:43:00: Mixing scenes from past and present, this film explores the relationship between Inuit history on the land and modern resource development on Baffin Island.
- Angirattut (Coming Home), 2014, 01:25:00: After being relocated five decades ago, a group of elders return to Siugarjuk and embrace the restorative power of their homeland to heal personal loss. Inuktitut: no subtitles.
- ** Maliglutit (Searchers), 2016, 01:34:00: Nunavut, circa 1913. Kuanana returns from caribou hunting with his son to find his wife and daughter kidnapped. With the guidance of his father’s spirit helper, he sets off to reunite his family.
- Nipi (Voice), 1999, 00:51:00: Inuit leaders and elders talk about leadership in the old way of life and in the new.
As of October 24, 2018, the (**) film titles are not on the isuma.tv site.
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner & The Journals of Knud Rasmussen can be found at Humber Library.
Follow the links provided below.
- Attagutaaluk (Starvation), 1992, 00:23:00: Story of Attagutaaluk, a woman who survived starvation and became an honored resident of Igloolik.
- Qulliq (Oil Lamp), 1993, 00:10:00: The story, through word and song, of the seal oil lamp: the essential source of light and warmth.
- Piujuk and Agutautuq, 1994, 00:26:00: Portrait of two Igloolik women as they engage in community events.
- Unikausiq (Stories), 1996, 00:06:00: Though computer animation, Mary Kunuk explores stories and songs recalled from her childhood.
- Aqtuqsi (My Nightmare), 1996, 00:06:00: Aqtuqsi is a paralyzing from which one must wake up.
- Ningiura (My Grandmother), 2000, 00:29:00: An elder and he granddaughter become closer after a family tragedy.
- Unakuluk (Dear Little One), 2005, 00:46:00: Documentary on the common practice of adoption in Inuit culture.
- Before Tomorrow, 2008, 01:33:00: Arnait Video Productions’ first feature film a grandmother and her grandson are challenged to survive on their own when their family is killed by smallpox in the 1840s.
- Charlie Pisuk, 2011, 00:17:00: Charlie Pisuk is your uncle, cousin, brother-in-law. What do you have to say about him? Someone is listening.
- Show Me On The Map (pt.1 & 2), 2011, 00:58:00: Two part series on mining impacts in the north focusing on the Igloolik region and uranium mining in central Nunavut.
- SOL, 2014, 01:16:00: Examines the underlying issues of youth suicide in Canada’s North while investigating the death of Solomon Tapatia Uyarasuk, a charismatic young artist who died in police custody in Igloolik.