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BAKER LAKE
A wall hanging by renowned Inuit artist Jessie Oonark took up special residence in Baker Lake this past month.

A tea and ceremony were held at Nunavut Arctic College (NAC) in Baker on Nov. 20 to unveil the wall hanging.

The artwork was originally purchased by Baker's first adult educator, David Webster, in 1972 to make Baker's learning centre more attractive.

The college recently had the Oonark wall hanging professionally framed.

A number of Oonark's descendants were on hand for the ceremony, with some sharing their memories of the famous artist with the gathering.

Oonark's granddaughter, Martha Aupaluktuq-Hickes, said she was quite close to her grandmother.

She said the event was very special to her in that it's good to know the community still appreciates all that Oonark did.

"We have the Jessie Oonark Centre, which speaks for itself in acknowledging her artistic skills," said Aupaluktuq-Hickes.

"But, for them to have this on display in Nunavut Arctic College speaks volumes to the fact you can learn if you want to.

"You just have to find it within yourself to be better."

Aupaluktuq-Hickes said she and her grandmother spent a fair amount of time together.

She said she still cherishes the memories of Oonark out camping with her family.

"Her and my mom, Nancy Aupaluktuq, the youngest daughter, were the last ones picked up from the land, because the dog team could only carry four people.

"The dogs were hungry too, so it was too heavy a load with them.

"They had to be left behind, and were the last to be picked up later by a plane."

Aupaluktuq-Hickes said her fondest memories of her grandmother are of her at home in her matchbox.

She said Oonark would almost always be sitting on the bed doing wall hangings.

"She didn't do prints until later on, but she did a lot of wall hangings.

"I would go get her ice, take her honey bucket out, clean her dishes and sweep the floor so she could keep sewing.

"She didn't have a phone, but my mom knew where I was, so I'd get the roll-away cot out and spend the nights with her in the matchbox when there were blizzards.

"In hindsight, I'm sorry I never paid attention to what she was sewing or drawing, but I just wanted to be with her then and enjoyed spending time with her."

Aupaluktuq-Hickes is named after Oonark in Inuktitut and uses one of her other names, Siqiniq (the sun).

She said she remembers once when she and her cousin, Betty Autut, were at Oonark's trying to throat sing, and her grandmother found their efforts to make whatever noises they could a little on the amusing side.

"She was telling us we were doing it wrong and trying to show us the right way, but we didn't know she knew how to throat sing.

"We were only about 11 or 12 years old, but, in the end, she taught us a little bit.

"We didn't learn a lot of sewing skills from her because she just did it quite quietly on her own, but she always made sure we had enough to eat and had snacks.

"It was a real treat to get junk food from her back then because we didn't usually have it at our house."

As any grandparent, Oonark rarely refused any of her grandkids' requests.

Aupaluktuq-Hickes said it was always a calm, nice feeling of being safe in Oonark's home.

She said growing up, she doesn't remember Oonark having opinions or speaking out too much about Inuit culture, but the embodiment of the Inuit way of life was, in essence, who she was.

"She was a very quiet person who would give the impression she was a little tougher than she actually was, because she was very softhearted.

"She did her wall hangings day and night without ever saying it was hard work or she was tired from it, because she was so happy and content to be doing that.

"When you look at a wall hanging or a soapstone, you either get it or you don't.

"When you look at soapstone, it's telling you what it is and you just have to refine it, while, with a wall hanging, you have it in your vision or you remember a scene that you want to put on it."

Aupaluktuq-Hickes said Oonark always appreciated having her work acknowledged.

Still, she said, even that was low-key because Inuit, traditionally, are taught to be very humble about praise.

"She did go to grand openings and exhibitions and got to go to New York once, which was why she always cheered for New York in hockey or baseball.

"She saw the trips as an opportunity to see different parts of the country and other parts of the world.

"She wouldn't have had the chance without her artwork, so she appreciated that."

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