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Qulliq

May 02, 2024

For the energy corporation, see Qulliq Energy.

This article contains Canadian Aboriginal syllabic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of syllabics.

The qulliq[1] (seal-oil, blubber or soapstone lamp,[2] Inuktitut: ᖁᓪᓕᖅ, alternatively kudlik[3] IPA: [qulːiq]; Inupiaq: naniq), is the traditional oil lamp used by Arctic peoples, including the Inuit, the Chukchi[4] and the Yupik peoples.[5]

Seal oil lamps
Sukh-eh-nukh, goddess of the sun.

This characteristic type of oil lamp provided warmth and light in the harsh Arctic environment where there was no wood and where the sparse inhabitants relied almost entirely on seal oil or on whale blubber. This lamp was the single most important article of furniture for the Inuit in their dwellings.[6]

History edit

 
A qulliq being lit, Nunavut, 1999

It is uncertain in which period the seal-oil lamps began to be used. They are part of a series of technological innovations among the Arctic peoples whose introduction and spread has been partly documented. Oil lamps have been found in sites of Paleo-Eskimo communities dating back to the time of the Norton tradition, 3,000 years ago.[7] They were a common implement of the Dorset culture and of the Thule people, the lamps manufactured then showing little changes compared with more recent ones.[8]

In the Inuit religion, one of the stories of the Sun and the Moon, the sun deity Sukh-eh-nukh—known as Malina in Greenland—carries an oil lamp which gets overturned spilling oil and soot on her hands and she blackens the face of her brother, the moon deity Ahn-ing-ah-neh (Anningan in Greenland and Igaluk elsewhere).[9] Among the Netsilik if the people breached certain taboos, Nuliajuk, the Sea Woman, held the marine mammal in the basin of her lamp. When this happened the angakkuq had to visit her to beg for game.[10] This story also inspired a New Year tradition in which three lamps were extinguished and relit during the first sunrise.

Historically, the lamp was a multi-purpose tool. The Arctic peoples used the lamp for illuminating and heating their tents, semi-subterranean houses and igloos, as well as for melting snow, cooking, and drying their clothes.

In present times such lamps are mainly used for ceremonial purposes. Owing to its cultural significance, a qulliq is featured on the coat of arms of Nunavut.

A qulliq was lit to commence the investiture ceremony of Mary Simon, the first Inuk, and indigenous person, to be appointed to the position of Governor General of Canada, in the Senate Chamber, 26 July 2021.[11]

Description and use edit

The Inuit oil lamps were made mainly of soapstone, but there are also some made of a special kind of pottery.[12] Sizes and shapes of lamps could be different, but most were either elliptical or half-moon shaped.[13] The taqquti or wick trimmers, also known as lamp feeders, were made of wood, willow, soapstone, bone or ivory.[14]

The wick was mostly made of Arctic cottongrass (suputi), common cottongrass[15] and/or dried moss (ijju/maniq Inupiaq: peqaq)[12][16] It was lit along the edge of the lamp, providing a pleasant light.[17] A slab of seal blubber could be left to melt over the lamp feeding it with more fat.[18] These lamps had to be tended continually by trimming the wick in such a way that the lamp would not produce smoke.[19]

Although such lamps were usually filled with seal blubber and the English term 'seal-oil lamp' is common in writings about Arctic peoples, they could also be filled with whale blubber in communities where there was whaling.[20] However, the term 'whale-oil lamp' refers to a different kind of lighting device.[21] Generally caribou fat was a poor choice, as was the fat of other land animals, seal oil being a more efficient fuel for the lamp. Women used to scrape the skin of a freshly skinned seal with an ulu in order not to waste any fat.[18][22] Once the seal skin was stretched and dried it would be scraped using a halukhit[23] to remove the dried fat.

Realizing that these lamps were such an important fixture of the Inuit household that "when the family moved the lamp went along with it", Arctic explorer William Edward Parry (1790–1855) commented:

The fire belonging to each family consists of a single lamp or shallow vessel of lapis ollaris, its form being the lesser segment of a circle. The wick, composed of dry moss rubbed between the hands until it is quite inflammable, is disposed along the edge of the lamp...[24]

Gallery edit

Qulliq and tools
  •  
    Ivory lamp feeder
  •  
    A halukhit or sharp scraper used to remove dried fat from a seal skin
  •  
    Seal drying before being scraped with a halukhit
  •  
    Home made tinder box with cotton. This would be used for the wick

References edit

  1. ^ "Inuinnaqtun to English" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  2. ^ . Archived from the original on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  3. ^ "'The hardest part of being from a Northern Indigenous community is all the deaths'". 10 February 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  4. ^ . Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  5. ^ . 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011.
  6. ^ Joyce, T. A. & Dalton, O. M. (1910) Handbook to the ethnographical collections. British Museum. Dept. of British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography Joyce,
  7. ^ Dumond, Don E. (1975). "Coastal Adaptation and Cultural Change in Alaskan Eskimo Prehistory". In Fitzhugh, William (ed.). Prehistoric Maritime Adaptations of the Circumpolar Zone. The Hague: Mouton. p. 168. ISBN 0-202-33075-3.
  8. ^ . Archived from the original on 10 September 2004.
  9. ^ "eCUIP : The Digital Library : Science : Cultural Astronomy". ecuip.lib.uchicago.edu. from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  10. ^ Rasmussen 1965:278
  11. ^ "Mary Simon officially becomes Canada's first Inuk Governor General". from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  12. ^ a b . Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  13. ^ . 2011. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013.
  14. ^ Bennett, John; Rowley, Susan (19 May 2004). Uqalurait: An Oral History of Nunavut. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 302. ISBN 9780773570061. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  15. ^ . mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  16. ^ "Fact Sheet: Information about the Qulliq" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  17. ^ . Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  18. ^ a b . Archived from the original on 28 July 2012.
  19. ^ Peary, Josephine; Ahnighito, Marie (1903). Children of the Arctic. New York: F. A. Stokes Company. OCLC 6534622.
  20. ^ . Macdonald Stewart Art Centre. Archived from the original on 30 September 2003. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  21. ^ "Antique Whale Oil Lamps - Demonstration". from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via www.youtube.com.
  22. ^ Kunuk, Zacharias (10 May 2019). Silakut Live From the Floe Edge Episode 3, Life at the Floe Edge. 8 minutes in. from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Settlement Region". 2021. from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  24. ^ Kashevaroff, Andrew P. (1922) Descriptive booklet on the Alaska Historical Museum, Alaska Historical Library and Museum, b. 1863 Alaska Historical Association

Further reading edit

  • Rasmussen, Knud (1926). Thulefahrt (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Frankurter Societăts-Druckerei.
  • Rasmussen, Knud (1965). Thulei utazás. Világjárók (in Hungarian). transl. Detre Zsuzsa. Budapest: Gondolat. Hungarian translation of Rasmussen 1926.
  • Rasmussen, Knud (1927) Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category:Seal-oil lamps.

May 02, 2024
qulliq, energy, corporation, energy, this, article, contains, canadian, aboriginal, syllabic, characters, without, proper, rendering, support, question, marks, boxes, other, symbols, instead, syllabics, qulliq, seal, blubber, soapstone, lamp, inuktitut, ᖁᓪᓕᖅ, . For the energy corporation see Qulliq Energy This article contains Canadian Aboriginal syllabic characters Without proper rendering support you may see question marks boxes or other symbols instead of syllabics The qulliq 1 seal oil blubber or soapstone lamp 2 Inuktitut ᖁᓪᓕᖅ alternatively kudlik 3 IPA qulːiq Inupiaq naniq is the traditional oil lamp used by Arctic peoples including the Inuit the Chukchi 4 and the Yupik peoples 5 Seal oil lamps Sukh eh nukh goddess of the sun This characteristic type of oil lamp provided warmth and light in the harsh Arctic environment where there was no wood and where the sparse inhabitants relied almost entirely on seal oil or on whale blubber This lamp was the single most important article of furniture for the Inuit in their dwellings 6 Contents 1 History 2 Description and use 3 Gallery 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksHistory edit nbsp A qulliq being lit Nunavut 1999 It is uncertain in which period the seal oil lamps began to be used They are part of a series of technological innovations among the Arctic peoples whose introduction and spread has been partly documented Oil lamps have been found in sites of Paleo Eskimo communities dating back to the time of the Norton tradition 3 000 years ago 7 They were a common implement of the Dorset culture and of the Thule people the lamps manufactured then showing little changes compared with more recent ones 8 In the Inuit religion one of the stories of the Sun and the Moon the sun deity Sukh eh nukh known as Malina in Greenland carries an oil lamp which gets overturned spilling oil and soot on her hands and she blackens the face of her brother the moon deity Ahn ing ah neh Anningan in Greenland and Igaluk elsewhere 9 Among the Netsilik if the people breached certain taboos Nuliajuk the Sea Woman held the marine mammal in the basin of her lamp When this happened the angakkuq had to visit her to beg for game 10 This story also inspired a New Year tradition in which three lamps were extinguished and relit during the first sunrise Historically the lamp was a multi purpose tool The Arctic peoples used the lamp for illuminating and heating their tents semi subterranean houses and igloos as well as for melting snow cooking and drying their clothes In present times such lamps are mainly used for ceremonial purposes Owing to its cultural significance a qulliq is featured on the coat of arms of Nunavut A qulliq was lit to commence the investiture ceremony of Mary Simon the first Inuk and indigenous person to be appointed to the position of Governor General of Canada in the Senate Chamber 26 July 2021 11 Description and use editThe Inuit oil lamps were made mainly of soapstone but there are also some made of a special kind of pottery 12 Sizes and shapes of lamps could be different but most were either elliptical or half moon shaped 13 The taqquti or wick trimmers also known as lamp feeders were made of wood willow soapstone bone or ivory 14 The wick was mostly made of Arctic cottongrass suputi common cottongrass 15 and or dried moss ijju maniq Inupiaq peqaq 12 16 It was lit along the edge of the lamp providing a pleasant light 17 A slab of seal blubber could be left to melt over the lamp feeding it with more fat 18 These lamps had to be tended continually by trimming the wick in such a way that the lamp would not produce smoke 19 Although such lamps were usually filled with seal blubber and the English term seal oil lamp is common in writings about Arctic peoples they could also be filled with whale blubber in communities where there was whaling 20 However the term whale oil lamp refers to a different kind of lighting device 21 Generally caribou fat was a poor choice as was the fat of other land animals seal oil being a more efficient fuel for the lamp Women used to scrape the skin of a freshly skinned seal with an ulu in order not to waste any fat 18 22 Once the seal skin was stretched and dried it would be scraped using a halukhit 23 to remove the dried fat Realizing that these lamps were such an important fixture of the Inuit household that when the family moved the lamp went along with it Arctic explorer William Edward Parry 1790 1855 commented The fire belonging to each family consists of a single lamp or shallow vessel of lapis ollaris its form being the lesser segment of a circle The wick composed of dry moss rubbed between the hands until it is quite inflammable is disposed along the edge of the lamp 24 Gallery editQulliq and tools nbsp Ivory lamp feeder nbsp A halukhit or sharp scraper used to remove dried fat from a seal skin nbsp Seal drying before being scraped with a halukhit nbsp Home made tinder box with cotton This would be used for the wickReferences edit Inuinnaqtun to English PDF Archived PDF from the original on 4 September 2012 Retrieved 12 July 2016 PRISM Blubber Lamps Archived from the original on 24 October 2015 Retrieved 12 July 2016 The hardest part of being from a Northern Indigenous community is all the deaths 10 February 2019 Retrieved 8 January 2024 Edward J Vajda The Chukchi Archived from the original on 21 June 2018 Retrieved 12 July 2016 National Museum of the American Indian Yup ik Yupik Eskimo Lamps 2011 Archived from the original on 30 April 2011 Joyce T A amp Dalton O M 1910 Handbook to the ethnographical collections British Museum Dept of British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography Joyce Dumond Don E 1975 Coastal Adaptation and Cultural Change in Alaskan Eskimo Prehistory In Fitzhugh William ed Prehistoric Maritime Adaptations of the Circumpolar Zone The Hague Mouton p 168 ISBN 0 202 33075 3 Far North Traditions Archived from the original on 10 September 2004 eCUIP The Digital Library Science Cultural Astronomy ecuip lib uchicago edu Archived from the original on 22 September 2022 Retrieved 14 October 2023 Rasmussen 1965 278 Mary Simon officially becomes Canada s first Inuk Governor General Archived from the original on 31 May 2022 Retrieved 26 July 2021 a b Alaska Native Collections Oil lamp Archived from the original on 18 March 2022 Retrieved 12 July 2016 The Inupiaq and the St Lawrence Island Yupik Cultures of Alaska 2011 Archived from the original on 5 February 2013 Bennett John Rowley Susan 19 May 2004 Uqalurait An Oral History of Nunavut McGill Queen s Press p 302 ISBN 9780773570061 Retrieved 11 March 2020 Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago mun ca biology delta arcticf Archived from the original on 5 June 2011 Retrieved 31 March 2009 Fact Sheet Information about the Qulliq PDF Archived PDF from the original on 25 September 2020 Retrieved 11 March 2020 A woman demonstrates the use of a stone oil lamp resting on a metal stand Gambell 1960 Anchorage Museum Archived from the original on 26 February 2022 Retrieved 12 July 2016 a b Eskimos and the Long Winter Darkness Archived from the original on 28 July 2012 Peary Josephine Ahnighito Marie 1903 Children of the Arctic New York F A Stokes Company OCLC 6534622 Glossary Kudlik Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Archived from the original on 30 September 2003 Retrieved 31 March 2009 Antique Whale Oil Lamps Demonstration Archived from the original on 10 May 2020 Retrieved 12 July 2016 via www youtube com Kunuk Zacharias 10 May 2019 Silakut Live From the Floe Edge Episode 3 Life at the Floe Edge 8 minutes in Archived from the original on 25 June 2022 Retrieved 12 May 2022 Ulukhaktok Inuvialuit Settlement Region 2021 Archived from the original on 22 May 2022 Retrieved 11 May 2022 Kashevaroff Andrew P 1922 Descriptive booklet on the Alaska Historical Museum Alaska Historical Library and Museum b 1863 Alaska Historical AssociationFurther reading editRasmussen Knud 1926 Thulefahrt in German Frankfurt am Main Frankurter Societăts Druckerei Rasmussen Knud 1965 Thulei utazas Vilagjarok in Hungarian transl Detre Zsuzsa Budapest Gondolat Hungarian translation of Rasmussen 1926 Rasmussen Knud 1927 Across Arctic America Narrative of the Fifth Thule ExpeditionExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category Seal oil lamps Qulliq Oil Lamp presented by Arnait Video Productions Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Qulliq amp oldid 1197081476, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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