Saggiassie (Sakiassie) lived for many years in Tikirak camp near Cape Dorset. This traditional life kept him busy hunting and fishing most of the year, so that he found time to draw only in the summer months. Around 1956, he went south for tuberculosis treatment, before returning to settle in Cape Dorset in 1962. Interviewed for the exhibition “Strange Scenes: Early Cape Dorset Drawings”, Sakiassie talks about his approach to drawing: “The old way of drawing was very different. There was a lot of imagination then. Now, actual creatures and other things are drawn. I drew lots of subjects from traditional life. I also drew lots of things that are imaginary because I didn’t know what to draw,” — excerpt from “Strange Scenes: Early Cape Dorset Drawings”, 1993
Alternative Names:
- Ragee Ragee
- Sakiassie Ragee
- Sakkeassie Ragee
- Saggiassie Ragee
- Sakkiassie
- Sakeasie
