Where the Sea Kuniks the Land
- Publisher
- Inhabit Media
- Initial publish date
- Nov 2022
- Category
- Indigenous, Places, Women Authors, Nature
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781772274448
- Publish Date
- Nov 2022
- List Price
- $21.95
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Description
A “kunik” is a traditional Inuit greeting, often given to loved ones, in which a person places their nose on another’s cheek and breathes them in. Where the Sea Kuniks the Land extends that gesture of love to the Arctic landscape, in a suite of poems that celebrates the interconnectedness of people and place, past and present.
The importance of land, culture, and identity play key roles in these poems, and the collection will move readers to think deeply about colonization, intergenerational trauma, and grief.
This collection paints beautiful pictures of Arctic landscapes, love stories, and growth. It will take readers on a journey through the seasons, from fierce snowstorms to a warm field of Labrador tea flowers.
About the author
Ashley Qilavaq-Savard is an Inuk writer, artist, and emerging filmmaker born and raised in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She writes poetry about decolonizing narratives, healing from intergenerational trauma, and love of the land and culture. She has published two short stories relating to her Inuit culture, “My Very First Ulu” with Nipiit magazine and “Miki and the Aqsarniit” with Chirp magazine. Since attending the Vancouver Film School, Ashley has led acting and storytelling workshops for children and youth with the Qaggiavuut Performing Arts Society and the Labrador Creative Arts Festival. Ashley also creates sealskin and beaded jewellery, and is a dedicated student of Inuktitut.
Awards
- Long-listed, First Horizon Award
- Nominated, Indigenous Voices Award — English Poetry
- Commended, Grand Prize
Excerpt: Where the Sea Kuniks the Land (by (author) Ashley Qilavaq-Savard)
I Am an Inuk Woman
I am an Inuk woman
my markings say it so
don’t look at me and ask
“taa Inuuviit?”
because I too come from the land of snow and ice
my heart belongs to the place where the sea kuniks the land
an Arctic islander on ancient tundra
these histories etched into my roots
these lines filled with familiarity
this identity traced along skin
fighting flames
and
shining stars
from heart to hand
ink to being
chapters readily unfold
these lines are my markings
the story of my journey meant to be told
I walked these lands and know my way home
I washed my sorrows in the river and dried my body in the breeze
I wished for the bitterness of assimilation to stop being so damn easy
I am an Inuk woman
working hard to practise, protect, and preserve the raw beauty of us
as my histories must pass through me in seeds
these lines will welcome the next generation of Inuit
my markings are meant to help me grow
skin and soul
Arctic Adoration
can you imagine just barely escaping a snowstorm
enough to witness it in all its glory at your tail’s end
swallowing whole your home like a
sneaky fox and clueless lemming
swiftly, naturally, unapologetically
suffocating and cleansing all in the same
to feel that fierce wind forcing you into the self-realization of resilience
eyes squinting as a million tiny snowflakes dance so elegantly before you
lungs erupting with crisp clean air, heart outpouring the essence of the land
from the most quenching breath, you feel our ancestors flowing through your veins
leaving only clarity and vitality as they journey through you
Dance With Me
will you dance with me like the wind and snow do during a brazen blizzard?
mending together body and soul in a whimsical whirl
I am drawn to you like a malikkaat flower follows the warm sun
you are the warm sun and cool breeze on the most dreamlike of Greenlandic sunny summer
days
the wonderland where I found you in all its radiance
you are nature at its finest, embracing changing seasons and breathing colour to life like the
Torngat Mountains’ heartfelt tundra during Labrador’s most lively fall
you are the strongest river siku with the purest essence flowing underneath those icy blue eyes
I could happily drink you up for years to come as long as you’ll share your ambrosian love with
me
Editorial Reviews
"Ashley Qilavaq-Savard is writing poetry that should be written, must be written"—The Fiddlhead
"This collection widens the horizon and expands the world, transporting to places foreign, inhabiting its full complexity—to feel it deep within you, its joys, sorrows, and beauty. With a voice of sheer authenticity, the poet is clear-eyed sincere. She invites you to dance with her as the wind and snow dance in a blizzard, to feel the warm Arctic summer sun, to see her world through the eyes of her grandmother and great grandmother. The blue of her world, the sky and the ice and the sea will become yours."—The Eric Hoffer Award
Within this collection of poetry, Ashley Qilavaq- Savard affectionately shares her love and connections to the land and waters. Kuniks are Inuit greetings that involve the placing of one’s nose on another’s cheek and then breathing them in. Qilavaq-Savard expresses through her poetic voice and mastery of metaphor and symbolism the way this breathing in of a loved one can not only be between people, but between oneself and all things, and between all things. This collection contains connections to land, culture, identity, colonization, trauma, grief, resiliency, and growth. The author takes the reader mentally, emotionally, and spiritually through the seasons within the Arctic land and water that she holds dear to her heart.
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