Blind Man and the Loon

Art Links for The Blind Man and the Loon: the Story of a Tale

Chapter 5: The Art of the Tale

Images of many of the artworks listed in Chapter 5 are available for direct viewing on the Internet (indicated in the book with an asterisk * at the beginning of the entry).  Since the URLs for specific images change frequently, they are more easily kept current online.  Here, too, new artworks will continue to be added as they emerge. 

The Blind Man and the Loon."  1980.  Cedar wood carving.  Published in Julie Decker, John Hoover: Art and Life (Anchorage: Museum Association and the University of Washington Press, 2002), 98. 

Daniel Inukpuk (Upatitsiak) (1942-), Inukjuak, Quebec

*Legend of Lumaaq."  1975.  Stonecut print, 15 x 24 in.  The name of Sarah Elijassiapik, the printmaker, is carved in syllabics on the stone block.  Published in National Museum of Man (1977, 169). " Legend of Lumaaq" was also published in Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Stephen E. Nash, and Steven R. Holen, Crossroads of Culture (Boulder: University of Colorado Press, 2010), 69, plate 25. [ link]. 

Kananginak Pootoogook (1935-2010), Cape Dorset, Nunavut

*a. Legend of the Blind Man and the Bear."  1957-59.  Stencil in blue on wove paper, 38.1 x 61cm.  West Baffin Eskimo.  Used in the 2012 Inuit Art calendar.  Co-operative Ltd., National Gallery of Canada (no.  36594) [link]. 

b. Aulajijakka(Things I Remember) #3.  Caption: "There is a legend regarding a blind boy.  His mother asked him to harpoon a small whale, as the boy had tied a rope around her waist."  Linocut, late 1970s. 

c. Aulajijakka(Things I Remember) #4.  Caption: "When the bear died, the mother butchered it, making sure her son wasn't aware.  She told her daughter not to tell her brother."  Linocut, late 1970s. 

d. Aulajijakka(Things I Remember) #5.  Caption: "They were the only ones at the camp when a bear approached so the mother asked the blind boy to shoot at the bear through the air hole."  Linocut, late 1970s.  In my book as Fig.  20. 

e. Aulajijakka(Things I Remember) #11.  Caption: "The son harpooned the large whale and he was using his mother as a float.  The whale started dragging her down and every time she came up for air she cried, 'lu, lu!'  Therefore she was named Lumaajuuq."  Linocut, late 1970s. 

*b. Legend of the Loon That Helps the Blind Man See."  1990.  Stonecut print, 15 x 14.5 in.  Published in Hessel (2006, 223) A second print is in the Avataq Cultural Institute, Montreal, under the title Blind Man Who Recovered His Eyesight from the Loons." [ link]. 

A set of five sculptures.  Published in Zebedee Nungak and Eugene Arima, eds.  Eskimo Stories: Unikkaatuat.  National Museum of Canada Bulletin No.  235.  A.S. 90. ( Ottawa: 1969), 48-51. 

a. The bear peeping in the window hole a.k.a.  The Legend of Lumak and the Bear.  1957. 

b. She brought him food inside her parka (n.d.) 

c. "My brother, good dog meat." ( n.d.) 

d. The loon leading the blind boy to the water a.k.a.  The Blind Boy and the Loon.  1957. 

e. The mother being towed under by the white whale a.k.a.  Lumak'sRevenge and Lumiakand the Whale, 1958.  Stone, 33 cm.  Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.  Published in Emily E. Auger, The Way of Inuit Art: Aesthetics and History in and Beyond the Arctic. ( Jefferson nc: McFarland, 2005), 112. 

Carla Rae Gilday (1980-), Yellowknife nwt

The Old Man and the Loon."  c. 2008.  Acrylic color painting on self-constructed canvas.  Thumbnail published in the newsletter Northwest Territories Artists' Newsline (Summer 2009), 8.  Appears in my book as Fig.  24. 

Untitled black and blue sketch for "The Origin of the Narwhal."  Published in Ronald Melzack's Why the Man in the Moon Is Happy and Other Eskimo Creation Stories (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1977), 30. 

Frank C. Terry (n.d.) 

Untitled ink sketch for "The Ant Lady and the Blind Man."  Published in John Billum, Atna' Yanida'a: Ahtna Stories, transcribed in Ahtna by Molly Billum with English translation by Millie Buck. ( Anchorage: National Bilingual Materials Development Center, 1979), 48. 

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and educational institution and is a part of the University of Alaska system. 
UAF does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, physical or mental disability, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood, genetic code or retaliation. 
This policy affects employment policies, as well as the delivery of educational services.  Contact information, applicable laws, and complaint procedures are included on UAF's statement of non-discrimination. 

This site is maintained by the Alaska Native Language Archive on behalf of Craig Mishler and the University of Nebraska Press.