Mayureak Ashoona was born in 1946 on Baffin Island. Her mother was Sheouak Parr, who became well known for her graphics during the 1960s. Mayureak married Kaka Ashoona, who achieved fame as a sculptor. 

Although Mayureak began drawing in the early 1960s, she could not devote herself to art-making because of family responsibilities. Nevertheless, she occasionally contributed prints to the annual Cape Dorset collections from 1978 onward.

After her husband's death in 1996, Mayureak devoted greater time and energy to her art, and her unique style strengthened due to a new sense of freedom and confidence. Today, she is one of few Inuit women to work on a large scale in stone, creating complex lyrical images of the Inuit sea goddess Sedna, birds and mask-like faces. She also makes drawings and prints, and is one of few Inuit artists to have created a series of paintings using oil stick and brushes.

Mayureak's graphic works take a documentary approach to recording traditional culture, particularly the activities of women, and to communicating her appreciation of the beauty of the land. "I want the younger generation to make sure that the kayak and traditional Inuit ways are never forgotten," the artist says.

Exhibitions

• Alaska Eskimo Dolls/Inuit Prints, Provincial Museum of Alberta, sponsored by the Alaska State Council on the Arts
• Animals of the Arctic, Arctic Inuit Art
• Arctic Oddities, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Arctic Spirit 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art, Frye Art Museum
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Akenaton
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Montador
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at La Halle aux Bles
• Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1990, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Centre Culturel Canadien
• Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1991, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Colombier
• Cape Dorset 1978 Collection of Twenty Lithographs, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Cape Dorset Graphics *78, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *79, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *80, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *81, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *82, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *83, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *84, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *85, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *86, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *87, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *89, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *90, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *91, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *93, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *94, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Graphics *95, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Prints and Sculpture, McMaster Art Gallery
• Cape Dorset: Recent Sculpture, Gallery of the Arctic
• Chisel and Brush/Le ciseau et la brosse, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
• Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Muscarelle Museum of Art College of William and Mary
• Die Kunst aus der Arktis, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, presented by Commerzbank
• Images of our past, Art of Man Gallery
• Inuit Art at Rideau Hall, Presented by Indian Affairs and Northern Development
• Inuit Art in the 1970s, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre
• Isumavut:The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women, Canadian Museum of Civilization
• Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo's, Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum Huis Hellemans
• Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel, Burnaby Art Gallery
• Return of the Birds, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Sedna: Spirit of the Sea, Feheley Fine Arts
• The Inuit Amautik: I Like My Hood To Be Full, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Women of the North: An Exhibition of art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic, Marion Scott Gallery

Collections

• Bata Shoe Museum Foundation, Don Mills
• Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City
• GE Canada Inuit Art Collection, Mississauga
• Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
• McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton
• Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
• Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Red Deer and District Museum and Archives, Red Deer
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg