Qinuajua, Eli Sallualu

Eli Sallualu Qinuajua (1937-2004) was born at Iisisjuvik and has lived in the Puvirnituq area all his life, except for two periods spent in a southern sanatorium for tuberculosis in the 1960s. When he returned home, he found that he no longer had the physical endurance to hunt, and he turned to carving to support his family. As a youth, he had spent much time with his father, Qinuajua, who was considered one of the greatest story-tellers of the region. From him, Qinuajua learned the ancient legends, and himself became an accomplished actor, mimic, and story-teller. However, his carvings go beyond the traditional stories. He has explained: “What I do best is carvings of things that come from inside my head and which are difficult to understand.”

In 1967, he won the top prize of $50 in a carving competition held in Puvirnituq. The competition was in response to carvers’ complaints that they were tired of just carving animals and people all the time. In this competition, they were encouraged to carve anything they wanted. He and several other carvers in Puvirnituq continued to create representations of dreams, fears, and spirits and many of those in the WAG collection were featured in an exhibition, Inuit Fantastic Art in 2014.