Melia Jaw was born near Kimmirut in 1934. She spent most of her childhood living on the land and actively camped in the area surrounding Kinngait (Cape Dorset) until her death in 2006. 

She had a relatively short artistic career, working with the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative for only a decade between 1996 and her death in 2006. In this time, she produced approximately 10 works. She experimented with a variety of mediums, including carving, etching, stone cuts, aquatint, stencils, and lithography. As she transitioned to working primarily in printmaking at the end of her career, Jaw depicted a combination of personal experience and folklore in her art. She was able to transform her familiarity with nature and traditional knowledge gained by living on the land into artworks. Jaw’s work was included in the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection from 2004-2006.

Her husband was notable carver Joe Jaw. Joe and Melia passed on their passion for art by encouraging their children to produce art. Many of their children have become successful artists. Their son Mathew Saviarjuk Jaw is also notable for his many years of service as mayor of Kinngait. 

Exhibitions

• Canadian Eskimo Arts Festival, Alaska Methodist University Galleries
• Cape Dorset - Selected Sculpture from the Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Eskimo Sculpture '69, Robertson Galleries
• Images of the Far North, Studio Art Gallery, State University of New York
• INUA: 50 Works from the Cappadocia Collection of Inuit Art, McMaster Art Gallery
• Mythology in Stone, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Recent Acquisitions of Early Inuit Sculpture, Arctic Artistry
• Sculpture in Miniature, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Sculpture Inuit 25 Years After, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Tundra & Ice: Stone Images of Animals and Man, presented by Orca Aart at the Adventurers' Club
• [Inuit Art Exhibition], Orca Aart, presented at Neiman Marcus

Collections

• Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg