ILLIVIATTIAQ, container
Geolocation
Citation
Céline Petit, “ILLIVIATTIAQ, container,” String figures, accessed February 24, 2026, https://stringfigures.huma-num.fr/items/show/264.
- Overall presentation
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Name : ILLIVIATTIAQ, container
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Creator : Céline Petit
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Contributor(s) : Herve PANIAQ, Iglulik, Nunavut, Canada
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Date : 2015-2021
- Information on the string figure
This 3-D string figure represents a container and is named illiviattiaq in the Iglulik area.
It was observed among several Yupiit and Inuit groups (from Alaska to Greenland), mainly with quite a similar meaning (pot, platter, box).
It was observed among several Yupiit and Inuit groups (from Alaska to Greenland), mainly with quite a similar meaning (pot, platter, box).
1. Opening B.
2. 345 proximally enter 2 loop and hook down 2n.
3. 1 proximally enters 2 loop [passing along 2 palm]. Navajo the 1 loops by rotating 1 first toward the center of the figure then toward the body [without releasing 2 loop]. The former lower 1 loop is released onto the strings of the upper 1 loop.
4. Remove 3 and pass it proximally along the palm of 1, into the 1 loop.
5. Exchange the 3 loop on the far side of the figure [behind all the other strings]: L3 proximally hooks the R3 loop and removes it. R3 then proximally hooks the original L3 loop on the back side of L3 and draws it to the right.
6. 3 picks up 1n and draws it back through the original 3 loop. Release 1 loop.
7. 1 distally removes 2 loop and 2 proximally enters 3 loop. Spread 2 and 3 apart and point them toward the body, and rotate 45 away and up. This is the container, illiviattiaq.
(cf. Wirt et al. 2009: 128, 131 - BISFA 16 - for detailed illustration).
2. 345 proximally enter 2 loop and hook down 2n.
3. 1 proximally enters 2 loop [passing along 2 palm]. Navajo the 1 loops by rotating 1 first toward the center of the figure then toward the body [without releasing 2 loop]. The former lower 1 loop is released onto the strings of the upper 1 loop.
4. Remove 3 and pass it proximally along the palm of 1, into the 1 loop.
5. Exchange the 3 loop on the far side of the figure [behind all the other strings]: L3 proximally hooks the R3 loop and removes it. R3 then proximally hooks the original L3 loop on the back side of L3 and draws it to the right.
6. 3 picks up 1n and draws it back through the original 3 loop. Release 1 loop.
7. 1 distally removes 2 loop and 2 proximally enters 3 loop. Spread 2 and 3 apart and point them toward the body, and rotate 45 away and up. This is the container, illiviattiaq.
(cf. Wirt et al. 2009: 128, 131 - BISFA 16 - for detailed illustration).
"Eglevatchea", Mutch 1900, Nbr. 30, AMNH Archives (Cumberland Sound)
"iiviätciaq - a small platter" (Mackenzie Delta), Jenness 1924: 100, LXXXV (fig. 122)
"the box", Birket-Smith 1929 : 280 (Caribou)
"igLiuiätsiaq - like a box" (Cape York), Paterson 1949 : 24, fig. 25a (25 "the plane", Upernavik)
"itiviattiaq", Holtved 1967, fig. 34 (Inughuit)
["A pot", Claassen XXX, fig. 9 (by G. Kapatak, Koliganek - Southwestern Alaska, 1980s-90s)]
"iiviätciaq - a small platter" (Mackenzie Delta), Jenness 1924: 100, LXXXV (fig. 122)
"the box", Birket-Smith 1929 : 280 (Caribou)
"igLiuiätsiaq - like a box" (Cape York), Paterson 1949 : 24, fig. 25a (25 "the plane", Upernavik)
"itiviattiaq", Holtved 1967, fig. 34 (Inughuit)
["A pot", Claassen XXX, fig. 9 (by G. Kapatak, Koliganek - Southwestern Alaska, 1980s-90s)]
- Item references
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Key words : String figure; String game; Inuit; Iglulik; Eastern Canada; Arctic
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Publisher : Laboratory SPHERE (UMR 7219, University of Paris & CNRS)
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Rights : Creative Commons / Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA
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Language : Inuktitut ; English
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Location : Iglulik (Igloolik), Nunavut, Canada
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Description : Iglulingmiut (Amitturmiut) Inuit string figure (Nunavut, Canada): symbolism, method of construction, references to the same figure as documented among different Inuit groups (Alaska, Canada, Greenland)