A print block made decades ago to create copies of Inuk artist Helen Kalvak’s work The Power of the Amulets, is back and on display in the N.W.T. community it originated from. 

The carved stone belongs to the Ulukhaktok Inuit Co-op and had been on loan to Mississauga, Ont.-based Canadian Arctic Producers.

Helen Kalvak School in Ulukhaktok has been building a display of its namesake’s work and school principal Nicolas Kopot asked the co-op last spring for the stone to be brought back to the community so it could be part of that exhibit.

Its journey ended last week, exactly a year later. Jonathan Mowery, the general manager of the Ulukhaktok Inuit Co-op, said the co-op signed a contract with the school on April 1 for the stone to be on display there. He brought it over later that day in a cardboard package. 

Inside the school’s library, the box was carefully opened and the layers of bubble wrap were peeled back. Kopot then lifted the stone with gloved hands from its styrofoam nest to be examined, while Grade 12 student Kaden Okheena snapped photos of its condition. 

Both Kopot and Mowery agreed the piece had made it to the library fully intact. Then, it was put in a clear display case and rolled over to its place in a display of Kalvak’s prints. 

“It’s heartwarming actually, to have it in your own school, and seeing it in person,” said Okheena. 

Okheena and five other students from the community travelled to Yellowknife, Edmonton and Ottawa in March 2024 to see historical artwork, objects and artifacts created by their ancestors. One of the purposes of the trip was for the students to observe and evaluate how their stories were being told in the South.  

Kalvak said it’s better for the stone to be back home, where Kalvak’s relatives are able to see it. 

Helen Kalvak was born on Victoria Island in 1901. After the death of her husband in 1960 she moved to Ulukhaktok. At age 60, she helped establish what is now called the Ulukhaktok Inuit Co-op and started to create art. 

Kalvak produced more than 3,000 drawings, many which were made into prints and sold around the world. She died in 1984. 

A print of The Power of the Amulets, which now hangs above the stone used to make it, was part of a Kalvak and Mark Emerak memorial catalogue released in 1987. 

Kopot said under the terms of the contract with the co-op, the block will be on display at the school for at least a year. It will automatically renew every year unless either side decides to end the arrangement.

The school’s library is closed for the rest of the school year, but he said the community will have an opportunity to see the stone at an upcoming district education authority meeting on April 14.

Annie Goose, one of Kalvak’s granddaughters, said the community had been waiting for the stone’s return for a long time.

“It’s finally home,” Goose said when she first saw it, patting the top of the display case with affection.

Goose said there aren’t a lot of stones like it in the community. There are at least a few left behind in safes at the old Ulukhaktok Arts Centre building, but many of them are broken. 

“I think our community will be very thankful to see an intact piece of stone,” said Goose. “It not only made history, it showcased the artist – from the stone cut workers, to the painters, to the people making it, copies.” 

Goose said stone used to make print blocks like this one comes from further north of the community, near Minto Inlet.

It’s smoothed out as flat as possible, and then a reverse image of the selected artwork is traced onto the stone. The stone surrounding the drawing is removed and the raised surface that’s left is what’s inked to create a print.

“I think it’ll bring back many memories for people, that’s what I’m happy for,” said Goose.