Napatchie Pootoogook
Napachie Pootoogook was born in 1938 at Sako, a small camp on south Baffin Island. She died in December, 2002, of cancer. Napachie was the only daughter of the late Pitseolak Ashoona.
Napatchie began drawing in the late 1950s. Since 1960 her work has been included in almost every annual collection of Cape Dorset prints. Napatchie and her husband moved into Cape Dorset in 1965, where they have continued to live, except for a two-year stay in Iqaluit in the early 1970s.
Napachies' work in recent years has focused on local history and stories about people and events in the Cape Dorset area, often with accompanying text to explain the circumstances. She thought of herself in her maturing years as an historian and chronicler of local oral history, and she has amassed a unique and important body of work. A selection of these contemporary drawings, along with a retrospective of her earlier work was exhibited and catalogued by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in their 1999 exhibitionThree Women, Three Generations. This exhibition also featured the work of her mother, Pitseolak Ashoona, and her niece, Suvinai Ashoona. A solo exhibition of her later autobiographical works opened in May, 2004 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Napatchie began drawing in the late 1950s. Since 1960 her work has been included in almost every annual collection of Cape Dorset prints. Napatchie and her husband moved into Cape Dorset in 1965, where they have continued to live, except for a two-year stay in Iqaluit in the early 1970s.
Napachies' work in recent years has focused on local history and stories about people and events in the Cape Dorset area, often with accompanying text to explain the circumstances. She thought of herself in her maturing years as an historian and chronicler of local oral history, and she has amassed a unique and important body of work. A selection of these contemporary drawings, along with a retrospective of her earlier work was exhibited and catalogued by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in their 1999 exhibitionThree Women, Three Generations. This exhibition also featured the work of her mother, Pitseolak Ashoona, and her niece, Suvinai Ashoona. A solo exhibition of her later autobiographical works opened in May, 2004 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
