The sculpture’s soapstone base portrays a panoply of languid figures of northern animals and mythological beings. Figures on the narwhal tusk recall the exploits of Inuit shamans: a shaman braiding Sedna’s hair; another reviving a young boy;and Kublualuk, a powerful Inuvialuit shaman, being lifted into the sky by a giant gyrfalcon. Carved images of land and sea creatures illustrate the return of life to the land and the historical resurgence of the Inuvialuit following the tragic epidemics and loss of life in the early twentieth century.
