Ipellie worked as a journalist, cartoonist and editor for
Inuit Monthly (aka
Inuit Today) during the 1970s and 80s. In 1974, he started producing the comic strip "Ice Box" He also participated in films like
The Owl and the Raven and
Legends and Life of the Inuit. He then went on to create the comic strip Nuna and Vut in the 1990s. These cartoons explored Inuit life during the creation of
Nunavut. Using humour and illustrations, he commented on the social issues and inequity in Inuit communities. Some of his poetry "The Igloos Are Calm in the Camp," "The Dancing Sun," "The Water Moved an Instant Before" were published in special issues of
Canadian Literature. Professor Michael P. J. Kennedy believes "Ipellie to be one of Canada's finest, and under-rated, aboriginal writers." He collaborated with authors providing the illustrations to books like
Paper stays put: a collection of Inuit writing edited by Robin Gedalof. In his poem entitled "Hot to Warm and Cool to Cold", he wrote, Other poems that have been published in poetry anthologies and journals, include "Nipikti the Old Man Carver," "Frobisher Bay Childhood," "Damn Those Invaders" and "Siqiniq 'The Sun'". In 1993, the first book that exclusively featured Ipellie's stories and his pen and ink drawings, was published—
Arctic Dreams and Nightmares. In 2005, Ipellie wrote the foreword for the illustrated book entitled
The Diary of Abraham Ulrikab: Text and Context, the story of
Ulrikab (1845 - 1881) who became an attraction in one of
Carl Hagenbeck's ethnographical shows in
Hamburg, Germany. The book was published in German in 2007. He co-authored content for Inuit.net with
Carol Rigby on Nunavut. His 2009 illustrated book entitled
I Shall Wait and Wait, which was published after he had died, described the traditional Inuit seal hunt. == Artwork in public collections ==