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| In my shop |
My name is Christopher Lawson Alec Tuckatuck-MacDonald. I am an Inuit artist
from Kuujjuaraapik, Nunavik-Quebec, Canada. All of my sculptures are hand sculpted from various materials. They depict animals,
legends, myths, stories, and my people's unique way of life. My inspiration comes from the land and wanting to
preserve our traditions.
My artwork is a means of cultural affirmation, it allows me to express
what we need to keep and remember, what we need to preserve and practice, what is important to our culture and what people
need to see.
I was born in Fort George, Quebec, as it was the closest hospital to Kuujjuaraapik,
on March 14, 1976. It is now called Chisasibi as Fort George no longer exists. It was flooded by the James Bay
dam projects. I started sculpting when I was seven years old.
I am named after my uncle, Alec, whom I call ‘sounick’ and
he the same for me. This is how we identify and call each other and it is our namesake. ‘Tuckatuck’, our last
name, has never been determined what it means but we believe that it came from a small bird called the “tukatakiaq,"
or Arctic Tern in English.
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| My mom and I |
I started watching my grandfather, Sarowilly Ammittuk, sculpt when
I was very young. I would sit with him as he sculpted and he would give me some tools to play with and I would imitate him.
He would ask me what I see in the stone and tell me to look for an animal in the stone. He would encourage me to envision
animals, as I would see them when I went on the land, ice, water, in their natural setting and movement in the stone. When
I was seven he started teaching me how to use the tools. He died shortly after beginning to show me how to sculpt so my uncle
started to teach me. I made my first sculpture when I was seven. It was of a seal lying down on its side. I still have it.
I continued to watch and observe my uncle sculpting and I would often work beside him making my own.
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| Some food for supper at camp! |
I remember there were times, before my grandfather died, that he would
be gone. I remember asking my mom where he was and she would explain that he was sculpting sikkuq (ice) for people far away
with my great aunt and uncle, Lucy and Noah Meeko. They were often invited to places like Quebec City, Japan, and places in
Europe to sculpt ice sculptures during festivals. At that time, I did not understand how important it was but I remember it
was a proud event for our family. My grandfather, Sarowilly, his brother Davidialuk Ammittu (one of the most well-known
from Nunavik) and my great aunt and uncle, Lucy and Noah, were all well established artists. My mother, Louisa Tuckatuck,
has always been a unique and creative artist and is well known through out the north along with my sounick and aipaq (uncle
& aunt) Alec and Maggie Tuckatuck.
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| Family picnic |
I continued sculpting as a child until our family moved to Chatham,
New Brunswick, in support of my grandmother after my grandfather passed away. I did not have the tools or materials like I
did with my uncle and family in Kuujjuaraapik so I stopped sculpting. I started getting involved in other activities
such as hockey and baseball in which I also excelled. At one point CBC North did a documentary on me because of my successes
in hockey. I also played Junior Hockey at a Tier 2 level in Saskatchewan for an all-native hockey team in Saskatchewan called
the Lebret Eagles. I graduated high school in Chatham and went on to graduate university with a Bachelor of Physical Education
from the University of New Brunswick. With the longing feeling to return back ‘home’, I was finally able to return
to the north after completing my degree. In 2000 I moved to Kuujjuaq, which is the largest community of Nunavik, having a
population of about 2200. It was there, in Kuujjuaq, that I was able to get back to my traditional culture, pass on what I
have learned traditionally to other Inuit youth, and begin sculpting again.
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