Bear Walking in Water in Summer. Qalaherriaq [Erasmus Augustine Kallihirua]. 1853. Watercolour and pen on paper. 7.8 x 11.4 cm. Derbyshire Record Office. D8760/F/OBJ/5. Reproduced courtesy of the Derbyshire Record Office.

 Bear Walking in Water in Summer is one of three drawings Qalaherriaq created for Mrs Eleanor Gell during his residency at St Augustine's College in the early 1850s. Based on the memories of sights he would have seen on a regular basis while living in Northwest Kalaallit Nunaat, his drawing shows a mother bear walking closely behind her cub. To the Inughuit, the polar bear was known as the pisugtooq, the great wanderer, characterised by her informed curiosity, resourcefulness and patience when hunting, navigating and living in the land. Polar bears are solitary animals, except when the female has cubs (on average, female bears have five litters during their lifetime). However, they may at times congregate in a good hunting ground or for beached carrion, and, less usual, the pairing with young male bears for hunting and travelling. Although the polar bear lives most of her life alone, Qalaherriaq chose to represent her during the brief period of her life when she has cubs. In the 2-2.5 years following giving birth, the female bear nurses, cares for and helps her cubs develop skills vital for their survival. In Qalaherriaq’s drawing, the young bear is quite large, suggesting that the period of their union of hunting and living together is ending. In slightly yellowed summer furs (caused by the sun), the two bears are looking out while cooling off as they walk through water. 

Essay by Ingeborg Høvik and Axl Jeremiassen