Daphne Tooktoo ~ Graphic & Web Designer

Daphne Tooktoo

ᐊᐃ! / Hello! / Bonjour!

I am an Inuk from a northern community that is divided in half. One half, Kuujjuarapik, is Nunavik’s most southern village; Whapmagoostui, the other half, is the southernmost town of the James Bay Cree of Northern, Quebec. I am part Inuk and part Cree.

Before coming to Montreal for school, I enjoyed being out on the land, camping, fishing and hunting with my friends and family members. But I also have a passion for sewing, which includes designing and making mitts, parkas, hats and other projects.

I have chosen to study Graphic & Web Design since not many of my fellow Inuit have a degree in this field. Once I finish my courses and graduate, I will be the first fenale Inuk out of roughly 12,000 in Nunavik to hold this degree.

Kuujjuaraapik Inukshuk

This monument is built along the Hudson Bay coast and beside the town of Kuujjuarapik. It is called an Inukshuk and used to be built by our ancestors as a marker to show that people had been there before. This Inukshuk was built by Sakkuq Landholding Corporation sometime in the 1990s. It stands about 12 feet high and about six feet wide.
It is one of the most famous Inukshuks in Nunavik. Several pictures of this monument are circulating on the Internet and have been posted by individuals and organizations. During the 2010 Olympics, I myself posed in front of this Inukshuk wearing the Team Canada hockey jersey for CTV Weatherpix. In 2013, I posed in the same spot wearing the Montreal Canadiens jersey for CTV Weatherpix.

My fishing Buddy

This is Parsa Kitishimik, my ice fishing buddy. We have escalated our fishing trips from ice fishing trips to goose hunt in spring and caribou hunting in winter. While she has caught her first seal, I have not yet. We went hunting, fishing and camping almost every weekend before I left for the south to attend school. Attending school is hard, thinking about all the trips I would have gone with her and other friends and family members.

Sewing projects

I am passionate about my sewing projects, which include putting designs on parkas, hats and handcrafted baskets. I use traditional Inuit symbols such as the uluk (a woman’s curved knife) and women’s tattoo markings as designs for my handcrafted items.