Inuit bird prints and drawings, sculptures and the box from Igloolik

We have been finding out about the culture of some of the people who live in the Arctic.

Drawing birds in the style of Inuit artists

by Hermione and Leah

Making a model Inukshuk

Making a model InukShuk was fun but challenging because you had to get the layers of plasticine to stick together to make it look like layers of stones. You had to make the slabs flat otherwise the model collapsed and you had to start again. We had to try and make the pieces proportionate like the arms couldn’t be too big or the head to small. Eventually we managed to fix the model so it could stand up on its own.

By Archie & Kavan   

Making clay model sculptures by Maeson and Charlie

Inuit Picture Printing

First we got a very sharp pencil and started tracing around the pictures quite hard onto the circular polystyrene surface. Then we got some ink and put it on an ice cream lids, then we rolled the roller on it. Then we rolled it over the polystyrene but you can’t do it to hard or the picture would disappear. When we had done we put a big piece of paper over it and we used the palm of our hand to make the paper stick to it. We continued this for about 4 minutes. Then someone had to hold the polystyrene and the other had to peel the paper off. Then we had beautiful pictures.

By Jenna & Noah

 We also had a look at things that the children in Igloolik, Nunavut sent to Glaitness School. We discussed why they chose these things and had a look at their drawings and books in Inuktitut. You can read in the comments below what we would choose to send in a box to Igloolik, if we had the chance, and why we would send them. It was interesting to think about what we would like to see or look at or do if we could visit, and what we would show them if they were able to visit us in Orkney.

Into Film - The Eagle Huntress

The Eagle Huntress

In the Altai Mountains Aishlopan’s father is teaching her to eagle hunt because she is determined to become a hunter. In the past women have not been known to eagle hunt but she wants to change that. Her next step was to enter the annual eagle festival to prove herself and she won and all the men were very surprised. Her final step was to take her eagle hunting in winter and she caught a fox.

Ellen and Kirsty            

The Eagle Huntress

We went to watch a film called The Eagle Huntress.  It was about a girl who wanted to be an eagle hunter. But the elder men thought that it was not a very good idea. But she was very determined to become a skilled eagle hunter.  So she and her father rode a very long way on horses to go to the famous eagle hunter tournament and she won. Her eagle was a eaglet. She had to train very hard to win the tournament. They went to some snowy mountains and got her eaglet to kill a fox.   

Hermione and Noah

Human Planet - The Arctic

Kayak hunting

There was three brothers going hunting for narwhals, they had to stay for 3-4 weeks they found some narwhals but the narwhals dived before they could harpoon them. Then they found another pack of narwhals, they went for the slowest narwhal, they threw 5 harpoons and they killed it. They took it ashore then they cut it open ate some and took the rest of it home. The ice was cracking so they had to move fast but they made it home safely.    

By Alfie and Jenna

Reindeer Migration

 It was  tense when the reindeer were swimming and the baby reindeer turned back, but the reindeer keeper got it to go the right way again but if she didn’t get it sorted the whole pack of reindeer would of turned back. When the pack off reindeer got to the other side the reindeer keeper was very relieved that they made it over to the mainland. Archie, Abi

The John Rae Sea Chest and a visit to Stromness Museum and Library

Dressing up was fun because you could feel what it was like to have to wear the clothes and to be the people who wore them. Archie was wearing what John Rae would have worn on his expeditions. Ellen is wearing what the Inuit people would have traded for beaver skin. The hat was very itchy and furry all the clothes were very hot and heavy.

Ellen & Archie

I really enjoyed the trip to the Stromness museum it was big and it was amazing how much information about John Rae we found out in maybe an hour or 2. In my group we had Anna, Abi, Abi’s mum, Kavan and me we had a worksheet to complete it was very easy to finish because there was so much information. We also got to see a replica of his snow shoes there was so much cool stuff. We got to go upstairs and try to draw one of the stuffed animals mine looked very weird but it didn’t help right next me was Kavan and he drew a beaver and it was so good.

Dan

Trip to the Stromness Library

Our trip to the Stromness library was interesting to go because it linked in to our topic like there was a place called the John Rae room. In the John Rae room we had our lunch after we went outside and saw the John Rae statue so we all stood around on it and took a picture.

Noah and Leah

Model Kayak

This morning we got the chance to see a very old, very delicate model of a kayak and do annotated drawings on it. It has a little figure that paddles and a big harpoon to fish with. The model looked very nice and the attention to detail is amazing. It was probably made of seal skin and little bits of wood and it looked quite realistic. It must have been hard to make because it was all handmade, all sown together and very fragile and easy to break. We think it might have been used to model kayaks. It was probably valuable to the people how made it as well as the people who own it. Just take a look at it.

Kavan