Featured Inuit innit? stone walrus carving - signed - syllabic?

This little guy I believe is a walrus - missing his tusks. Happily paid $20 for him.

Dimensions - 3.25 inches length, 1.75 inches high.

Serpentine?

Does anyone have any insight on ID'ing the artist based on the signature / marks? I'm guessing it is done in the Inuit syllabic writing system - but I'm having a hard time trying to figure it out. Not even sure which way is up.

Thanks for taking a look!

 

Here's the mark closer up and flipped over:

 

yup and yup..........lemme git the book out..

 

hard without the disc number.....

Pa La Ja...
Ki I Su - Ki Ga I ....

@Mark London will know better......even though it's only a small tourist piece....
still cute though !!!

 

He’s Nifty!!!!

 

Thanks for the transliteration!

 

maybe Mark can speak to why there's no disc number..

 

Palaya (sometimes Padlaya) Qiatsuk from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut. No disc number because it’s a relatively recent piece and disc numbers as a means of signing a sculpture stopped being a regular practice by the mid 1970’s.

 

Thanks much Mark!