Mary Seppilu

Mary Seppilu, Siberian Yupik, was born May 16, 1937 in Savoonga, Alaska. Savoonga is on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea between Nome, Alaska and the Chukotsk Peninsula, Russia.

Family, tradition, and subsistence hunting are still the mainstays of life on St. Lawrence Island. Mary learned to carve ivory by watching her mother, Helen Pungowiyi, create walrus ivory birds and figurines. Mary developed her skill by carving figurines like her mother.

Mary married David Seppilu raising five children in Savoonga. Together they started creating dogsled teams on walrus ivory tusks obtained through subsistence hunting. The dogs are carved from fossil walrus ivory and Wooly Mammoth ivory found during the summer months. The color of the fossilized ivory depends on the minerals it absorbs while in the ground for hundreds of years. Mary takes advantage of the rich color variations to create distinctive and playful dogs, each with their own personality. Other materials Mary uses include whalebone, new walrus ivory, bleached sealskin, furs, and baleen.

The works of Mary Seppilu are highly valued for the quality of her meticulous sculpting and the individual character of each element comprising the dog sled. Her carvings are also recognized by their wonderful detailed scrimshaw story - “I try to tell people through my carving how Siberian Yupik people really live!”

Mary has done limited carving since her husband David Seppilu passed away in 2008. Today her dogsleds are rare and prized collector’s pieces.