What do pencil crayons and the community of Qamani’tuaq have in common? The answer is Jesse Oonark and William Noah.

Pencil crayons.

The hard, waxy, scribbly scholastic tool in pastel colours for colouring maps, graphs and event posters. They were a memory aid and a way to keep organised. Drawing with pencil crayons required elbow grease to deepen the tone and this usually risked in shredding the whole page. They were difficult to control and usually ended up at the bottom of my tool kit covered in vine charcoal dust.

This is why my brain did back flips when I saw “Skeletoned Caribou” a drawing by William Noah at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

“Wait…this is pencil crayon? Wow!” I thought. Clearly I had not given this drawing implement a fair shake. Then I thought, “Who is William Noah?” I had really missed out on someone. The delicate, brightly coloured carcass of a caribou stood out around the other pieces with the intense pencil skills mixed with the Indigenous way of being. I had to find out who this guy was…. but then I found out about his mother!

Jesse Oonark (b 1906- d 1985) was a member of the Utkusiksalingmiut people. They lived a semi nomadic and traditional life in the area now known as Nunavut. Jesse was influenced by her father who was a shaman. It was their belief that drawing was taboo and it was forbidden because creating likeness attracted the spirit world. Jesse was warned not draw even though she tried. Instead, she lived traditionally, preparing skins and sewing clothing. She married at 12 and had 13 children. It was a hard life in Nunavut in the 1950’s and there was frequent hunger in her community due to a sudden migration shift in the caribou. After 4 of her children died, Jesse Oonark had to move her family to Baker Lake, which is now known as Qamani’tuaq.

After her husband died, Jesse Oonark worked as a janitor and sewing and selling traditional garments. A visiting biologist saw that she had artistic talent and gave her a set of drawing pencils. Although Jesse was criticized by members of her community for drawing, she did it anyways. But the community shifted their tone when they saw her work and was recognised by the Baker Lake art advisor and given a small salary and a studio to work from as a fulltime artist. This was set up by the Canadian government as a series of grants for Indigenous craft makers to make money outside of living off the land.

Oonark drew traditional images and created tapestries as well. There were also images of her former life living off the land and hunting and fishing. Her work always featured female figures. Unfortunately for us, Jesse Oonark lost feeling in her hands in 1979 so her drawing career ended abruptly.

Oonark was named the Officer of the Order of Canada in 1987. Over 100 of her drawings have been made into prints. She was the first artist who wasn’t from Cape Dorset to be featured as a Cape Dorset Artist. A large collection of her work lives at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. All of Jesse Oonark’s children became established, respected artists as well but most notable was her son William Noah.

William Noah was born in 1943 in Qamani’tuaq. His mother encouraged him to draw. In 1965 he became a printmaker and also drew using pencil crayon and pastels. His mother had worked imaged from memory but Noah was able to use photographs as a reference. He was also interested in the land, traditional ways and shamanic rituals but he didn’t mimic his mother’s style. He was looser and used impressionistic mark making with deeper colours to finish his images. His most famous works show a kind of x ray vision of animals and humanity with shamanism as a theme. Shamans as apprentices learn to rid themselves of flesh so that all that remains are internal organs and bones. Noah’s works talk about shamanism and tradition but also about movement and the cycle of life and death.

William Noah was also an elected politician in The North West Territories Legislature from 1979-1982. His art work lives in many collections across Canada but you can see a large body of his work at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Manitoba, Canada.

If you are interested in more amazing drawing and coloured pencil art, look up the Cape Dorset artists.