Osuitok Ipeelee
Osuitok Ipeelee (23 September 1923 - 2005) was an Inuk sculptor who lived in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. His sculptures in green soapstone of caribou and birds are particularly valued for their balance and delicacy. He was an early collaborator with James Archibald Houston, and by Houston's account was instrumental in the conception of the West Baffin Island Eskimo Cooperative.
Also recorded as Aipellie Osuitok · Ipeelee Oshaweetok · Ipeelee Osuitok · Oshaweetuk
Osuitok Ipeelee
- Name
- Osuitok Ipeelee
- Born
- 23 October 1923
- Birthplace
- Neeouleeutalik Camp, Nunavut, Canada
- Died
- 2005
- Place of death
- Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada
- Known for
- sculptor
- Nationality
- Canada
- Occupation
- sculptor · artist
- Fields
- art of sculpture
- Honours
- Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
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Documentary summary
Osuitok Ipeelee (23 September 1923 - 2005) was an Inuk sculptor who lived in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. His sculptures in green soapstone of caribou and birds are particularly valued for their balance and delicacy. He was an early collaborator with James Archibald Houston, and by Houston's account was instrumental in the conception of the West Baffin Island Eskimo Cooperative.
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Note VALÉORINE
Osuitok Ipeelee (1923–2005) was a Canadian artist and sculptor. Born in Qikiqtaaluk Region, the artist died in Kinngait.
Osuitok Ipeelee was a member of Kinngait Co-operative and Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. The artist was active in art of sculpture.
Works by Osuitok Ipeelee are held at Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, National Gallery of Canada and National Museum of the American Indian, among others. The artist received Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q2036233 · wikipedia · Osuitok Ipeelee
In this article
Biography
Biography
He was also one of the witnesses of the last-remembered traditional Inuit trial.
The field of work recorded is art of sculpture. Work by Osuitok Ipeelee is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Canada, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian and Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Distinctions recorded are Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Osuitok Ipeelee • Native Name — ᐅᓱᐃᑐ ᐃᐱᓕ • Born — 23 October 1923 • Birthplace — Neeouleeutalik Camp, Nunavut, Canada • Died — 2005 • Place of death — Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada • Known for — sculptor
Biography
Biography
• Illustration — Caribou in soapstone, in the collection of the Dennos Museum Center
Youth and early work
Youth and early work
Ipeelee grew up in a traditional Inuit environment, learning to hunt and fish from his father, Ohotok Ipeelee, at a small camp near Cape Dorset. Ohotok also taught his son how to carve ivory, and as early as the age of thirteen Osuitok began to sculpt. This was encouraged by Roman Catholic missionaries, who bought carvings and commissioned small crucifixes from him. The artist's earliest extant works are ivory miniatures of hunting equipment, typical of the historic period of Inuit art, that date from the 1940s.
James Houston and subsequent career
James Houston and subsequent career
Before Houston's 1951 expedition, Ipeelee was already regionally known as the greatest carver on Baffin Island. Under Houston's influence he began to carve sculptures in soapstone, which had a reliable market in the south. Exhibits of Inuit art at the National Gallery of Canada in 1952 and 1955 included his work, crediting him as "Oshaweetuk B". With recognition he began to receive official commissions. In 1955 he directed a team of craftsmen in the creation of the official mace for the Council of the Northwest Territories, and in 1959 he was asked to create a sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II, which was presented to the Queen upon her visit to Canada that year.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Qikiqtaaluk Region.
Birth place
Kinngait.
Death place
The birth of Inuit printmaking
The idea of a Cape Dorset printmaking program developed from a winter 1957 conversation between Houston and Ipeelee. When Houston explained the concept, Ipeelee declared, "We could do that." Despite this, Ipeelee only contributed a total of four prints to the annual print collections, two in 1958 and two in 1959. He never returned to the medium explaining that he had not been paid enough for the drawings on which the prints were based, and found sculpture to be more profitable.
Notable sculptures
Notable sculptures
• Harpoon Head Figure (1983), serpentine. In the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. *
Prints
Prints
• Musk Ox, 1958. Stonecut • Weasel, 1958. Stonecut • Four Musk Oxen, 1959. Stonecut and sealskin stencil • Owl, Fox, and Hare Legend, 1959. Stonecut and sealskin stencil
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Osuitok Ipeelee”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2036233: Osuitok Ipeelee
General reference · Wikidata
Honours
• National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now the Indspire Awards, recipient, 2004. • Elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1973.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Artist: Osuitok Ipeelee, R.C.A. - ᐅᓱᐃᑐ ᐃᐱᓕ - E7-1154. KATILVIK.
- 2.Osuitok Ipeelee at katilvik.com
- 3.Eber, Dorothy. (1997) Images of Justice: A Legal History of the Northwest Territories as Traced Through the Yellowknife Courthouse Collection of Inuit Sculpture. Ottawa: McGill-Queen's Press 1997. ,On Google Books
- 4.Biography at the Indspire website.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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