Dr Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher James AO (1937-2011) was an Australian sculptural artist, educator, linguist and elder of the Thainakuith people in Weipa, in the Western Cape York area of far north Queensland.

Thancoupie drew directly from her knowledge of Thainakuith culture, as well as ceramic and metal art practices, to produce her body of work.

[2][3] Thancoupie was born in 1937 at Weipa to Ida and Jimmy James and was given the name Thanakupi which means "wattle flower" in the Thaynakwith language.

[5] In 1957 bauxite mining began in Western Cape York and as a result, Thainakuith land became occupied by non-Indigenous people and culture.

Gradually Thainakuith land became increasingly subject to bauxite mining and forced the dislocation of a large portion of the community there, causing the significant loss of local cultural knowledge.

Thancoupie grew up using clay in a ceremonial context, and this direct contact with Country and ancestry inspired her training as a ceramicist in Sydney.

From 1976 to 1983 Thancoupie travelled internationally as a representative to the World Crafts Council, advocating the importance of ceramics in the process of cultural regeneration for First Nations Australians.

Thancoupie demonstrates the ability for ceramic and sculpture practices of First Nations Australian artists to continually expand and take on new significances.