[2] Nupok was born in the small village of Gambell, on St. Lawrence Island off the western coast of Alaska, to Peter Aghnilu Okinello and Akimuq Qenaaghaq.

[4] At the end of 1927, archaeologist Otto William Geist was on St. Lawrence Island and commissioned Nupok to create drawings documenting the traditional practices of the early 20th-century Siberian Yupik.

Her drawings depicted everyday scenes and figurative studies, documenting fur clothing, food preparation, hunting, fishing, and life in homes and camps.

In 1955, she took a new commission from Anchorage artist Kay Roberts, who sold reprints of the artwork under the name "Bering Sea Originals."

[9] In 1964, Nupok was accepted into a government-funded designer-craftsman training course in Nome, Alaska, sponsored by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board.