Marion Tuu'luq
Marion Tuu'luq has led two lives. For her first 50 years, she lived a traditional Inuit life on the land; for the last 40, she has been a much honoured, internationally recognized artist. The skills, experience and understanding gained during the first half of her life made the achievements of the second half possible.
A sense of joy radiates from Marion's artwork. Working primarily with textiles, she shows a fully integrated vision: man, animal and spirit co-exist easily within her designs. She depicts a land of "brimming abundance," with "animals and people becoming as one," noting simply "the Inuit people live on the animals, they are part of our lives."
Born in 1910 near Chantrey Inlet, Nunavut, Marion of necessity became a skilled seamstress; her family's survival relied on her ability to create warm, durable clothing. She created it from hides, without a pattern, using caribou sinew for thread and a bone needle. The work was painstaking and difficult: "Snow houses were cold, your hands were cold, the skins were tough and hard." Although "the Inuit do not have a word for art and the concept of artistic expression unrelated to useful activity [is] foreign to their culture," the clothing Marion created was often highly decorated, with both beads and inset fur of contrasting colours.
I have sometimes wished that I was a fish, then my life would be lively and full of fun.-- Marion Tuu'luq, ca 1972
Widespread famine and disease prompted a federal relocation initiative to Baker Lake in the 1960s, a radical upheaval that completely altered the lifestyle of the Inuit affected. Despite her husband's hunting prowess, Marion believed that had they remained on the land, they would have died.
The extraordinary wallhangings she produced in Baker Lake were her response to a new environment, and her need for useful activity that would help her family survive in a monied economy. In 1990 the University of Alberta awarded Marion an honorary degree, and through her to "all the other women who gave up their way of life and managed to make the transition to a new way."
Marion's art conveys "an unwavering passion for the land and the life the Inuit have lived." Through her designs, she is ensuring the culture she loves will be remembered. "There are times when the young people won't listen to me. They need to know what their ancestors were doing. That's important."
Marion Tuu'luq
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