Tutuia Qatsiya was born on February 17, 1966 in Cape Dorset, Baffin Island. The community boasts more famous artists per capita than any other region in Nunavut. Tutuia is the son of the talented local artists Qabaroak and Iqaluk Qatsiya, and the grandson of Abraham and Itigayaqyuak Etungat. It is not surprising that Tutuia has followed the same artistic path, as in Nunavut artistic talent is passed on through the family rather than taught in an art academy.
The cape Dorset sculptural style is a combination of observational naturalism and reduction to stylistic and sometimes abstract forms. This is present in Tutuia's carvings. Tutuia mostly draws his inspiration from Arctic wildlife, but his favourite subject matter is the bird with its thin and delicate wings. This offers the artist more of a challenge.
Tutuia takes great care in choosing the stone. His carvings are made of the finest serpentine of varying green shades, and then smoothed and polished to best exhibit the lustre of the stone. Serpentine is a rock with composition similar to Jade that is found on Baffin Island. It is a very hard stone, so it requires more artistic vituosity to carve than the softer soapstone.