Table of Contents

  • Scripts

    • English Script

      by Norman Cohn, May 2019

      One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk is based on an original story idea and discussions between Norman Cohn and Zacharias Kunuk. The script was written first in English for the purpose of getting it financed; once financed, an Inuktitut team of writers led by Zacharias Kunuk and Lucy Tulugarjuk created an Inuktitut dialogue script for the actors to learn before the film was made; then during the shooting the actors improvised most of their dialogue and a lot of scenes were changed, added or dropped on the set; then Lucy Tulugarjuk transcribed the “final” Inuktitut version of the script from the actual finished edited dialogue and film that appears on the screen.

    • Inuktitut Script

      By Lucy Tulugarjuk, May 2019 

       ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑑᑉ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ

       ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐅᓂᑳᕐᑐᖅ:

      ᓴᖃᓕᐊᓯ ᑯᓄᒃ

      ᑲᓪᓗᓈᑎᑐᑦ ᐅᓂᑳᕐᑐᖅ:

      ᓄᐊᒪᓐ ᑯᓐ

      ᓴᕿᖢᓂ:

    • +More
  • Essays

    • Infrastructural Sovereignty: IsumaTV at the 2019 Venice Art Biennale

       "Infrastructural Sovereignty: IsumaTV at the 2019 Venice Art Biennale" by Malini Guha. Mediapolis: A Journal of Cities and Culture. October 12, 2019. 

    • ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕈᓐᓇᕐᑎᑕᐅᒐᒪ

      ᒪᐃᐊ ᐅᐃᑦᓱᕙ

      ᓯᕗᓪᓕᕐᐹᕆᓚᐅᕐᑕᕋ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃᒧᐊᕐᖢᖓ, ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᕐᑐᒧᓪᓗ, ᑕᑯᔭᕆᐅᓕᕐᖢᖓᓗ ᑕᑯᓚᐅᕐᓯᒪᖏᑕᓐᓂᒃ. ᑕᐃᓱᒪᓂᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᓄᓇᖑᐊᖅ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᓪᓚᕆᓚᐅᕐᑕᕋ. ᐃᒧᓪᓗᖃᐅᕐᑐᖅ, ᑎᒃᑯᐊᕐᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᑐᖅ ᓂᐱᐅᓯᕐᓱᕐᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂᓗ, 12ᖑᓗᑎᒃ ᑲᑎᖓᐅᕐᑐᑦ ᕿᑐᑦᑐᒐᐅᔭᒃᑯᕕᒃᒧᑦ. ᐊᑐᕐᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓯᒪᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᖅ. ᓄᓇᖑᐊᒥ ᓴᖃᓕᐊᓯᐅᑉ ᐊᑖᑕᖓ, ᐃᓅᑭ ᑎᑎᕋᕐᑐᕕᓂᖅ ᓄᓇᖑᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᓄᓇᐃᑦ ᐊᑎᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒃᕕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ, ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᓗ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᐅᑉ ᖃᓂᒋᔭᖓᓃᑦᑐᓂᒃ. ᓄᓇᖑᐊᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᕐᕕᒋᓯᒪᐅᕐᖢᓂ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᕈᓐᓇᖏᑕᓐᓂᒃ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᑐᑭᓯᓇᕐᓂᕐᓴᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑎᑐᖓᔪᓂᒃ ᓇᕈᑎᐅᓚᐅᕐᑐᑦ, ᐊᖓᔪᖃᕐᔪᐊᓪᓗ ᑯᐃᓪᓗ ᐊᑎᖏᓐᓂᑦ. ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᐅᓪᓗᖓ ᓄᓇᖑᐊᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᒃᓴᐃᓐᓇᖃᑦᑕᕐᓯᒪᒐᒪ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒃᑐᐊᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᒧᑦ, ᑕᕙᓃᓕᕐᐳᖓ ᐅᒃᑑᑎᑦᑎᐊᕙᐅᔪᒥᒃ − ᓄᓇᖑᐊᖅ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᕐᕕᒋᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓅᑭᐅᑉ, ᓯᕗᓕᖏᑕ ᓄᓇᒋᕙᓚᐅᕐᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᐅᓴᓂᒃ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓄᑦ. [...]

    • +More
  • Artists' Projects

    • Nika Vaughan

      Image: An artist response to One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk

      As an artist response to One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, it was hard to wrap my head around how to approach these works. I wanted to make my best effort, and for me that usually means taking risks. My work is not focused on details, but rather I work quickly and try to feel my way into the subject matter, capturing emotion through gesture, mark making and areas of detail. After much deliberation I ended up jumping in, working from a still photograph of Noah Piugattuk, against a snowy horizon line, gazing into the distance towards some unknown point, as small figures behind him walk away.

    • Tarralik Duffy

      Image: Kapuivik is my home

      Tarralik is a multidisciplinary artist and writer who lives and works between Salliq (Coral Harbour), NU and Saskatoon, SK. From jewellery and apparel to graphic works, Duffy's creative output shares distinctly Inuit experiences, which are often infused with a dose of humour and pop culture.

    • +More
  • History

    • People working together

      by Isuma, May 2019

      Isuma 1985 - 2019

      People working together.

    • Isuma Videography

      By Isuma, May 2019

      In 1985 From Inuk Point of View, was the first work by an Inuit or Aboriginal artist deemed eligible to apply for a professional artist’s grant. Zacharias Kunuk was the video’s director; Norman Cohn cameraman; Paul Apak editor; and elder Pauloosie Qulitalik told the story. By 1990, the four partners had formed Igloolik Isuma Productions Inc. to produce independent video art from an Inuit point of view. Early Isuma videos, featuring actors recreating Inuit life in the 1930s and 1940s, were shown to Inuit at home and in museums and galleries around the world. In 2001, Isuma’s first feature-length drama, Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, won the Caméra d’or at the Cannes Film Festival; in 2002, both Atanarjuat and Nunavut (Our Land), a 13-part TV series, were shown at Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany. Click on Isuma Videography to view the full history of productions to this date.

    • +More
  • Research

  • Photos

  • Podcasts

    • How Lucy Tulugarjuk started working at Isuma, 1997

      By Gabriela Gámez, May 2019

      Lucy talks about how she started working with the Isuma collective since 1997. She started first as the manager of Nunavut Independent Television Network's (NITV) show called Tariajsuq. Soon after she would step into the role of host for the show when the host didn't show-up. She also talks about how it was to work on the role of Puja in Isuma's feature film, Atanarjuat the Fast Runner.

    • Film audio of One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk

      By Isuma, May 2019

      Listen to the audio of the film. In April 1961, John Kennedy is America’s new President, the Cold War heats up in Berlin and nuclear bombers are deployed from bases in arctic Canada. In Kapuivik, north Baffin Island, Noah Piugattuk’s nomadic Inuit band live and hunt by dog team as his ancestors did when he was born in 1900. When the white man known as Boss arrives at Piugattuk’s hunting camp, what appears as a chance meeting soon opens up the prospect of momentous change. Boss is an agent of the government, assigned to get Piugattuk to move his band to settlement housing and send his children to school so they can get jobs and make money. But Kapuivik is Piugattuk’s homeland. He takes no part in the Canadian experience; and cannot imagine what his children would do with money.

    • +More
  • Canadian Pavilion

    • Installation Photos

      By Isuma, May 2019

      In the spirit of media democracy, Isuma's exhibition at the 58th Biennale di Venezia has a parallel exhibition accessible to anyone with an Internet connection through www.isuma.tv and The Isuma Book. These are the installation photos of Isuma's work at the Canada Pavilion. 

    • Exhibition Didactics

    • +More
  • English Script

    by Norman Cohn, May 2019

    One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk is based on an original story idea and discussions between Norman Cohn and Zacharias Kunuk. The script was written first in English for the purpose of getting it financed; once financed, an Inuktitut team of writers led by Zacharias Kunuk and Lucy Tulugarjuk created an Inuktitut dialogue script for the actors to learn before the film was made; then during the shooting the actors improvised most of their dialogue and a lot of scenes were changed, added or dropped on the set; then Lucy Tulugarjuk transcribed the “final” Inuktitut version of the script from the actual finished edited dialogue and film that appears on the screen.

  • Inuktitut Script

    By Lucy Tulugarjuk, May 2019 

     ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑑᑉ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ

     ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐅᓂᑳᕐᑐᖅ:

    ᓴᖃᓕᐊᓯ ᑯᓄᒃ

    ᑲᓪᓗᓈᑎᑐᑦ ᐅᓂᑳᕐᑐᖅ:

    ᓄᐊᒪᓐ ᑯᓐ

    ᓴᕿᖢᓂ:

  • Infrastructural Sovereignty: IsumaTV at the 2019 Venice Art Biennale

     "Infrastructural Sovereignty: IsumaTV at the 2019 Venice Art Biennale" by Malini Guha. Mediapolis: A Journal of Cities and Culture. October 12, 2019. 

  • ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕈᓐᓇᕐᑎᑕᐅᒐᒪ

    ᒪᐃᐊ ᐅᐃᑦᓱᕙ

    ᓯᕗᓪᓕᕐᐹᕆᓚᐅᕐᑕᕋ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃᒧᐊᕐᖢᖓ, ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᕐᑐᒧᓪᓗ, ᑕᑯᔭᕆᐅᓕᕐᖢᖓᓗ ᑕᑯᓚᐅᕐᓯᒪᖏᑕᓐᓂᒃ. ᑕᐃᓱᒪᓂᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᓄᓇᖑᐊᖅ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᓪᓚᕆᓚᐅᕐᑕᕋ. ᐃᒧᓪᓗᖃᐅᕐᑐᖅ, ᑎᒃᑯᐊᕐᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᑐᖅ ᓂᐱᐅᓯᕐᓱᕐᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂᓗ, 12ᖑᓗᑎᒃ ᑲᑎᖓᐅᕐᑐᑦ ᕿᑐᑦᑐᒐᐅᔭᒃᑯᕕᒃᒧᑦ. ᐊᑐᕐᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓯᒪᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᖅ. ᓄᓇᖑᐊᒥ ᓴᖃᓕᐊᓯᐅᑉ ᐊᑖᑕᖓ, ᐃᓅᑭ ᑎᑎᕋᕐᑐᕕᓂᖅ ᓄᓇᖑᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᓄᓇᐃᑦ ᐊᑎᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒃᕕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ, ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᓗ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᐅᑉ ᖃᓂᒋᔭᖓᓃᑦᑐᓂᒃ. ᓄᓇᖑᐊᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᕐᕕᒋᓯᒪᐅᕐᖢᓂ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᕈᓐᓇᖏᑕᓐᓂᒃ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᑐᑭᓯᓇᕐᓂᕐᓴᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑎᑐᖓᔪᓂᒃ ᓇᕈᑎᐅᓚᐅᕐᑐᑦ, ᐊᖓᔪᖃᕐᔪᐊᓪᓗ ᑯᐃᓪᓗ ᐊᑎᖏᓐᓂᑦ. ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᐅᓪᓗᖓ ᓄᓇᖑᐊᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᒃᓴᐃᓐᓇᖃᑦᑕᕐᓯᒪᒐᒪ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒃᑐᐊᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᒧᑦ, ᑕᕙᓃᓕᕐᐳᖓ ᐅᒃᑑᑎᑦᑎᐊᕙᐅᔪᒥᒃ − ᓄᓇᖑᐊᖅ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᕐᕕᒋᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓅᑭᐅᑉ, ᓯᕗᓕᖏᑕ ᓄᓇᒋᕙᓚᐅᕐᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᐅᓴᓂᒃ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓄᑦ. [...]

  • ᐃᓱᒻᒥᕐᑕᐅᓂᖅ ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᑐᓐᓂᕆᔭᐅᓂᖅ

    ᑯᕆᔅᑕ ᐅᓗᔪᒃ ᔭᕗᐊᑦᓯᑭ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᔾᕋ ᐊᓐᑕᓐ ᒍᕇᓐ

    ᐱᕈᕐᓴᓚᐅᕐᐳᖓ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᖕᒥ, ᐊᑭᓐᓇᖓᓂ ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᑦ, ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᓈᓚᐅᑎᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᖄᓚᐅᑎᕋᓛᑦ ᓂᐱᒃᑯᑦ ᑐᓴᕐᓇᕈᑎᒋᓚᐅᕐᑕᕗᑦ ᐱᕈᕐᓴᓪᓗᖓ, ᓄᑕᕋᐅᓪᓗᖓ. ᓈᓚᐅᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ, ᐃᒃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐃᖏᕐᑐᑦ ᐊᓂᑕ ᐄᓴᓗᒃ, ᓵᓕ ᐸᓂᒍᓂᐊᖅ, ᓵᓕ ᐊᑎᒻᔅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᐃᒪᓐ ᓯᒃᔭᕆᐊᖅ ᓂᓪᓕᐊᑎᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᕐᑐᑦ ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᐃᓪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᒃᓂ. ᐊᑐᓂ ᐃᒃᓗᖃᕐᑎᐅᔪᑦ ᐅᖄᓚᐅᑎᕋᓚᖃᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᔾᔪᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᒃᓗᕋᓛᖃᐅᕐᑐᓪᓗ, ᐅᒥᐊᕐᑐᕐᑐᓪᓗ ᐃᒃᓗᓕᒑᔪᒃᒧᖓᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐅᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᓯᒃᔭᖓᒎᕐᑐᑦ ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᑉ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒃᑐᓄᑦ. [...]

  • Nika Vaughan

    Image: An artist response to One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk

    As an artist response to One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, it was hard to wrap my head around how to approach these works. I wanted to make my best effort, and for me that usually means taking risks. My work is not focused on details, but rather I work quickly and try to feel my way into the subject matter, capturing emotion through gesture, mark making and areas of detail. After much deliberation I ended up jumping in, working from a still photograph of Noah Piugattuk, against a snowy horizon line, gazing into the distance towards some unknown point, as small figures behind him walk away.

  • Tarralik Duffy

    Image: Kapuivik is my home

    Tarralik is a multidisciplinary artist and writer who lives and works between Salliq (Coral Harbour), NU and Saskatoon, SK. From jewellery and apparel to graphic works, Duffy's creative output shares distinctly Inuit experiences, which are often infused with a dose of humour and pop culture.

  • Integration and Fracture

    Image: The Religious Divide, Jim Taylor

     My research into the Inuit relocations and Noah’s story inspired me to paint a number of works exploring themes that arose from this journey and really impacted me.

  • People working together

    by Isuma, May 2019

    Isuma 1985 - 2019

    People working together.

  • Isuma Videography

    By Isuma, May 2019

    In 1985 From Inuk Point of View, was the first work by an Inuit or Aboriginal artist deemed eligible to apply for a professional artist’s grant. Zacharias Kunuk was the video’s director; Norman Cohn cameraman; Paul Apak editor; and elder Pauloosie Qulitalik told the story. By 1990, the four partners had formed Igloolik Isuma Productions Inc. to produce independent video art from an Inuit point of view. Early Isuma videos, featuring actors recreating Inuit life in the 1930s and 1940s, were shown to Inuit at home and in museums and galleries around the world. In 2001, Isuma’s first feature-length drama, Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, won the Caméra d’or at the Cannes Film Festival; in 2002, both Atanarjuat and Nunavut (Our Land), a 13-part TV series, were shown at Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany. Click on Isuma Videography to view the full history of productions to this date.

  • Background to researching a larger story – Noah and Boss

    An essay by Jim Taylor

  • Inuit Settlement Patterns and Mobility - Jenny Vestey

    Thesis by Jenny Vestey

  • Research from Library and Archives Canada

    Research by Jim Taylor

    Why did Canada force the Inuit into permanent settlement? What was their reasoning and who were the men who carried out this policy? What was the town like that awaited Noah Piugattuk and his band during the 1960s? Government reports, communications, and publications from decades ago give a broad, detailed, and alarming picture.

  • Noah Piugattuk behind the scenes

     By Isuma, May 2019

  • Noah Piugattuk - Levy Uttak - April 14-15, 2018

     By Isuma, May 2019

  • Noah Piugattuk - Levy Uttak - April 13, 2018

     By Isuma, May 2019

  • How Lucy Tulugarjuk started working at Isuma, 1997

    By Gabriela Gámez, May 2019

    Lucy talks about how she started working with the Isuma collective since 1997. She started first as the manager of Nunavut Independent Television Network's (NITV) show called Tariajsuq. Soon after she would step into the role of host for the show when the host didn't show-up. She also talks about how it was to work on the role of Puja in Isuma's feature film, Atanarjuat the Fast Runner.

  • Film audio of One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk

    By Isuma, May 2019

    Listen to the audio of the film. In April 1961, John Kennedy is America’s new President, the Cold War heats up in Berlin and nuclear bombers are deployed from bases in arctic Canada. In Kapuivik, north Baffin Island, Noah Piugattuk’s nomadic Inuit band live and hunt by dog team as his ancestors did when he was born in 1900. When the white man known as Boss arrives at Piugattuk’s hunting camp, what appears as a chance meeting soon opens up the prospect of momentous change. Boss is an agent of the government, assigned to get Piugattuk to move his band to settlement housing and send his children to school so they can get jobs and make money. But Kapuivik is Piugattuk’s homeland. He takes no part in the Canadian experience; and cannot imagine what his children would do with money.

  • Installation Photos

    By Isuma, May 2019

    In the spirit of media democracy, Isuma's exhibition at the 58th Biennale di Venezia has a parallel exhibition accessible to anyone with an Internet connection through www.isuma.tv and The Isuma Book. These are the installation photos of Isuma's work at the Canada Pavilion. 

  • Exhibition Didactics

  • My Father's Land Map

The number one reason that I think Isuma is amazing is that their work carries those feelings with it; they are a group of people who genuinely care about others. The actions and beliefs of a single person do not make a culture. Together, as Inuit, we make our culture alive. Together, the continued care we put into things like language, clothing, song and story make us alive, not just as people but as Inuit.

ᐃᒡᓗᕕᒑᒃ Asinnajaq