Building Nunavut

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Earlier this week, Magnolia Valles Duran contextualized two of Alootook Ipellie’s political cartoons which opposed the construction of pipelines in the North and advocated for an Inuit land claim agreement. Indeed, the issues of industrial encroachment and Inuit land rights are inextricably linked. Today, we will consider a handful of graphic designs Ipellie produced for Inuit organizations who lobbied for the establishment of Nunavut, the largest Indigenous land claim settlement in Canada.

The curators of the touring exhibition Alootook Ipellie: Walking Both Sides of an Invisible Border provide excellent background:   

In the decades leading up to the creation of Nunavut in 1999, Alootook Ipellie worked for Inuit political organizations including Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut. He was a passionate believer in and advocate for what he called the “Nunavut dream.” These posters document key moments in Nunavut’s history. Ipellie’s 1982 poster, published by the ITC, encouraged voting in the territory-wide plebiscite that tested public support for the division of the Northwest Territories. In 1987 he designed a series of seven posters, published by the Nunavut Constitutional Forum, to raise awareness of an agreement on Nunavut’s geographical boundary. The boundary for division was ultimately approved by plebiscite on May 4, 1992.

The grouping of posters in this photograph includes the original ink drawing for Building Nunavut, enabling viewers to see this piece in two different stages. The drawing allows us to focus solely on Ipellie’s visual imagery and composition. He vertically stacks the profiles of thirteen Inuit along the right side of the image. Each of the faces is a distinct portrait – it’s likely that at least some of the people depicted are political leaders who would have been recognizable to many in the North. But there is diversity here too – we see men and women, young and old, gathered together. And among the faces is the profile of a man with a wispy moustache and goatee who looks a lot like the artist, minus his glasses. Everyone has a part to play in the creation of Nunavut and people need to work together to make it a reality.

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The need for collective contribution to the successful implementation of Nunavut is underscored in the corresponding poster which indicates the broad social, political and economic categories that it will affect. The poster’s text reads: “Building Nunavut Means: Designing Nunavut, Boundaries, Division of Powers, Fiscal Relations, Nunavut Bill of Rights, Structures and Symbols, Language, Culture, Communications, Cultural Property, Communications, Education, Science and Research, Administration of Justice, Land, Resources and Environment, Offshore, Social Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, International Relations, A Capital for Nunavut.”

The other three posters in this grouping reinforce the concept of active engagement and collective effort. One of Ipellie’s clever yet direct designs shows a globe doubling as a ballot box with the slot for the ballot positioned directly on the Northwest Territories. A hand holding a ballot inserts their vote into the slot. All adult Inuit were encouraged to vote for the establishment of Nunavut through the division of the NWT.

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For Nunavut Wants You, Ipellie updates the ubiquitous Uncle Sam poster used to recruit American soldiers for World War I and World War II. In Ipellie’s rendition, Inuit are being called to do their duty to contribute to the fight for their Indigenous rights. 

Finally, the Nuna Vut poster suggests that the realization of the new territory is dependent upon partnership and people standing together. One person in the poster wears a baseball cap and has their arm around the other person. Both people are wearing white t-shirts with black writing in English and Inuktitut. The writing on the t-shirt worn by the person on the left reads “NUNA”, and the writing on the t-shirt worn by the person on the right reads “VUT.” Neither of the two figures shown can make "Nunavut" on their own. 

Alootook Ipellie’s graphic design work, which was widely distributed across Nunavut, was another means for him to share his vision for the political rights and well-being of other Inuit.

Post author: Jennifer Gibson

Sources: 

Sandra Dyck, Heather Igloliorte and Christine Lalonde, Walking Both Sides of an Invisible Border, exhibition section panel, 2018.

First image: Alootook Ipellie, Walking Both Sides of an Invisible Border, partial installation view. Photo: Karen Asher. Artworks in image, left to right, top to bottom (all by Alootook Ipellie): Drawing for Building Nunavut poster (1987), ink on illustration board, Collection of Dennis Patterson, Senator for Nunavut; Building Nunavut (1987), photomechanical reproduction on paper, estate of the artist;Yes / Nunavut (1982), photomechanical reproduction on paper, estate of the artist; Nunavut Wants You (1987), photomechanical reproduction on paper, estate of the artist; Nuna Vut (1987), photomechanical reproduction on paper, estate of the artist.

Second image: detail of Alootook Ipellie: Walking Both Sides of an Invisible Border, partial exhibit installation view, showing drawing for Building Nunavut poster (1987). Photo: Karen Asher.  

Third image: Alootook Ipellie, Nunavut Wants You poster (1987), published by the Nunavut Constitutional Forum. Photo: courtesy of Inuit Art Quarterly.