Okpik, an Inuvialuk, was born January 12, 1928, in the Mackenzie Delta area of the Northwest Territories, near Aklavik at a summer fishing camp.

He remained in the hospital for three years where he further improved his English, which eventually led to a job as a translator with the Distant Early Warning Line.

He began in his native language before transitioning to fluent English to advocate for a higher standard of living in the North arguing Inuit "must have a voice in development.

[9] They were deemed necessary to facilitate the distribution of family allowances due to the absence of surnames within Inuit communities and the frequency of name changes over the course of a person's life.

[4] In the mid-1960s the Northwest Territories Council undertook to replace the disc numbers with last names under Project Surname.

[6] From 1968 until 1971, Okpik visited every community, as well as many traditional campsites, in the Northwest Territories and what is now Nunavut and Nunavik in northern Quebec.

The inquiry lasted longer and travelled further than was expected, through 35 northern communities,[12] and Okpik accompanied Berger as both an interpreter and broadcaster.

In recognition of Okpik's work with the "Berger Commission", on the NWT Council and for "Project Surname" he was made a "Member of the Order of Canada".