Florence Nupok Malewotkuk

Florence Nupok Malewotkuk (March 4, 1906 – 1971), also spelled Napaaq Maligutkak, was a Siberian Yupik artist known for her drawings of native Eskimo culture, scenes of local wildlife, and documentation of native tattoos. She was also a skilled artisan of beaded items such as sealskin Mukluks, toys, and slippers. Nupok's artwork has been exhibited across the United States and is in the permanent collection of institutions including the University of Alaska, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, and the Smithsonian Institution. With resources scarce, Nupok would draw on drawing tablets, labels from tin cans, or on sealskin.

Nupok married Chauncy Malewotkuk in 1926. The couple adopted a son, Woodrow, in 1933. Geist published several of her drawings in his report Archaeological Excavations at Kukulik, which was published by the United States Department of the Interior. The collection of drawings is now housed at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska, with copies in the Smithsonian.

Later career For some years after the Geist commission, Nupok focused on homemaking. In 1955, she took a new commission from Anchorage artist Kay Roberts, who sold reprints of the artwork under the name "Bering Sea Originals." Roberts paid for the artwork, but Nupok did not receive any additional profits from the sale of these works.

In 1964, Nupok was accepted into a government-funded designer-craftsman training course in Nome, Alaska, sponsored by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. She was the only woman in the 32-person class, which was a program of the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962. That same year, the University of Alaska showed a retrospective of her work.