Charlie Sivuarapik was born near Povungnituk in 1911. He was unable to earn a living from hunting due to health conditions, and therefore was saved from poverty by carving. It is rumoured that he began carving after encouragement from James Houston. 

Sivuarapik’s work was hugely influential to many artists, including his sons Thomassie, Akinsie, and Simiuni. He is known for his minimalist realistic depictions of wildlife, hunters, and stories from traditional myths. He started his career as a carver making small ivories, but as his career progressed his work grew in size as well as prowess. His carvings often detail figures in states of dynamic movement. Sivuarapik’s work stands out from the work of his contemporaries due to an emphasis on realism as opposed to more standard depictions of idealized forms and exaggerated features. 

Charlie Sivuarapik was the first Inuk inducted into the Sculptors Society of Canada, and also served as a founding member and first president of the Povungnituk Co-operative Society. His work is held in the collections of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Glenbow Museum. He is also represented in permanent collections around the world. 

Though the 1950s were a very prolific period for him, Sivuarapik was not able to indulge in the rise in demand for Inuit carvings in the 1960s for long. He died in 1968 from tuberculosis. 

Exhibitions

• Arctic Travel, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Arctic Wildlife: The Art of the Inuit, Musee des Beaux-Arts de Montreal
• By the Light of the Qulliq: Eskimo Life in the Canadian Arctic, Smithsonian Institution, A travelling exhibition of Inuit art from the Feheley Collection
• Canadian Sculptors of the Arctic, National Gallery of Canada
• Eskimo Art in Northern Quebec, presented by La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec at "Man and His World"
• Eskimo Narrative, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (second exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Hudson's Bay Company Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Inuit Art From the Glenbow Collection, Glenbow Museum
• Inuit Art: Tradition and Regeneration, Canadian Museum of Civilization
• Inuit Ivories from the Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Les Inuit du Nouveau-Quebec, Musee du Quebec
• Povungnituk, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Bessie Bulman Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Swinton Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Winnipeg Collects: Inuit Art from Private Collections, Winnipeg Art Gallery

Collections

• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor
• Art Gallery of York University, Downsview
• Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Eskimo Museum, Churchill
• Glenbow Museum, Calgary
• James and Mary Jack Collection, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana
• Musee Amerindien et Inuit de Godbout, Godbout
• Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg