Photo Credit: Suharu Ogawa // Mark Bennett, an Inuk designer/artist, contributed the concepts for the representation of Indigenous elements and motifs in collaboration with Suharu. The ideas came out of Mark’s graphical exploration of Inuit tattoos (Kakiniit/Tunniit). Traditionally, these tattoos are given by and for women, although there is more cultural flexibility today. Mark has consulted with traditional artist Angela Hovak Johnston, author of Reawakening Our Ancestor’s Lines: Revitalizing Inuit Traditional Tattooing. Each element of the tattoo is given a meaning and, in this case, the concepts of adding to the hands that Suharu has drawn are: the dots – represent different people in our community; the triangles – represent the mountains and the land, which are all around; the lines – are what bring us together and keep us in harmony with each element and each other. Additionally, the red dress is a based on a traditional Inuit design.
Our Commitment
We recognize that equity and inequity play out in important ways at the interpersonal and individual levels, but we understand their origin to be in social structures that have historic, economic, and political roots. This framing also asserts that equity is relational in nature. That is, equity not only involves groups in society that are disadvantaged by certain social structures but also involves groups receiving unearned benefits from these same structures.
We will proactively seek to increase diversity among our community members, and it is our aim to have a student body and teaching and administrative staffs that mirror the diversity of the pool of qualified applicants for those positions. We are already making these investments to address racism to help create a healthier world.
Learn more about equity and inclusion initiatives at the University of Toronto.
*Images on this page cannot be reproduced without DLSPH and Suharu Ogawa explicit consent*