The Current14:26Bringing Inuit art and artifacts back to Nunavut
William Beveridge has been working for decades to bring collections of Inuit art scattered across Canada back to Nunavut. Now he believes it’s more urgent than ever.
“Our cultural belongings are outside of Nunavut. And we don’t have access to this collection,” Beveridge, the executive director of Inuit Heritage Trust Inc., told The Current guest host Juanita Taylor.
Beveridge started advocating for a heritage centre in Nunavut back in 2002, hoping to achieve the goal outlined in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement of 1993, which said there was a need for a heritage centre in the territory. But it’s been a challenge, he says, primarily because of a lack of funding.
Based on the size of the potential collection available in places such as Quebec and Manitoba, Beveridge says it would cost about $100 million to $150 million to construct a building big enough, equipped with the proper protections for the art and artifacts.
It would be built in Iqaluit, the territorial capital, a decision made during public consultation done in 2005 and 2006.
But Beveridge says it’s important that they start building soon.
“Our elders are getting fewer. They know a lot of things about the collection. They still have a connection to the past. We’d like to bridge that with our youth and connect our youth with our past,” said Beveridge.
The collection
Beveridge says there are artifacts and works of art housed in museums across Canada. He says there are about 140,000 artifacts currently stored in Quebec, and a large collection of art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Artifacts range from combs and figurines to boats and hunting equipment. There are also carvings dating back to the mid-1900s.
“There’s different sized artifacts from the tiniest and to some things that’ll fill a large room,” said Beveridge. “It’s carvings from every region and every community.”
Some of the items would come from collector Bert Rose, who amassed a collection of 121 Inuit carvings. He has since donated the carvings to the government of Nunavut, with the intent that they will go to the heritage centre once it’s built.
Rose said he bought his first carving in while teaching in the Kivalliq region more than five decades ago. That led him to get involved with a federal program to encourage people in community to make art they could then sell.
That resulting collection had been displayed at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, but Rose wanted to bring it all back to Nunavut. It’s since been transported to the government of Nunavut’s storage facility in Hull, Que., across the river from Ottawa, until it can be placed in a heritage centre in Nunavut.
“We went to Kivalliq in 1968, I was only 24. I’m now 80, and it’s a way of paying back that community and the children of the children of the children that I taught 50, 60 years ago, and leave a heritage for them so that they can see the tremendous artistic ability that their forefathers had,” said Rose.
Beveridge says Rose is one of many collectors who have committed to donating their collections to the centre.
Going forward
While it’s been many years of hard work, Beveridge says bringing the art back, and giving it a place where people can see it, is very important for Inuit culture.
“There’s been some very difficult times with residential schools, with losing our language and some of our culture,” said Beveridge.
“I see this centre as bridging that gap, relearning a lot of our culture and our language, and also decolonizing … just relearn our history.”
And Beveridge doesn’t want the centre to just be a building that houses art. He wants it to be interactive, with elders who can teach young people about art and culture.
“It’s very important for our youth to know who we are and where we come from,” said Beveridge.
“Having our Inuit collection returned to us, we’ll be able to use that collection. We’ll be able to see it. We’ll be able to learn and teach with this collection.”
However, the building is still years from construction. Beveridge says funding has been a challenge for the project, as other needs such as basic housing have taken priority.
But he says he’s made progress with both local and federal governments.
“We’re currently in negotiations with the federal government and with the Nunavut government to fulfil the Nunavut Agreement. So, the cost of the centre is a challenge. But, we’re going to work hard and we’re going to raise those funds,” said Beveridge.