William Noah
(1943-2020) - Qamani'tuaq (Baker Lake), NU
A Remembrance by Phillip Gevik:
"I met Mr. Noah in 1978 at Gallery Phillip in Don Mills, while hosting my first exhibition of Indigenous drawings. He had come down from Baker Lake and was very excited to be in the big city. As the mayor of Qamani’tuaq, he was also looking forward to meet with an environmental lawyer in London, Ontario. Noah was very concerned about mining in his region - the use of dynamite was quite common and it affected his community’s ability to hunt caribou, as the explosions scared the wild life away. Later on, I took him to a Middle Eastern restaurant for dinner and he abruptly left right after the meal, upon learning that the belly dancers would be starting soon! He preferred to go back to his hotel to watch the hockey game. As it turns out, Ralph Champion, the manager of the Don Mills Shopping Centre at the time, had tickets to see the game and, to Noah's joy, offered to take him to Maple Leaf Gardens to see them play live! I look back on this time so happily and I was very sorry to hear about his passing. He will be missed.” – Phillip Gevik
William Noah’s artwork reflected his love of the land and animals from the Kitchecut area where he grew up. He was primarily based in Baker Lake, where he cemented himself as a key figure, not only in the studio, but as a prominent member of the community. He was a member of the Northwest Territories Legislature and was elected mayor of Qamani’tuaq twice. Noah, along with a group of four other artists created the Art and Cold Cash Collective, which held a number of exhibitions.
Noah was a versatile artist who practiced in a variety of media, but focused primarily on prints and drawings. He established his prominence as a graphic artist in the very early Baker Lake Graphic Collections and comes from an artistic family - his mother and three siblings are also accomplished artists. William Noah’s work can be found in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, ON and the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, QC.
