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1982.25.1 - Shaman

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Object Typeprint ArtistNoah, William Date Made1971

Item Details

Object Typeprint ArtistNoah, William Date Made1971
Accession Number 1982.25.1 Title Shaman Object Type print Artist Noah, William Date Made 1971 Place Made Canada: Nunavut, Baker Lake Culture/Nationality Inuit Materials ink on paper; stencil; stonecut Measurements overall: 94.5 cm x 64 cm Description
A skeletal image of a shaman who is holding a drawn bow. It is a Shamanism power to view yourself as a skeleton. The book "The Coming and Going of the Shaman, Eskimo Shamanism and Art" produced by the Winnipeg Art…
A skeletal image of a shaman who is holding a drawn bow. It is a Shamanism power to view yourself as a skeleton. The book "The Coming and Going of the Shaman, Eskimo Shamanism and Art" produced by the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1978, describes this quest as follows: "Though no shaman can explain to himself how and why, he can, by the power his brain derives from the supernatural, as it were by thought alone, divest his body of its flesh and blood, so that nothing remains but his bones. And he must then name all the parts of his body, mention every single bone by name; and in so doing, he must not use ordinary human speech, but only the special and sacred shaman's language which he has learned from his instructor. By thus seeing himself naked, altogether freed from the perishable and transient flesh and blood, he consecrates himself, in the sacred tongue of the shamans, to his great task, through that part of his body which will longest withstand the action of sun, wind and weather, after he is dead" (7).
Edition Number 10/13 Credit Line University Collections Capital Budget Location Print Study Centre

Citation

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"1982.25.1 - Shaman, University of Alberta Museums Art Collection." University of Alberta Museums Search Site, https://search.museums.ualberta.ca/11-1390. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.

Publications

Title Shamans and Spirits
Author Furneaux, Patrick; Rosshandler, Leo
Title Arts of the Eskimo: Prints
Publication Date 1974
Title Baker Lake 1972
Publication Date 1972