Shaman _ ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ

_Shamans (anatquq or angakkuq in the Inuit languages of northern parts of Alaska and Canada) played an important role in the religion of Inuit peoples acting as religious leaders, tradesmen, healers, and characters in cultural stories holding mysterious, powerful, and sometimes superhuman abilities

_ Inuit sculptures had been produced prior to contact with the Western world. They were small-scale and made of ivory. In 1951,

James Houston encouraged Inuit in Kinngait to produce stone carvings.^[27] Today, Inuit continue to carve pieces entirely by hand.

Power tools are occasionally used, but most artists prefer to use an axe and file, as this gives them more control over the stone.

The final stage of carving is the polishing, which is done with several grades of waterproof sandpaper, and hours and hours of rubbing. The most common material is now soapstone, serpentine, either deposits from the Arctic, which range from black to light green in colour, or orange-red imports from Brazil. Other material used in Inuit sculptures include, caribou antlers, ivory from marine mammals, and the bone of various animals.