Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Jan 24/00) - If you can't make it to the Canadian Museum of Civilization any time soon, don't worry. A small piece of the museum may soon be visiting your community.

The exhibit is called Tunit: The Palaeo-Eskimos. It's a portion of the larger exhibit Lost Visions, Forgotten Dreams which will travel throughout Nunavut communities this year. It is currently on display in Iqaluit at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum.

The exhibit is on loan from the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Que.

"It's the first time, that we're aware of, that an exhibit like this travels throughout Nunavut. All the different centres are excited about it because they rarely get travelling exhibits like this. We're really glad that we could put it together and host it," says Nunatta museum's manager/curator Brian Lunger.

The larger exhibit includes 575 artifacts. The smaller exhibit touches on the highlights and includes up to 50 replicas of Palaeo-Eskimo art pieces.

"There's amulets that would have been used by hunters or shamans," Lunger says, adding there is also an antler with faces carved in it.

The Tyara mask, reads the write-up, is one of the most celebrated examples of Palaeo-Eskimo art. The tiny mask was excavated from the Tyara site, a 2,000-year-old village on the south shore of the Hudson Straight.

"There's a map that displays the movement from Siberia through Alaska and eastward," Lunger notes.

The exhibit guide, in English and French, rounds out the smaller exhibit by including the information found in the larger one.

"It's just fascinating to see what was made so long ago, and what had value. Especially these little intricately carved pieces that had spiritual powers. It's all kind of speculative, what they actually meant to the people ... but it's just a fascinating insight into the past lives of Arctic peoples."

The exhibit traces the history of the Palaeo-Eskimo people (the Tunit), who lived about 4,000 years ago. And the Dorset people from the early, middle and late periods -- beginning about 2,500 years ago.

"I haven't seen the larger exhibition. I would imagine it was very detailed. The Museum of Civilization always does an exceptional job with their research and the way their curators mount exhibitions," says Lunger.

"This one is just sort of a little introduction, in a way, to the subject."

Expenses were the reason the larger exhibit wasn't brought North.

"We really couldn't afford, ourselves, to mount a really large exhibit like that here. We don't have the space and the proper facilities. And something like this is really nice because it's all self-contained and it's very easy to ship and easy for people to put up and take down. And it's something that can go to smaller visitors' centres."

Lunger thinks future travelling exhibits might also be a possibility.

"I would hope so. Our resources are fairly limited and these things always take a lot of advance planning. This one was put together very quickly, just over a few months, but often you have to apply for funding a year or more ahead to realize these sorts of projects. It can be a long time coming. But we would definitely love to do it again."

Beginning Feb. 1, the Nattinak Centre in Pond Inlet will feature the exhibit. Future stops include the Community Learning Centre in Clyde River; the Angmarlik Centre in Pangnirtung; the Visitor's Centre in Cape Dorset; the Katanillik Visitor's Centre in Kimmirut; Arctic Coast Visitor's Centre in Cambridge Bay; and the Visitor's and Heritage Centre in Kugluktuk.

An exact replica of Tunit: The Palaeo-Eskimos is also currently touring communities in the NWT.