Kakulu Saggiaktok

Kakulu Saggiaktok

Inuit

Cape Dorset, Nunavut Territory, Canada

(1940- )

“I like to draw birds, Sedna, seals and beluga whales. They are the most fun and I really enjoy seeing them in the wild. It’s always a good feeling when you see your art work published and know that people appreciate it.”

Kakulu was born in 1940 on the Hudson’s Bay Company’s supply ship Nascopie, en route from Clyde River to Pangnirtung. At that time, her parents and older brother were members of a small group of Inuit who had traveled from south Baffin to trap and hunt furs in the northern regions of the island. Kakulu was just a small child when she moved back to the Cape Dorset area.

Kakulu began to draw in the early 1960s when the newly established co-operative introduced its graphic arts program. Many of her images explore the concept of transformation, with animals blending into other animals, humans becoming animals and vice versa. This is an important theme in traditional Inuit folklore and mythology, where the natural and supernatural worlds were mediated by the shaman.

Kakulu’s mother was Ikayukta [Tunnillie] (deceased), also one of the early contributors to the annual print collections from Cape Dorset. Kakulu was married to Saggiaktok (deceased), who was a printmaker in the stonecut studio for many years.