First Goose of the Spring

Work on Paper

-

DePaul Art Museum

Name/Title

First Goose of the Spring

Entry/Object ID

2021.13

Description

Print of a goose with wings spread and head facing the left.

Artwork Details

Medium

stonecut, stencil

Context

Haunak Mikkigak (1932–2020) was a respected elder and multi-disciplinary artist from Kinngait. Across Haunak’s long career, she produced small soapstone carvings and sculptures—often in the distinctive green stone found in Kinngait—, prints which were included in the 1980, 1981, and 1986 annual print collections, authored two children’s books that served to disseminate traditional knowledge to younger generations, as well as performed and recorded nationally and internationally as a traditional throat singer. The print shown here, taken from the 1981 Cape Dorset Graphics Annual collection, depicts the first goose of the spring which, for the Kinngait community, is an important annual event that indicates the arrival of migrating geese which are central to the community’s eco-system, economy, and culture.

Acquisition

Accession

2021.06-13

Source or Donor

Dick Hamilton, Jan Hamilton

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Dick and Jan Hamilton

Made/Created

Artist

Mikkigak, Haunak

Date made

1981

Ethnography

Cultural Region

Hamlet

Kinngait

Island

Dorset Island

Territory

Nunavut

Country

Canada

Continent

North America

Culture/Tribe

Inuit
First Nation, Native American

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Class

Art

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

Birds, Indigenous peoples

Dimensions

Height

25-3/16 in

Width

24-13/16 in

Dimension Notes

64 x 63 cm.