Tiny Records of Inuit Life: Nunatsiavut Embroideries - Susan A. Kaplan, Genevieve LeMoine & Katie Donlan

The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum’s collection includes 92 mostly unsigned embroideries (household items such as table runners, tablecloths, and napkins) created by Labrador (Nunatsiavut) Inuit between 1940 and the 1970s. The colorful embroideries feature inukuluit, tiny human figures, and are beautifully executed visual records of traditional Inuit outdoor activities. People are shown fishing, hunting, picking berries, having a boil up, and drumming. Some embroideries feature community buildings as well, and all activities are set against

Labrador’s landscapes and icescapes. These textiles are distinct among Canadian, Greenlandic, and Alaskan Inuit artistic traditions, and have never been described or studied. The Arctic Museum staff has been visiting Nunatsiavut communities, meeting with individuals who have expressed an interest in examining and talking about the embroideries, in an effort to collaboratively document the history and significance of this Nunatsiavut art form. This project, supported by the Tradition \& Transition Research Partnership, is part of an Arctic Museum initiative to use the museum’s collections to further document the history of artistic endeavors of Labrador Inuit and increase communities’ access to the museum’s holdings. The illustrated presentation will feature a selection of the embroideries and some of the results of the collaborative work.