Inuit ice sculptors create ‘The Happy Dance’ for Winterlude [Video]

Inuvialuit artists Eli Nasogaluak and Derrald Taylor are attending Winterlude this year to celebrate their culture with an ice sculpture called ‘The Happy Dance.’

It depicts a drum dancer surrounded by playful arctic animals. Taylor explained that the dancer is giving thanks for the land and its animals through their performance.

“In the culture of Inuit, we always give thanks to animals by dancing, praying,” Taylor said.

“We as Inuit are … hunters, we live off animals, so I’m trying to show the polar bear, the walrus, the seal, the beluga and the narwhal. That’s the main diet of the Inuit.”