Inugagulligaq
$950.00
Available
Description
‘Inugagulligaq’ (Little Person) by Ningeokuluk Teevee is a 2026 Cape Dorset original coloured pencil and acrylic pen drawing on paper — a captivating visual storytelling piece depicting an Inuit legend of a small spirit person and a hunter’s perilous encounter.
Condition – No condition noted. Paper surface appears clean and stable.
Description by Artist – Inugagulligaq
A man came upon an Inugagulligaq (small person). The small person made conversation with the man telling him how he came to catch a walrus that his family will feed. The man saw what the little person caught and told him that it isn’t a walrus but a duck.
The little person got offended and jumped on to the man’s face and flipped open his parka exposing his stomach and locked hands and legs, to suffocate the man.
The man was losing, he couldn’t get the little person off his face. Then the man remembered his dogs and went towards the barking dogs. The dogs ate him up. The man lived another day.
As told by Mialia Jaw
Notes from DaVic Gallery – Ningeokuluk Teevee brings traditional Inuit oral tradition into vivid visual focus with ‘Inugagulligaq’ (translating to “Little Person” or “Small Person”). In Inuit folklore, Inugagulligait are legendary dwarf-like spirit beings who possess immense physical strength despite their miniature size.
In this artwork, Teevee depicts the central moment of the legend: a hunter standing beside a large eider duck—the very creature the Inugagulligaq mistakenly believed was a walrus. Set against a striking twilight palette of deep violet sky and silhouetted hills, the scene captures the quiet tension that precedes the legendary conflict.
Accompanied by a dedicated handwritten text sheet preserving the story as told by Mialia Jaw, this original work bridges visual art and oral folklore. It serves as both a compelling visual work and an important cultural document, ideal for serious collectors of contemporary Cape Dorset art.
The blank sheet of letter-size (8 ½ x 11 in) paper covering part of the image in the scale reference picture is provided for size comparison, offering an immediate sense of the drawing’s scale and presence.
Copyright – (c) DaVic Art Gallery, 2026. All rights reserved. Content may be quoted or reproduced for educational or promotional purposes only with clear attribution to DaVic Art Gallery of Native Canadian Arts and inclusion of the artwork title and artist’s name.