Cliff Apatiki

Cliff Apatiki, born January 14, 1974, is a Siberian Yupik from Gambell, Alaska. One of the most remote areas of the United States, located on St. Lawrence Island, just south of the Bering Straits, about 40 miles off shore from Nome, Gambell is a small Siberian Yup'ik Eskimo village of about 700 people. Their Native language is spoken on both the U.S. and Russian side of the Straits. On a clear day (which is rare) you can see the mountains of Russia.

Carving is a rich tradition for the Native Alaskan people on St. Lawrence Island. It helps sustain their ancient and proud culture and a way of life in a very remote and harsh area.

Cliff is primarily self-taught and is considered master carver. He uses materials gathered from his subsistence lifestyle including the ivory tusks of walrus, walrus bone, whalebone, and baleen from Bowhead whales, much of which is either dug up or found washed up on beaches after storms.

Cliff’s carvings are clean, elegant and beautifully detailed. “Being a carver for me is a special talent, a work of art, that I’m very thankful to have and share with many of my fellow people.”