Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Sep 12/05) - A tiny woman makes tiny stitches, sitting on a cushion on the floor at the Nunavut Arts Festival.

Martha Kunuu travelled from her Pond Inlet home to Iqaluit for the annual Nunavut Arts Festival, and was sewing away in front of the visitors.

Kunuu explains - through the interpretation of Noah Kilabuk - that she carves soapstone and sews. Her carving is usually limited to the spring and summer , it gets too dusty indoors in the winter.

She moved to Pond Inlet in the 1970s.

"The government asked us to move into the community, (my family) had no choice," she explains.

Pond Inlet was a different place back then, she says.

"There were hardly any white people around, just RCMP, priests and doctors," says Kunuu.

She has been sewing since she was a teen, but has only been carving since she was 30. Don't ask her to pick between the two.

"I like doing both, both are simple," says Kunuu.

Demand for her work determines how much time she has to spend on her artwork. She sews kamiiks and mittens on demand, and the rest of the time she works on her art.

Aside from the sewing and the carving, this multi-talented artist also makes dolls and dresses them in traditional and non-traditional clothing.

"I work when I feel like it. I'm my own boss and I set my own hours," says Kunuu.

She was at the art festival in Rankin Inlet this year, and coming to Iqaluit for this year's festival was a simple decision.

When asked if she will come back next year, she says she would like to, if she is healthy.

After being told that she looks very healthy, she laughs.

"I'm fine and healthy now, but some people look fine and then all of a sudden they die. I enjoy now and try not to look into the future."

Pond Inlet is home, but there is one thing she would like to change, not missing a chance to promote Nunavut's artists.

"The Co-op in Pond Inlet used to buy all of our stuff, now they just buy a limited amount of items," says Kunuu.