Early Life, Family and Training

William Noah was born in 1943 at his family’s camp in Back River (Haningayok), N.W.T. His early years were shaped by the movement of his family, who eventually settled in Qamani’tuaq when he was a pre-teenager. He grew up in a household where art was a constant presence. His mother, Jessie Oonark, was an artist, and he was raised alongside his sisters, Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, Janet Kigusiuq, and Nancy Pukingrnak, who also became accomplished artists. This environment provided a foundation of visual storytelling from a young age.

As a child, William Noah was among the first Inuit youth in his community to attend federal day school. This period of formal schooling coincided with his growing interest in drawing. By 1963, he had begun making works more consistently, moving from simple sketches toward a more deliberate practice. In 1965, he entered the printshop at Qamani’tuaq’s Sanavik Co-op, where he began his work as a printmaker. This technical training in the printshop helped define the precision and graphic clarity that would characterize his later output.

Artistic Technique and Style

Noah’s hand changed depending on the medium he held. When working with prints, he applied a hard edge precision that defined the shapes clearly. His drawings, however, moved with a looser, impressionistic style. He often used photographs as a starting point, translating the captured image into a painting. This process allowed him to move between the stillness of a photograph and the movement of his own brushwork.

His choice of materials was varied. He worked with acrylic paint, oils, and coloured pencils. He did not limit himself to paper, often choosing canvas or plywood to support his compositions. These tools helped him explore a specific way of seeing. He was interested in the idea of looking from the outside in, attempting to show how humans and animals might appear if their internal structures were visible through their skin.

Much of his work focuses on the reality of life in a settlement. He used his perspective to depict the urbanization of Qamani’tuaq, capturing the specific way people and animals occupy the landscape. His sketches often feel like plein-air studies, capturing a fleeting moment of the Arctic environment.

Political and Community Leadership

Noah’s life was shaped by the practical needs of his community. He spent much of his time navigating the structures of local and territorial governance. From 1979 until 1982, he held a seat in the Northwest Territories Legislature, representing the Keewatin North electoral district. His involvement in the administration of Qamani’tuaq was deep and sustained, including two terms serving as mayor. He was a man who understood the mechanics of how a settlement functions, from the halls of government to the local co-operative.

His leadership extended into the organizations that supported the local economy and the arts. He held the presidency of the Sanavik Co-operative and later served as the president of the Canadian Arctic Producers from July 1978 to May 1979. These roles required a steady hand in managing the resources and interests of the people in Baker Lake. Later, his work took him into the sphere of industrial relations, where he worked as a Community Liaison Officer on the Kiggavik Project for AREVA Resources Canada.

Artistic Circles and Collaborations

Noah’s creative life was often tied to the people around him in Qamani’tuaq. He was part of a group called the Art and Cold Cash Collective, working alongside Sheila Butler, Ruby Arngna’naaq, Patrick Mahon, and Jack Butler. This group held exhibitions together, including one titled Art and Cold Cash. These connections showed a shared commitment to making art within the community.

In 1995, he helped organize a major exhibition called Qamanittuaq (Where the River Widens): Drawings by Baker Lake Artists. This project was a collaborative effort with Marion Jackson and Judith Nasby. The exhibition was more than just a display of drawings; it included a memoir written by Noah himself, offering a personal look at the lives and people of the region.

Notable Works and Themes

In his early years, Noah’s work often touched on shamanic references. These pieces frequently depicted shamans in the process of shedding their flesh, revealing the bones and internal organs beneath. This interest in the anatomy of living beings—seeing through the surface to the skeletal and muscular structures—became a recurring element in his vision. He looked at the world from the outside in, focusing on how the internal mechanics of a body relate to its outward movement.

The Arctic landscape and the animals that inhabit it form the core of his imagery. He captured the quiet presence of the land and the creatures moving through it. His drawings and paintings often focus on the specific details of these animals and the shifting light of the north. His compositions frequently center on the relationship between the physical body and the environment it occupies.

• The Skeletoned Caribou (1974)
• Quviuq’s Journey (1974)
• The Vision of a Man Cutting Snow Blocks (1978)
• Muskox Under the Sun (1979)

Later Years and Death

In the final decades of his life, William Noah remained rooted in Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU. He continued to work with a steady hand, maintaining a prolific practice that spanned nearly fifty years. His studio remained a place of constant activity, producing works in acrylic paint and coloured pencil that reflected the changing landscape of the settlement and the animals around him.

His output in these later years included a variety of media, from drawings on paper and plywood to digital prints. He continued to engage with the community through his art and his presence in the local area. This long-term commitment to his craft saw his work move from the printshops of the Sanavik Co-operative into broader collections and exhibitions. His artistic life was a continuous thread that ran alongside his many other roles in the community.

William Noah passed away in July 2020. Following his death, his studio in Qamani’tuaq was cleared, and many of his remaining works were sent to Toronto. These pieces, created during the last thirty years of his life, provide a record of his perspective on the Arctic and the people who live there.