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IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY
Black-and-white photos of the Copper Inuit are coming to life in full colour through a mural project by the Kitikmeot Heritage Society in Cambridge Bay.

Ryan Gillis paints two archers on the Inuinnait and Diamond Jenness Commemorative Mural Project inside the May Hakongak Community Library and Cultural Centre in Cambridge Bay late last month. - photo courtesy of Renee Krucas

The collage of images depict daily life, traditional clothing, animals and artifacts of the Inuinnait, the Inuit ancestors of Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay, from a century ago. They make up the Inuinnait and Diamond Jenness Commemorative Mural Project. About 30 residents started painting the approximately 700-square-foot (65-square-metre) mural inside the May Hakongak Community Library and Cultural Centre on March 17 and were expected to finish on March 31. The mural commemorates the centennial anniversary of the Canadian Arctic Expedition – the first major scientific research study undertaken in the North – and Jenness, an ethnographer who lived among the Inuinnait in the Coronation Gulf for two years. Renee Krucas of the Kitikmeot Heritage Society said Jenness worked closely with the Inuinnait to preserve the Copper Inuit culture.

"One of the reasons why we have so many resources and records is because of the work he did and the Inuinnait of that time did," she said. "So, it's to commemorate all of their efforts."

Calgary-based artist Ele Davis is helping the society with the mural, drawing the main lines of the images on the wall for she and others to paint, said Krucas. She added the society has received funding from the federal department of Canadian Heritage.

"It's just a really powerful way, through art, to really make all these images come alive … and really give the people an idea of how things were – the clothing, the activities, life on the land," said Krucas.

She added everyone is excited about the projects and the elders proud of the images depicted.

Trisha Ogina is one of the 30 people helping paint the mural, and said taking on the project has come naturally to her.

"I understand the picture and I know the Inuit and the animals and the colours. I guess I just put a bit of life into it, like being a part of the culture and being Inuit myself," she said. "It's going really well. It looks really nice and everybody that walks into the library and sees it are just like 'wow,' they are so amazed with it."

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