[2] Little is known about his teenage years, however by the late 1950s he was earning a living as a well-respected carver primarily selling to fur traders in the Cape Dorset area.
[2] He became one of the earliest Inuit artists to achieve prominence for his sculpture outside of the Canadian North.
[2] Tunnillie was a major influence on his daughter Oviloo, inspiring her own interest in carving.
[2] Following the birth of his children, Toonoo supported his family through carving primarily serpentinite stone.
[2] In 1966, Toonoo sold his daughter's work through a Hudson's Bay Company trading post several kilometer's away from the family's home, marking the start of her formal artistic career.