Monday, January 18. 2010
Collector's Corner: 'Mad dance of the Qailertetang'
A little-known part of Inuit religious history is the Qailertetang episode of the Sedna feasts, as observed in the Cumberland Sound by anthropologist Franz Boas in 1888.
The "Mad Dance of the Qailertetang" was a festival game in which two masked persons, a man and a woman, marry off the rest of the men and women who take part in the game.
In 2000, when I returned North to the make "Nuliajuk: Mother of the Sea Beasts," Lipa invited me to his outpost camp, where he would re-enact the mad dance for my cameras, seen perhaps for the first time since the early 1900s.
The artist, Lipa Pitsiulak, learned of this ritual directly from his parents, the late Markosie and Kadlu Pitsiulak, originally of Blacklead Island, Cumberland Sound. To my knowledge, this was the first time the ritual, long since forbidden by the missionaries, had been portrayed in a sculpture, entirely in keeping with Lipa's philosophy of preserving Inuit culture, whether Christian or pre-Christian.
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John Houston, Owner
& Director, Houston North Gallery
'Mad Dance of the Qailertetang' is available for purchase. As a member of the AC family, you are entitled to a 20% discount AND Houston North Gallery will contribute an additional 10% to the Adventure Canada Discovery Fund!
Details:
'Mad Dance of the Qailertetang'
Lipa Pitsiulak (1943 - )
Pangnirtung, 2000
H: 14.25 x L: 8 x W: 8 inches
Gallery # A3452
CDN $3,500.
Less 20%: -660 = $2,640 (plus applicable taxes), with $330 being donated to the Discovery Fund. Shipping is extra and will be billed at cost. For more information or to purchase this piece please contact Houston North Gallery: inuit@houston-north-gallery.ns.ca or toll free 1-866-634-8869.
