An Inuit legend about the Bear Country begins when a boy’s father does not return home with the rest of the group after a seal hunt. The boy then left his community, travelling through the bear country in search of his father. Eventually he came to the edge of the ice floe and saw a man in a kayak. This man suggested that the boy come home with him, where the boy stayed for three years. When the boy realized how worried his mother must be, he decided it was time to return home. The men of the village warned him that when he gets close to home, he needs to remove his bear skin jacket or else people will think he is a bear and kill him. Sure enough, when the boy got close to his village, the hunters thought he was a bear. He removed his bear skin jacket and while they did not recognize him immediately, the boy was reunited with his mother.

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.