Inuit Songs Composed and Sung by Etulu Etidloiee - Cape Dorset, N.W.T.

Etulu Etidloie was born in Cape Dorset (Kinngait) in the Northwest Territories in 1946. Etulu is the son of the late Cape Dorset graphic artists Etidloie Etidloie (1911-1981) and Kingmeata (1915-1989).

Etulu Etidloie started carving in his early twenties. He learned the art form by watching his father carve. His brother Kelly Etidloie is an established carver in Cape Dorset as well. His son Isacci Etildoie was an innovative carver with many acclaimed sculptures. Etulu has carved dancing bears, along with many different types of birds and wolves, although he is best known for his sculptures of loons. When starting each carving, the shape of the stone dictates what Etulu will carve. He rotates the piece of stone until the form suggests a subject. Etulu works with serpentine stone and finishes it with a high polish.

Although Etulu is aware that certain subjects are perennial Inuit art market, his work is driven by more personal concerns. Etulu is now travelling across the arctic as a singer of traditional Inuit folk music. Etulu’s artistic exploration of drum dancing and singing springs naturally from familial pride and the influence of countless stories he heard by Etidloie’s side.

Etulu’s exhibition record dates from 1976. He has exhibited in Canada, Germany and the United States. The Art Gallery of Ontario, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery all have Etulu’s work as part of their permanent collections.

-Excerpt from Spirit Gallery

Goo Pootoogoo: bass
Produced by Jonah Kelly, CBC Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories
-date stamped Nov 1979