Miriam Marealik Qiyuk (born 1933) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

artist. One of eight surviving children of artist

Jessie Oonark Jessie Oonark, ( ᔨᐊᓯ ᐅᓈᖅ; 2 March 1906 – 7 March 1985) was a prolific and influential Inuit artist of the Utkuhiksalik, Utkuhihalingmiut ''Utkuhiksalingmiut'' whose wall hangings, prints and drawings are in major collections includ ...

, Qiyuk was born into the traditional

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

ic lifestyle before moving to Baker Lake in her early twenties. She began creating wall-hangings and carvings in the early 1960s; she had to give up working with textile around 1980 due to an allergic reaction to wool. Her carvings often deal with the legend of

Kiviuq Kiviuq (also spelled "Qiviuq", "Kiviok" and other variants) is a legendary hero of the epic stories of the Inuit of the Arctic regions of northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland. Kiviuq is an eternal Inuit wanderer. Spirits, giants, cannibals, bea ...

and the bird-woman to whom he is married. She is known for her decorative work. Qiyuk is married to the artist Silas Qiyuk. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions both in Canada and in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Qiyuk is one of a number of Oonark's children to become artists; others include

Janet Kigusiuq Janet Kigusiuq (b. 1926 Putuqsuqniq camp, near Garry Lake, Nunavut; d. 2005 Baker Lake, Nunavut) was an Inuit artist. Kigusiuq came from a large family of artists: she was the eldest daughter of Jessie Oonark, her siblings included artists Victor ...

Victoria Mamnguqsualuk Victoria Mamnguqsualuk (sometimes Mamnguksualuk) (Inuktitut syllabics: ) (1930-2016) was one of the best-known Canadian Inuit artists of her generation. Early life Born near Garry Lake, Mamnguqsualuk passed a nomadic youth until her thirties, wh ...

, Nancy Pukingrnak, Peggy Qablunaaq Aittauq, ary Yuusipik Singaqti, Josiah Nuilaalik, and William Noah.

References

1933 births Living people Canadian textile artists Canadian women sculptors Inuit textile artists Inuit sculptors 20th-century Canadian sculptors 20th-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian sculptors 21st-century Canadian women artists People from Baker Lake Canadian Inuit women Artists from Nunavut Women textile artists Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit from Nunavut Oonark family {{Canada-artist-stub