Northern art a mix of Dene and Inuit

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People living both north and south of the 60th parallel might be tempted to

believe that art produced in the Canadian North comes solely from the Inuit culture.

And considering the way private collectors and various departments of the Canadian government have approached northern art, this misconception is neither surprising nor rare.

For decades the world has emphasized the Inuit culture's arts and crafts while almost completely overlooking the work of the Dene people. Southern society also tends to lump the two culture's artwork together and label it all art northern art.

But the two cultures have distinct styles stemming from different environments and needs, say art experts.

Because the northern climate is so harsh, Dene and Inuit people were nomadic, becoming resourceful and adaptive to stay alive. According to Jerome Thomas, art administrator of the Dene Nation, "survival was an art form in itself. You had to be creative in ways to survive."

For the Dene, living in around the forests of the subarctic, and the Unuit, living above the tree-line in the Arctic, survival meant protective clothing and shelter and reliable means of securing food. This meant that both cultures artistically expressed themselves in their clothing, shelter and utensils. The differences stemmed from the individual artists and from the materials that were available to each culture and varied depending upon their region and location.

Margaret Gorman is the manager of the Special Projects Division at the Dene Nation. Gorman says that because the "Dene were hunters and gatherers, their art did not hang on their walls but was functional."

The Dene usually decorated their clothing with fringes and with the dyed quills of porcupines and birds. After contact with the Europeans began, they had access to beads and began to decorate their possessions with beadwork and baskets, both of which need to be internationally recognized as art.

"There is a danger of Dene art being classified as craft and undervalued," Gorman warned. "The government sees art as expensive sculpture and craft as basket, beadwork, quillwork. These designs are all original and are functional art."

The Inuit did not have access to quills or wood for baskets and used different colors and types of fur, hide and hair to decorate their clothing.

The Dene and Inuit cultures are also involved in fine arts including carving, painting and print-making. There is a current move towards participating in performance art.

Germaine Amaktauyok, an Inuit artist from Igloolik, explains the diversity in style stems from cultural differences between the two people.

"Both have their own culture so they do their art in their own way. You can see the differences if you look at the art - the way it's drawn, the way it's stylized." Amaktauyok has been an artist all her life and enjoys portraying Inuit legends in her work.

Amaktauyok sees similarities between the art of the two cultures but notes Inuit are more into sculpture.

"I guess that was sort of the beginning of our art since we didn't have any paints," she said.

Inuit carvings, paintings, prints and tapestries are internationally known and have appeared in art galleries around the world for several years. The Canadian government has emphasized Inuit art since the early 1960s, resulting in the perception that all northern art was Inuit.

Gorman believes that for that reason Dene artists were virtually unknown. Today, the Dene Nation now works to promote and market their art and people. Through events such as the Promotion of Dene Artists Program they are ensuring Dene paintings, drawings, dance, beadwork, story-telling and games are becoming recognized.

Because of programs like these, more Dene artists are being trained and their work successfully marketed. With the Dene in charge of these programs, they remain in control of their art. Gorman adds that "unless the Dene are promoting Dene art, it's not Dene art. If people can't dvelop their own arts, then it's not theirs."

It is extremely difficult to try and put into words the thousands of year of artistic expression of the Dene and Inuit peoples. It is perhaps even more difficult to discuss the differences and the similarities between the two without taking into account all aspects of their lifestyles and cultures. More information can be obtained through Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.