Etok was born in the camp of Qirnituartuq, near the community of Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik, Quebec. His mother was Sarah, and he has a brother, Joe Willie. The 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.[3]
Career
Using sticks, Etok began drawing as a child. His early drawings were of animals and villages, while his later work consisted of supernatural beings and illustrations of legends.[2] After attending a print workshop in Puvirnituq, he learned how to earn money as a printmaker in the 1970s.
In 1967, he befriended anthropologistDonat Savoie who stayed with Etok and family while doing 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 lasted through the years, even after Savoie became a government official.[4]
Later years
"Our Elders used to tell us that our future was going to be hard and life would be more difficult. Their predictions were very true." (Etok, 2007)
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.
Heyes, S. (2007). Inuit knowledge and perceptions of the land-water interface. Thesis (Ph.D.)--McGill University, Dept. of Geography, 2007. OCLC 277159992
Weetaluktuk, J., Bryant, R., & Etok, T. (2008). Le monde de Tivi Etok: La vie et l'art d'un aîné inuit. Québec: Éditions MultiMondes. ISBN978-2-89544-099-4
