Abraham Okpik travelled through many different and changing worlds. Life took him from the traditional nomadic way of life of the Alaskan Inupiat to a federal government office building in Ottawa. Like other Inuit of his generation, Okpik hunted and trapped, travelled by dogteam, and built igluit. Simultaneously, he was an avid reader with a knack for historical detail, a man who eventually took a leading role in the development of political institutions in the Canadian North.