Kipo Tetpon, “Kipolhoon”, was the last of nine children, born in 1952 in Unalakleet, a remote Alaskan community. She was raised in Chugiak and developed an interest in sculpting after watching her father create beautiful ivory figurines.

Kipo attended the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she studied for two years. Working in stone, she focuses on traditional Inupiat life, such as scenes of mothers and children, hunters, spirits and ancestral portraits. Her original and distinctive style eloquently describes Inuit life in northern Alaska.