Traditional Knowledge

Women of the Video Collective reenact a traditional women's activity: the use of the qulliq.

The qulliq is the seal oil lamp and stove of the old days, the only source of light and warmth. The women tell the story in words and songs as they install the qulliq in their igloo.

Filmmaker: Arnait Ikkagurtigitt Collective

This video is a portrait of two women from Igloolik: Madeline Ivalu (Piujuq) and Susan Avingaq (Angutautuq). Piujuq translates as "pretty face" and Angutautuk as "strong young man". It contains images of both women from the past six years, engaging in community events. They perform many traditional songs.… Uqalimakkanirit

Los viajes del Cantador (Marakame Yeiyá-reiya) (The Chanter's Voyage) is a indigenous film project that tells the stories the jicareros - those who have a traditional responsibility in the huichol … Uqalimakkanirit

Los viajes del Cantador (Marakame Yeiyá-reiya) (The Chanter's Voyage) is a indigenous film project that tells the stories the jicareros - those who have a traditional responsibility in the huichol … Uqalimakkanirit

Nunaqpa is the second Isuma recreated fiction, filmed with actors in 1990 recreating a Summer caribou hunt in the 1930's. For Igloolik Inuit, it is the time of Nunaqpa, 'going inland,' the long walk in search of summer-fat caribou to catch enough meat for the hard winter ahead. Two families leave for the hunt, while the old couple and grandmother wait by the shore for their return.

A group of Nunavut elders travel to five museums in North America to see and identify artifacts, tools and clothing collected from their Inuit ancestors.

Inuit Piqutingit (What Belongs to Inuit), Igloolik Isuma Productions, Kivalliq Inuit Association 2009, Producers Bernadette Dean, Katarina Soukup, Zacharias Kunuk. English and Inuktut w/Eng s-t.

Qallunajatut (Urban Inuk) follows the lives of three Inuit in Montreal over the course of one hot and humid summer.Only two generations ago Inuit lived in small, nomadic hunting camps scattered across the vast Arctic landscape.… Uqalimakkanirit

Inuit memories and experiences of shamanism, and oral histories about the last shamans practicing in the region of Igloolik, Nunavut. Interviewees range from young people to elders and politicians, but they all share a belief that things happen, and that shamanism is still a living religion.

Ningiura is an experimental fiction based on authentic oral histories, traditional knowledge and contemporary reality of Igloolik today.

Filmmaker: Mary Kunuk, Marie-Hélène Cousineau

Filmmaker Contact:

Visit our website www.arnaitvideo.ca or www.isuma.ca

Producer's Name: Arnait Video Productions

Igloolik, Fall 1945. Grandmother remembers the old way. In autumn 1945, five families build a stone house to prepare for the coming winter.

Nunavut (Our Land) Episode 3: Qarmaq (Stone House), Igloolik Isuma Productions 1995, Filmmakers: Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn, Pauloosie Qulitalik. Inuktut w/Eng s-t.

Igloolik, Fall 1945. Even here, news of the terrible world war raging outside makes people frightened and uneasy. They talk of the danger of the unknown future, of shamanistic intervention to protect their culture.

Igloolik, Spring 1946. It is the season of never-ending days. Two dog teams searching the spring ice, men and boys hunting day and night. Seals are everywhere: at the breathing holes, sleeping under the warm sun. Amachlainuk has a lucky day.

Igloolik, Spring 1946. Seal pups: springtime delicacy, prized for their soft fur and tender meat. When the pups start coming out on the ice, even small children and grandmothers can hunt.

Packed up to travel, the families move slowly over the wet ice, through lakes of fresh melting snow, hunting on the way. Finding the breathing holes is a joyful game for everyone.

Igloolik, Spring 1946. Inuaraq throws his bones at the river and finds the fish swimming back and forth. Back at the tent Qulitalik sends the young men out with fish spears to try their luck. The walk up the rushing river is exciting but treacherous. Fish are hiding. It's easy to fall in.

Igloolik, Summer 1946. The distant sound of the atookatookatook, the first gas engine to arrive in Igloolik, brings a surprise visitor to Qaisut, island of the walrus hunters. Father Qaukuluk arrives to study Inuit life, to dig in the ancient ruins and to see the hunt. When it's time to go hunting, Inuaraq thinks the Priest will bring bad luck but Qulitalik finally gives in.… Uqalimakkanirit