Tivi Etok

Places of work recorded in the authority are Canada, Quebec and Nunavik. Work by Tivi Etok is recorded in the collections of National Museum of World Cultures, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, National Gallery of Canada, Avataq Cultural Institute and Anchorage Museum.

• Name — Tivi Etok • Born — 1929 • Birthplace — Quebec, Canada • Died — 1 May 2025 • Field — Illustrator and printmaker • Training — Puvirnituq, Quebec

Etok was born in the camp of Qirnituartuq, which is in proximity of the Kangiqsualujjuaq region, Nunavik, Quebec. His mother was named Sarah, and his brother, Joe Willie. Etok's family originated from the Tasiujaq region, later moving to the areas of Nachvak Fiord in Labrador's Torngat Mountains, and the Koroc River area of Quebec's Ungava Bay watershed.

In 1967, he befriended anthropologist Donat Savoie, who stayed with Etok and his family while conducting research for his masters thesis. The household included Etok, Sarah, and Joe, as well as Etok's wife, Susie (née Baron; 1939–2006) of Koroc River, and children, Minnie, Tomasi, Aatami, and Charlie. Etok and Savoie's friendship has persisted throughout the years, even after Savoie became a government official. After attending a print workshop in Puvirnituq, in the 1970s, Etok learned how to earn money as a printmaker.

Now considered an Inuk Elder, a trilingual (Inuktitut, English and French) biography of Etok's life was written by Jobie Weetaluktuk, and published in Nunavik in 2008. The previous year, Scott Heyes' 2007 study entitled Inuit Knowledge and Perceptions of the Land-Water Interface, researched Kangiqsualujjuaq people, especially their knowledge and perceptions of their surroundings, and included Etok, plus three generations of his family. Etok died on 1 May 2025, at the age of 95–96.