Markoosie Patsauq (ᒫᑯᓯ ᐸᑦᓴᐅᖅ; 1941 or 1942 – 2020) was a Canadian Inuk writer from Inukjuak (Nunavik, Québec).[1][2] He is best known for Harpoon of the Hunter (ᐊᖑᓇᓱᑦᑎᐅᑉ ᓇᐅᒃᑯᑎᖓ), the first published Inuktitut language novel; the novel was written later, but published earlier (1970), than Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk's Sanaaq.[3]

Born near Inukjuak, Quebec,[4] his was one of the families forcibly relocated to Resolute, Northwest Territories in the High Arctic relocation in 1953.[5] He later attended high school in Yellowknife.[6]

Patsauq wrote the coming-of-age story Harpoon of the Hunter in 1969 when he worked as a pilot (the first Inuk pilot in Canada), using material he had heard from family members.[7] It was serialized in the Inuit periodical Inuttituut before being published in an English translation in 1970.[6] In Ukrainian, the story was first published in 1974 by the publishing house Veselka (Rainbow). A French translation was published in 2013, and translations into Hindi and Marathi followed in 2015.[8][9] He also wrote short stories and non-fiction, although none of his other work became as known as Harpoon of the Hunter.[4]

In 2016, scholar Valerie Henitiuk, was studying how the meaning of the original story written in Inuktitut may have changed when it was translated into English; subsequent translations were based on that English translation.[10] Together with Marc-Antoine Mahieu (affiliated with NALCO), and in collaboration with Patsauq, Henitiuk in 2021 made the first full critical edition of Patsauq's 1969-70 Umarjursiutik unaatuinnamut as Hunter with Harpoon/Chasseur au Harpon.[11]

He died in March 2020 at his home in Inukjuak.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Patsauq, Markoosie | Inuit Literatures ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᒍᓯᖏᑦ Littératures inuites". inuit.uqam.ca. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  2. ^ "Markoosie". Oxford Reference.
  3. ^ Martin, Keavy (17 January 2014). "Southern readers finally get a chance to read Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk, the accidental Inuit novelist". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "Markoosie Patsauq, first Inuit novelist, lived the history of his people". CBC North, April 20, 2020.
  5. ^ "Markoosie Patsauq – His Story". Iqqaumavara (dir. Marquise Lepage), 2013.
  6. ^ a b "MARKOOSIE, 1942-: LMS-0017". Collections Canada.
  7. ^ "Edmonton researcher studying versions of first Inuit novel | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. 2016-11-13. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
  8. ^ "Harpoon of the hunter in Hindi | Inuit Literatures ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᒍᓯᖏᑦ Littératures inuites". inuit.uqam.ca. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  9. ^ "Harpoon of the hunter in Marathi | Inuit Literatures ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᒍᓯᖏᑦ Littératures inuites". inuit.uqam.ca. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  10. ^ "Edmonton researcher studying versions of first Inuit novel". Global News. November 13, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  11. ^ Patsauq, Markoosie (2021). Uumajursiutik unaatuinnamut / Hunter with Harpoon / Chasseur au harpon. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. ISBN 978-0-2280-0503-2.
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