Sedna on Elgin Street

Tomorrow we’re flying home, away fron our new grandson and his parents; we won’t see them again until January. Today we went to an exhibit at the Karsh-Masson Gallery, an installation by Jason Paradis, which was like being in in the middle of starlight, the long beams of ethereal light anchored to rocks in the centre of the gallery. Then we walked along the canal, past an Inuit woman with 4 drawings spread out for sale under a shop awning on Elgin Street, anchored to the pavement with small stones. I looked. I walked past. When we got to the car, I said maybe I needed to go back. Forrest came with me. How much do you think the drawings will cost, i asked him, new to the world of street art. He thought about 20 dollars. Two of the drawings — pencil crayon, I think, on fine Arches paper — were particularly beautiful. One was a single loon, elegant and stippled. And the other? It’s Sedna, I said. And the woman looked into my eyes and said, Yes, Sedna.

Many songs are sung to this powerful goddess and in new seasons, pieces of the liver of the first-killed sea mammal are returned to the waters, imploring Sedna to release her bounty to the hunters so that they might feed their families. The angakok may visit Sedna in a trance, where he hears of the taboos and disrespect inflicted on her by the people, and soothes her by combing her hair with a bone comb.Many songs are sung to this powerful goddess and in new seasons, pieces of the liver of the first-killed sea mammal are returned to the waters, imploring Sedna to release her bounty to the hunters so that they might feed their families. The angakok may visit Sedna in a trance, where he hears of the taboos and disrespect inflicted on her by the people, and soothes her by combing her hair with a bone comb. (from The Canadian Encyclopedia)

I paid the woman 60 dollars and thanked her. I am so grateful to have seen her work, signed N. Mark, Iqaluit, Nunavut, and her name in syllabics.