Excavating Cultural Treasure: Indigenous Tattooing in the Northwest of North America Dion Kaszas Research Project INDG 203 April 11, 2011

Abstract This project is about recovering the cultural treasure of Nlaka’pamux tattooing. It is an exploration of my journey to beginning the process of practicing my rights as defined under the United Nation Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, to develop the future manifestations of my culture. It will explore the historical underpinnings of Nlaka’pamux tattooing, and draw relevant connections with the Yupik, and the Inuit. It also argues for the use of cultural tattooing as a form of resistance to colonial and neo-colonial pressures to conform and assimilate. It sees tattooing as one way in which Indigenous people can embody their ways of living and being in the world, a form of political and cultural activism.

My story Kaszas, Dion. Tattooing Mom. Nov. 2010.

Post-Modern Capitalist Consumer Society April 12,2011. <http://www.downshoredrift.com/downshoredrift/2009/01/consumerism-pastoring-and-the-slow-death-of-the-american-church.html > April 11, 2011. <http://libcom.org/library/noam-chomsky-postmodernism >

Maori Stevenson, Serena Giovanna , Turumakina Duley and niece Ashley Duley, 2004, black and white photograph. Face Value, April 12, 2011 < http://www.artmonthly.org.au/artnotes.asp?aID=31&issueNumber=220 >

Thompson Teit, James. Tattooing and Face and Body Painting of the Thompson Indians British Columbia. 1930. Forth-Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. Washington.

Arctic Circumpolar Ivory Mask, Dorset Culture about 1700 B.C. Devon Island, Nunavut. Canadian Museum of Civilization, QkHn-13:489, CD95-279-089 01 April 2011 <http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/fp/fpz2f_1e.shtml>

Yupik Skin Stitching Bogoras, Waldermar. Siberian Yupik woman “stitching the skin” at Indian Point. 1901. American Museum of Natural history. 11 April 2011. < http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Thread_Needle/index.html>

St Lawrence Island (Yupik) Krutak, Lars. Sadie Sepila of Savoonga. 2003 01 April 2011. < http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Last_Tattoos_SLI/index.html>

St. Lawrence Island Yupik woman was the last fully tattooed woman to live on St. Lawrence Island (nose, chin, cheeks, hands, wrists). Krutak, Lars. Anna Aghtuqaayak (Qayaghhaq). C1997. www.larskrutak.com 2005. 01 April 2011. <http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Last_Tattoos_SLI/index.html>

Alethea Arnaquq-Bari. Movie Poster. Aprill 11, 2011. <http://www http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygomUC_VMos

Nunavut Marsh, Donald. B. Tattoo. 1937. Library and Archives Canada. 01 April 2011. <http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayEcopies&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3628952&rec_nbr_list=3628952,3378585,3921707,3408580,3396835,3378460,3378459,3337182,184106,3198745&title=Tattoo.+&ecopy=e002282601&back_url=() >

Nunavut Bernie, J. E. This picture shows the tattooing of the different tribes. March 8. 1905. Hudson Bay Expedition aboard CGS "Arctic" 1904-05. Library and Archives Canada. 01 April 2011. < http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayEcopies&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3652534&rec_nbr_list=3652534,1997172,3376411,2906563,3211349,3198745,184106,3231479&title=%5BThis+picture+shows+the+tattooing+of+the+different+tribes.%5D.+&ecopy=c001499&back_url=()>

Copper Inuit Wilkins, George. Kila, a tattooed Inuit woman, from the Dolphin and Union Strait area, Coronation Gulf, N.W.T., [Nunavut], 1916. Canadian Museum of Civilization. 01 April 2011 < http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayEcopies&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3192348&rec_nbr_list=3613831,3192348,3960068,3376415,2930587,2901489,3711505,3623650,3614020,204934&title=Kila%2C+a+tattooed+Inuit+woman%2C+from+the+Dolphin+and+Union+Strait+area%2C+Coronation+Gulf%2C+N.W.T.%2C+%5BNunavut%5D%2C+1916.+&ecopy=a165665&back_url=() >

Copper Inuit Hubert, George. Higilaq showing her tattoos at Bernard Harbour, Northwest Territories (Nunavut). July 1916. Canadian Museum of Civilization. 01 April 2011 < http://catalogue.civilization.ca/musvw/Picture.csp?Profile=CMCLIBARCH&OpacLanguage=eng&Picture=http://collections.civilisations.ca/multimedia/1086/846/5798-1631-2902-011.base.jpg&PictWidth=400&LinkToOrder=0&EncodedRequest=*D0*5C*1DV*D5*CD*F6*E4*C0*7C*13*C5hU*A8*C3 >

Inuit Iglulik Peter, Albert. Nivisinaaq, Aivilik woman wearing a gala dress, Cape Fullerton, Nunavut. 1903-1904. Canadian Museum of Civilization. 01 April 2011. < http://catalogue.civilization.ca/musvw/FullBB.csp?WebAction=ShowFullBB&EncodedRequest=*12*B2E*3F*A2y*1D*12*3E*1F*29J*7C*02*CCw&Profile=CMCLIBARCH&OpacLanguage=eng&NumberToRetrieve=10&StartValue=8&WebPageNr=1&SearchTerm1=LOW%20A%20P%20ALBERT%20PETER1861%201942%20.1.320251&SearchT1=&Index1=1*Keywordsbib&SearchMethod=Find_1&ItemNr=8 >

Skin Stitch Today Artemyz, Claire. Mr. Dale demonstrating the art of skin-stitching on his arm. 2010. 11 April 2011. < http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Colin_Dale/index.html> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnbWFleQ2-o

Works Cited Alethea Arnaquq-Bari. Movie Poster. Aprill 11, 2011. <http://www.unikkaat.com/> Artemyz, Claire. Mr. Dale demonstrating the art of skin-stitching on his arm. 2010. 11 April 2011. < http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Colin_Dale/index.html> Bernie, J. E. This picture shows the tattooing of the different tribes. March 8. 1905. Hudson Bay Expedition aboard CGS "Arctic" 1904-05. Library and Archives Canada. 01 April 2011. < http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayEcopies&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3652534&rec_nbr_list=3652534,1997172,3376411,2906563,3211349,3198745,184106,3231479&title=%5BThis+picture+shows+the+tattooing+of+the+different+tribes.%5D.+&ecopy=c001499&back_url=()> Bogoras, Waldermar. Siberian Yupik woman “stitching the skin” at Indian Point. 1901. American Museum of Natural history. 11 April 2011. < http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Thread_Needle/index.html> Colin Dale Skin Stitching. April 11, 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnbWFleQ2-o > Fisher, Jill, “Tattooing the Body, Marking Culture.” (2002) Body and Society, (8) 4, pp. 99-107. Hubert, George. Higilaq showing her tattoos at Bernard Harbour, Northwest Territories (Nunavut). July 1916. Canadian Museum of Civilization. 01 April 2011 < http://catalogue.civilization.ca/musvw/Picture.csp?Profile=CMCLIBARCH&OpacLanguage=eng&Picture=http://collections.civilisations.ca/multimedia/1086/846/5798-1631-2902-011.base.jpg&PictWidth=400&LinkToOrder=0&EncodedRequest=*D0*5C*1DV*D5*CD*F6*E4*C0*7C*13*C5hU*A8*C3 > Ivory Mask, Dorset Culture about 1700 B.C. Devon Island, Nunavut. Canadian Museum of Civilization, QkHn-13:489, CD95-279-089 01 April 2011 <http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/fp/fpz2f_1e.shtml> Krutak, Lars. Anna Aghtuqaayak (Qayaghhaq). C1997. www.larskrutak.com 2005. 01 April 2011. <http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Last_Tattoos_SLI/index.html> ---. Colin Dale and the “Forbidden Tattoo.” 2010. April 11, 2011. <http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Colin_Dale/index.html> ---. Many Stitches for Life: The Antiquity of Thread and needle Tattooing. 2008. April 11, 2011. <http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Thread_Needle/index.html> ---. Sadie Sepila of Savoonga. 2003 01 April 2011. < http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Last_Tattoos_SLI/index.html> ---. “The Tattooing Arts of Tribal Women.” London: Bennett & Bloom/Desert Hearts, 2007. ---. Tattoos of the Hunter-Gatherers of the Arctic. 2000. April 11, 2011 <http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Arctic/index.html> ---. The Last Tattoos of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. 2005. April 11, 2011. < http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Last_Tattoos_SLI/index.html> Marsh, Donald. B. Tattoo. 1937. 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Kila, a tattooed Inuit woman, from the Dolphin and Union Strait area, Coronation Gulf, N.W.T., [Nunavut], 1916. Canadian Museum of Civilization. 01 April 2011 < http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayEcopies&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3192348&rec_nbr_list=3613831,3192348,3960068,3376415,2930587,2901489,3711505,3623650,3614020,204934&title=Kila%2C+a+tattooed+Inuit+woman%2C+from+the+Dolphin+and+Union+Strait+area%2C+Coronation+Gulf%2C+N.W.T.%2C+%5BNunavut%5D%2C+1916.+&ecopy=a165665&back_url=() >