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