Simon Tookoome (December 9, 1934,

Chantrey Inlet Chantrey Inlet (''Tariunnuaq'') is a bay on the Arctic coast of Canada. It marks the southeast "corner" where the generally east–west coast turns sharply north. To the west is the Adelaide Peninsula and to the east is mainland. King William Is ...

– November 7, 2010 Baker Lake) was an Utkusiksalingmiut

Inuk Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...

artist.

Life

In his youth, Tookoome and other Utkusiksalingmiut lived along the Back River and in

Gjoa Haven Gjoa Haven (; Inuktitut: Uqsuqtuuq, syllabics: ᐅᖅᓱᖅᑑᖅ , meaning "lots of fat", referring to the abundance of sea mammals in the nearby waters; or �ʒɔa evən is an Inuit hamlet in Nunavut, above the Arctic Circle, located in th ...

King William Island King William Island (, ; previously: King William Land) is an island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, which is part of the Arctic Archipelago. In area it is between and making it the list of islands by area, 61st-largest island in the world ...

. Here he met and was influenced by the

Netsilik The Netsilik (Netsilingmiut) are Inuit who live predominantly in Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven, and somewhat in Taloyoak of the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, and, to a smaller extent in the north Qikiqtaaluk Region, in Canada. They were, in the early 2 ...

Inuit. He moved to Baker Lake,

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the 1960s when his Inuit band was threatened with starvation. After the arrival of arts advisors in 1969, Tookoome began to draw and carve stones. He was a founding member of the Sanavik Co-op. Tookoome died in Baker Lake, Nunavut on 7 November 2010.

Work

He was the author, with

Sheldon Oberman Sheldon Oberman (May 20, 1949 – March 26, 2004) was a Canadian children's writer who lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Oberman (known to friends as Obie) grew up in the city's North End. After graduating from St. Johns Hi ...

, of the children's book ''Shaman's Nephew: A Life in the Far North'', which won the $10,000

Norma Fleck Award The Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction is a lucrative literary award founded in May 1999 by the Fleck Family Foundation and the Canadian Children's Book Centre, and presented to the year's best non-fiction book for a youth audien ...

for Canadian children's non-fiction in 2000. This autobiographical book deals with Tookoome's youthful experiences of the traditional Inuit way of life, including experiences with hunting and encountering non-Inuit culture for the first time. He was also included in '' Irene Avaalaaqiaq Myth and Reality'': In addition to being an accomplished artist, Tookoome was renowned as a master

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

per.Nathan VanderKlippe. "Celebrated Artist also a Crack Whipper."

References

* Nasby, Judith, and Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq.
Irene Avaalaaqiaq Myth and Reality
'. Montreal: MQUP, 2002.

External links

Tookoome's work at the Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art
1934 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Inuit artists 21st-century Inuit artists Canadian Inuit artists Inuit sculptors People from Baker Lake Artists from Nunavut Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit from Nunavut People from Gjoa Haven Canadian children's writers Inuit writers 20th-century Canadian sculptors {{Canada-artist-stub