As debate rages over the role of artwork in enriching the lives of Inuit, spurred by a New York Times article, Iglulik carver Bart Hanna says creating art means more than a pay cheque.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 not only the money. I enjoy doing it,SA国际影视传媒� said Hanna. SA国际影视传媒淲hen ISA国际影视传媒檓 doing artworkSA国际影视传媒� I forget everything and I feel much better.SA国际影视传媒�

He could have pursued work as a janitor but he preferred to chisel away at his carvings in his workshop and then be free to go hunting as he chose, he said.

HannaSA国际影视传媒檚 large limestone carving of Sedna, a legendary Inuit sea goddess, was commissioned by the House of Commons and it took him 12 months to complete. It was unveiled in Ottawa in April and will be viewed by hundreds of thousands of Canadian and international visitors to ParliamentSA国际影视传媒檚 Centre Block.

He acknowledged that being an artist isnSA国际影视传媒檛 a lucrative living and there have been plenty of lean years. He said heSA国际影视传媒檚 SA国际影视传媒渂lessedSA国际影视传媒� that his spouse has a government job.

SA国际影视传媒淚f she didnSA国际影视传媒檛 it would be very hard,SA国际影视传媒� he admitted.

It would have been more profitable to eliminate the SA国际影视传媒渕iddle manSA国际影视传媒� SA国际影视传媒� dealers, galleries and auction houses SA国际影视传媒� and sell his art pieces directly to customers over the years, Hanna acknowledged. At age 71, heSA国际影视传媒檚 said heSA国际影视传媒檚 not about to explore marketing options through the internet, he laughed.

An article titled SA国际影视传媒淒rawn from poverty: Art was supposed to save CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 Inuit. It hasnSA国际影视传媒檛SA国际影视传媒� by New York TimesSA国际影视传媒� Canada bureau chief Catherine Porter, published on Oct. 19, has tipped off a great deal of deliberation and discussion. Porter profiled Cape Dorset artist Ooloosie SailaSA国际影视传媒檚 talents and achievements, describing her as a SA国际影视传媒渞ising starSA国际影视传媒� in the Canadian art world. The journalist also painted a bleak picture of SailaSA国际影视传媒檚 personal life and hometown, characterizing Cape Dorset as SA国际影视传媒減lagued by poverty, alcoholism and domestic abuse.SA国际影视传媒�

Art, according to Porter, was supposed to help lift Inuit out of financial hardship. Yet SA国际影视传媒渢he vast majority eke out a living, often below the poverty line,SA国际影视传媒� she wrote. She cited a government estimate that most Nunavut artists earn little more than $2,000 annually.

The newspaper article drew the ire of Inuit art dealer and acclaimed filmmaker John Houston, who spent part of his childhood growing up in Cape Dorset, where his parents marketed Inuit art. While Inuit only represent 0.1 per cent of CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 population, they account for close to 10 per cent of Canadian art exported around the world, Houston noted. He argued that local artwork has helped boost the stature of Inuit, with carvings and prints being displayed internationally and SA国际影视传媒渋nspiring humanity.SA国际影视传媒�

Houston condemned Porter for SA国际影视传媒減erpetuating harmful and racist stereotypes about addiction and poverty.SA国际影视传媒�

Inuit are still fighting to overcome generations of oppression and marginalization, he stated.

SA国际影视传媒淭he instances of dysfunction that Ms. Porter catalogues are there, but they are symptoms of something systemic, something pervasive SA国际影视传媒� the multi-generational trauma of colonialism. Today, this is generally-accepted fact, and yet colonialism is not even mentioned in her piece,SA国际影视传媒� Houston wrote in a social media post.

From pocket knives to modern tools

Hanna got involved in artwork in the 1960s after watching his father carving small qayaqs for workers on the DEW Line.

As a teenager, he also got to see people from other Northern communities make carvings and drawings in a Toronto hospital, where they were being treated for tuberculosis.

SA国际影视传媒淲e could make seals and walrus and hunting scenes. Some guy started to help sell soapstoneSA国际影视传媒� you could even carve with a pocket knife, it was so soft,SA国际影视传媒� he recalled. SA国际影视传媒淥ne guy was coming in and buying all the carvings.SA国际影视传媒�

Hanna emphasized that funding programs available to contemporary artists through the Department of Economic Development are helpful to acquire carving tools, which he said have become powerful but also very expensive.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey cut like butter,SA国际影视传媒� he said of modern electric tools.

Hanna has an art show planned in British Columbia next year. He heads out to his carving workshop eagerly most days, but periodically itSA国际影视传媒檚 a chore, he admitted.

SA国际影视传媒淪ometimes itSA国际影视传媒檚 kind of tiring but I think everything else is like that in the world,SA国际影视传媒� he said.