Elizabeth Nutaraluk Aulatjut

(1914 - ?)

Elizabeth’s distinctive carvings, which often emphasize sharp angles and deep incisions, first emerged in response to her tragic experiences in Ennadai Lake when she suffered from near starvation in the late forties. Her early carvings were bartered for food until she and her family were airlifted to safety in Arviat, Nunavut in 1957. Elizabeth’s style is distinctive for her ability to maximize the stone’s natural edges and shape, and transform these features into human figures that often reflect her own experiences as an Inuit woman in the unforgiving arctic.