This Fox Shaman is possibly the wife of Kiviuq, the man who wanted a wife unlike any other, so he chose a fox. One night after Kiviuq returned home from hunting he saw that his fox had transformed into a beautiful woman. He feared that his fox/wife would be unfaithful, so the two of them moved to a different community. The fox did not like the new community and ran away into the hills. Kiviuk found her in the company of a worm who had transformed to a man. They decided to wrestle for the fox, and although Kiviuk won, he decided he no longer wanted to be married to the fox and he left without her.

In 2006, a major collection of 246 sculptures was donated to the Gallery by Vancouver collector Dr. Harry Winrob. Originally from Winnipeg, Winrob had made occasional purchases of Inuit carvings beginning in 1968. He became interested in seriously collecting Inuit sculpture in 1971, and soon focused on acquiring works made of organic materials from game animals (whalebone, walrus ivory, and caribou antler). Fifty-four sculptures in Winrob’s collection are created from organic materials, and thirty-six of these are of whale bone. Winrob once gave his background as a physician as the reason for his interest in these materials. However, much of his interest was also aesthetic. He was particularly interested in the flamboyant sculpture by Nattilingmiut (Netsilik) artists from Taloyoak, Gjoa Haven, and Kugaaruk. Sculpture with shamanic content fascinated him, particularly animal/human transformations. He explained that it was not the “classic” but the atypical, even the bizarre that held a strong attraction for him. In March 2008, Harry Winrob’s collection was the subject of a major WAG exhibition and catalogue.