HARRY EGOTAK (1925-2001) ULUKHAKTOK (HOLMAN ISLAND)
Fighting a Bear (Two Men Fighting a Bear), May 1962 (Holman Experimental Collection, G1 No. 1)
sealskin stencil, 11.75 x 15.75 in (30 x 40 cm)
with the artist’s bumblebee chop*

Provenance
Collection of John and Joyce Price, Seattle.

Looking for an economic stimulus for his parishioners and after seeing the success of the printmaking program in Cape Dorset, Father Henri Tardy, OMI, worked to establish a similar venture at the Holman Eskimo Co-operative in 1961. Seal skins were in abundance in the community, and sealskin mats were already being purchased by the Co-op, so it probably seemed logical to begin experiments with skin stencils (as had been done in Cape Dorset). The skins proved quite stiff and so, using Father Tardi’s only razor, their fur was shaved off to make them more pliable. Toothbrushes and shortened shaving brushes were used to apply the inks. Copies of ten prints by Harry Egotak and Alec Aliknak Banksland were sent South for approval but sadly were rejected by the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council. The first Holman print collection was finally released in 1965.

This important print is inscribed G1 No. 1, which suggests that a) Fighting a Bear is the very first of the experimental prints, and b) that this particular proof is quite likely the very first print made at Holman in May of 1962.

In addition to being historically important and exemplifying the resourceful spirit that animated the early print experiments in Holman, Fighting a Bear is a composition of fine arrangement and quiet sophistication. We are impressed by the sensitive rhythm of the lines and the relationship between solid forms and open spaces.

*The bumblebee chop was Egotak’s personal chop. His name means “bumblebee” in the Holman dialect of Inuvialuktun.

References: The original stencil matrix and proof number 8 are illustrated in Darlene Coward Wight, Holman: Forty Years of Graphic Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2001), p. 21; and also in Susan Gustavison’s article “The Early History and Enduring Narrative of Kinngait and Ulukhaktok’s Sealskin Stencils” in Inuit Art Quarterly, Summer 2018, Vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 56-57. For additional information on the early years and Tardy’s involvement, see Janet Catherine Berlo, “Drawing and Printmaking at Holman,” Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 5, Fall 1995, pp. 22-30. See also Helga Goetz, The Inuit Print, international travelling exhibition, (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, 1977), pp. 172-175.