Helen Konek
Helen Konek | |
|---|---|
| Born | Helen Agaaqtuq May 11, 1931 Near the eastern shore of Henik Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada |
| Died | July 25, 2026 (aged 95) |
| Known for | Appearing in a 1949 photograph by Richard Harrington |
Helen Agaaqtuq Konek (May 11, 1931 – July 25, 2026) was an Inuk elder from Arviat, Nunavut. A 1949 photograph of her went viral in 2019.
Early life
Konek was born as Helen Agaaqtuq on May 11, 1931 in a tupiq on the eastern shore of Henik Lake.[1] [2][3] Helen's father was Piqqanaaq Agaaqtuq[4] and her mother was Paalak Agaaqtuq.[5] She had three brothers: Nanauq, Pukiluk, and Kinaalik.[5][3] As a child she accompanied her brothers and father on caribou hunting trips, including to Ennadai Lake in the Ahiarmiut's territory.[3]
She was photographed in 1949, aged 17, by Richard Harrington as part of a series taken while he was travelling around the Arctic.[1] The photograph was taken in ᑭᖓᕐᔪᐊᓕᒃ (English: of big hill).[6]
Adult life
By 1952, the Agaaqtuq family were living close to the Padlei trading post.[3] In 1953, Helen started living as a couple with James Konek, the son of a storekeeper in Arviat.[3] They both lived in Arviat in winter and Barren Lands area in the summer.[3] The 1950 Caribou Inuit famine caused Helen's mother Paalak to die in 1957, the rest of the family survived on fish, rabbit, and ptarmigan.[3] The Royal Canadian Mounted Police forcibly displaced the Konek family in 1960 from Padlei to Arviat.[3]
One of Harrington's photographs of Konek entering her igloo was widely shared online in 2019 after her journalist grandson Jordan Konek tweeted it.[1] Konek was an elder,[7][1] and lived in Arviat, Nunavut.[1]
On July 25, 2026, Konek died at the age of 95.[8]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Brockman, Alex (6 May 2019). "'It's amazing to me': Meet the Inuk elder in this photo shared around the world". CBC.
- ↑ Helen Konek, National Gallery of Canada
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gerald Kuehl, Portraits of the Far North (volume 2), ISBN 9781989282328, 2022
- ↑ Atiqput: Inuit Oral History and Project Naming. (2022). United Kingdom: McGill-Queen's University Press. p59
- 1 2 Payne, Carol. (2013). The Official Picture: The National Film Board of Canada's Still Photography Division and the Image of Canada, 1941-1971. Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press. p183
- ↑ Jordan Konek, Tweet of 27 Oct 2019.
- ↑ Laugrand, F. B., Oosten, J. G. (2014). Inuit Shamanism and Christianity: Transitions and Transformations in the Twentieth Century. United States: McGill-Queen's University Press.
- ↑ "'Not what you see on television': Helen Konek of famous Nunavut photo dies at 95". cbc.ca. August 1, 2026. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)