Figure Item Number: 3148/9 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Ookpik. Toy owl made from seal skin, a light brown-yellow on front and brown on back. Head is large, body flaring out slightly at shoulders. Eyes are large circles of leather, with a small leather beak below. Feet are also leather and have three toes. Suede base is round and stitched to body.
Ookpik (meaning 'snowy owl' in Inuktitut) refers to a popular Inuit handicraft that originated in the early 1960s. An ookpik is an owl figure made of sealskin with round eyes.
In 1966-67 the donors' mother was engaged to James Haining who, at that time, was the area administrator of Igloolik/Hall Beach. During that period she acquired a number of Inuit artifacts. Her collection is thought to have been obtained from some of the following eastern arctic communities: Hall Beach, Igloolik, Cape Dorset, Sheardown Lake, Mary River, Frobisher Bay, Cambridge Bay, Pelly Bay, Baker Lake, Milne Inlet and Pond Inlet.