Ookpik, the Canadian mascot that went viral
Inuit woman originally created icon of the 1960s out of sealskin
Ookpik was the perfect icon of Canada: soft and cuddly, wide-eyed and a little mysterious.
By the spring of 1964, a cartoonish toy version of a snowy owl, or "ookpik" in the the Inuktitut language, was a continent-wide phenomenon and, said a CBC reporter, might end up as "one of the greatest sales success stories in Canadian history."
A Toronto toy manufacturer that had won the right to manufacture Ookpiks was churning out plush versions at a feverish pace.
"Today, the firm reported sales orders of 36,000 Ookpiks, one-third of those alone from a Miami distributor," said reporter Jack McGaw.
Sales could reach as high as 500,000, he added.
An Inuit success story
It would mean a good return for the original creators of Ookpik.
"Under a co-operative arrangement," McGaw added, an Inuit group "control[ed] the rights to the Ookpik design."
The royalty was ten per cent of the wholesale price, which was double the usual royalty for licensed products.
It wasn't just going to end at plush dolls, either. He said soon a parade of other licensed products could follow: "Ookpik deodorant containers, Ookpik soap bars, Ookpik wallpaper."
"The Ookpik is about as Canadian as maple syrup," summed up McGaw. "Even though the average Canadian wouldn't recognize an Arctic owl even if he saw one at the end of his bed."
'A special affinity for owls'
Ookpik exploded into Canadian consciousness after the Canadian booth at a trade show in Philadelphia chose it as a mascot in the fall of 1963.
The trade department had spotted a sealskin Ookpik in a catalogue of Inuit art from the Department of Northern Affairs.
"The first Ookpik was made in Fort Chimo by ... Jeannie Snowball," said Harold Mitchell of the Department of Northern Affairs, going on to tell a story about how capturing one as a child had become a matter of survival for her.
"Since that time, Jeannie has had a bit of an affair going with owls."
Snowball was part of the Fort Chimo Co-operative Association in Quebec's Ungava region. (Fort Chimo was renamed Kuujjuaq in 1980.)
According to the Globe and Mail on Dec. 15, 1966, the co-operative had earned $17,500 in royalties from Ookpik. Jeannie Snowball personally had earned $4,200.
