Two Inuit brothers had an emotionally powerful reunion with their late mother's artwork at the National Gallery of Canada, seeing several of her sculptures for the first time since her death from cancer a decade ago. Noah and Tytsoosie "Ty" Tunnillie examined six serpentine and marble carvings by their mother, renowned Inuit artist Oviloo Tunnillie, in a private viewing arranged by the gallery and facilitated by Shepherds of Good Hope.
The brothers, ages 49 and 50, walked around a large table in a meeting room at the National Gallery, carefully examining and occasionally holding the half-dozen carved pieces that had been specially retrieved from the museum's collection for their visit. Both men felt excited and nervous before arriving, uncertain how they would react to seeing their mother's work again after so many years.
Surrounded by about ten onlookers, Noah and Ty described each of the six Inuit carvings and the traditional stories they represented. One piece, simply titled "Seaman, Seawoman, and Fish," depicted the sea goddess Sedna from an Inuit creation myth, with the male figure representing her helper and the fish being an Arctic char. The brothers examined the works with intense focus, speaking to each other in Inuktitut and occasionally smiling and laughing.
The emotional weight of the moment was evident as both brothers struggled with their feelings. Noah admitted that he wanted to cry and would have if the other observers hadn't been present in the room. When a gallery staff member offered to give them privacy, he declined, preferring to share the experience with others present.
Oviloo Tunnillie, their mother, was a noted artist and member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts who once said of her work, "Some people write about their lives, but I carve about my life. That is the way I want to be known." In holding her sculptures, the brothers literally held the weight of their mother's life experiences in their hands.
Of the six pieces on display, Noah and Ty had previously seen only three, including a white marble sculpture titled "Taleelayu" that they had helped their mother finish as teenagers more than three decades ago. The October visit marked the first time they had encountered the other three works, creating a profound moment of reconnection with their mother, who died of cancer in 2014.
The brothers shared memories of how their mother's successful art career helped support their family's traditional lifestyle. The money she earned from selling her carvings paid for ammunition and gasoline that allowed their father, Iola Tunnillie, a municipal worker in Kinngait, Nunavut (formerly Cape Dorset), to participate in hunting expeditions. Noah also recalled serving as an interpreter when art dealers came to view and purchase Oviloo's work.
"I felt very light," Ty said after the late October visit, "because I hadn't seen her work in a long time." His brother Noah revealed that for years after their mother's death, he couldn't bring himself to look at her artwork because he was still grieving her loss.
However, seeing her work again in October proved to be transformative and healing for Noah. "It was a soup of emotions," he explained. "It made me hungry – hungry for a good life, the way she raised me to be. It was healing." The experience has inspired him to move forward in a positive direction.
The artistic legacy extends beyond just Oviloo's work, as the National Gallery also houses pieces by other family members, including works by the brothers' uncle Jutai Toonoo, grandmother Mary Qayuaryou, and great-grandmother Ikayukta Tunnillie. All of these precious cultural artifacts are carefully stored and protected at the national museum.
The paths that brought Noah and Ty to this reunion were challenging and precarious. Both brothers moved to Ottawa in 2006 and have experienced periods of homelessness since around 2009. Noah, who creates graphite drawings as a hobby, moved into the Richcraft Hope Centre, Shepherds of Good Hope's new residence on Murray Street, when it opened last spring. This represents his third time escaping homelessness.
Ty, who used to carve stone like his mother until lung problems from stone dust forced him to stop about twelve years ago, has been living at The Oaks, another Shepherds of Good Hope residence on Merivale Road, for almost a decade. Both brothers spoke about their experiences with homelessness without bitterness or blame, demonstrating remarkable dignity in the face of hardship.
"That was on me," Ty said when asked about how people treated him during his homeless periods. "My feeling is not on other people." This response reflected a dignity that emphasized how misfortune doesn't require guilt or judgment, and highlighted that helping someone find housing is just part of addressing homelessness – community and respect are equally important.
The visit represented far more than an act of charity. The Shepherds of Good Hope organization facilitated this reunion when they learned of the connection between Noah, Ty, and the National Gallery, while the gallery staff displayed similar generosity by openly welcoming the visit. This collaboration resulted in what can only be described as an important restoration of family connection and cultural belonging.
The reunion serves as a powerful reminder of the healing power of art and family connections, demonstrating how cultural institutions can play vital roles in reconnecting people with their heritage and helping individuals find peace with their past while moving toward a brighter future.
