Makivik Magazine Issue 112

© MAKIVIK CORPORATION
It’s a “conceptual” documentary, she says, much like the way she was
taught at NSCAD.
“That’s less about technique and more about the thought behind the art
work,” Weetaluktuk explains. That focus on meaning and intention more so
than technical prowess is in keeping with Weetaluktuk’s goal of increasing
Indigenous representation in all aspects of life, particularly the creative world.
“There’s been a lot of space taken by non-Inuit, so just to affirm our space
that’s a huge reward,” she says.
Affirming space and reclaiming tradition is part of what led Weetaluktuk
to get her tattoos. Unavoidable when you look at her face, they move
when she smiles or raises her eyebrows. They’re simple and beautiful, two
Vs made up of dots starting from above her nose and curving to touch her
scalp. Three more dotted lines stretch on either side of her nostrils and out
towards her ears. Five shorter, dotted lines curve down from her lips over
her chin toward her neck.
Weetaluktuk researched the traditional tattoos the way she researches her
documentary work, but like much research that seeks to trace Indigenous
lines white people worked so fiercely to break, the answers weren’t easy
to find.
The tattoos are from the Ungava area, but whether they’re exactly what
Weetaluktuk’s great great grandmother might have had done is unclear.
“We try and research about maybe what would my family have had but
it’s hard,” she says. “My great great grandmother she had tattoos, not on her
face just on her wrist and they were just like this only I don’t know how many.”
Weetaluktuk travelled to Denmark to get her tattoos done by Maya Sialuk
Jacobsen from Greenland. Deciding to get them done, she says, was less
about whether she might do it and more about when. One of her friends
ᐃᓕᑦᓯᒍᑎᒋᑦᓱᒍ
ᐋᓐᓂᓇᑫᓐᓈᐱᑦᑐᖅ ᓱᓇᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ
ᐊᓂᒍᓲᖅ;
ᐱᐅᔫᕗᒍᑦ
ᑕᕐᓯᑕᐅᒍᑎᒃ
ᐅᕕᓂᒻᒪ ᓄᑕᐅᓯᓕᖃᑦᑌᓇᕐᓂᖓᓄᑦ
ᑕᕐᓯᑕᐅᒍᑎᒐ ᐅᕕᓂᒻᒪ ᐃᑭᐊᖓᓃᑦᑎᓗᒍ
ᖃᑕᖕᖑᑎᒃᑲ
ᐊᓂᒐ ᖃᐅᕐᒪ ᑐᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ
ᐳᑦᔪᒥᓄᑦ ᓱᒃᑫᑑᑦᓱᓂ ᐊᑦᑐᐃᔪᖅ
ᑕᕐᓯᑕᐅᒍᑎᒋᓯᒪᔭᒃᑲᓂᒃ
ᖃᓄᓕᒫᖅ ᓂᓪᓕᐅᔪᕐᓱᓂᖓ,
ᓇᓪᓕᒋᕙᒌᓚᑦᓱᓂᐊᓪᓛᑦ
ᑐᓐᓂᖃᓕᕐᓱᖓ
ᑖᓐᓇᓭᓐᓇᐅᔪᖓ ᐱᔪᕆᓕᕐᓱᖓ
ᐊᓰᓐᓇᔮᖅ 2017
ᐊᐅᓪᓚᒥᒃ ᓯᐊᓗᒥᓪᓗ ᐅᐱᒍᓲᑎᒃᑲ
© ISABELLA-ROSE WEETALUKTUK
MAKIVIK mag a zine
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