Tupilak. Polar Bear totem. East Greenland Inuit Art.

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In the Inuit legends the polar bear is the mystical animal that crosses the boundaries between the land and the salt water, - being a land mammal but yet spending most of its time in the drift ice. Inuits did/and do not generally use the framework of natural science to categorize animals/nature. They have another pragmatic way about life. Bear figures are often made as a toy for children as well as being a totem for a hunter or an amulet to protect one from tupilaks and vicious spirits. The maker of this carving is Anda Kilime from Kulusuk village . Carved from selected almost white reindeer antler. Measurements: 2.8 inches (7 cm) long. 1.2 inches (3 cm) high. Shipping is fixed $ 8 worldwide for up to 4 items in a combined packing What is a Tupilak? Its origin lies in the remote past of Greenland´s culture, when the Tupilak was an imaginary animal, made up of a bundle of bones, peat and skin. A certain magical power was attributed to the Tupilak. When the first white man, the Greenland explorer Captain Gustav Holm reached Ammassalik in 1884, one of the things he asked was what a Tupilak looks like. The people of Ammassalik found it difficult to make a sketch of it, and tfore they carved it in wood. This was the start of the Tupilak production in wood, bone, tooth and antler, gradually spreading all over Greenland. Tupilak read more

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