Biography

The Ookpiks
Effective period / Period of releases: 1965
Members: Neil Merryweather, Ed Roth (3), Bob Ablack
In early 1965, singer Bobby Neilson aka Neil Merryweather replaced Muir and the group changed its name to The Ookpiks (after a native-designed stuffed toy owl called Ookpik that was being promoted by the Canadian government). As another Ookpiks group already existed, they briefly became The Sikusi's after another stuffed toy, but were unable to get permission from the Canadian government to use the name without compensation and finally settled on "Just Us". Through all of this they recorded a lone single on Quality which failed to sell, possibly due in part to confusion caused by the fact that some copies showed The Ookpiks, some The Sikusi's and some Just Us.