Matchewan Noël (August 17, 1944 – April 12, 2021) was a Canadian civil servant and award-winning writer of

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

descent from the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...

region of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. The son of Jean-Marechal Noël, he was born in

Messines Messines may refer to: * Mesen (in French: Messines), a village in Belgium **Battle of Messines (disambiguation), World War I battles * Messines, Quebec, a municipality in Canada * São Bartolomeu de Messines São Bartolomeu de Messines, also ref ...

and grew up in the

La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve La Vérendrye wildlife reserve is one of the largest reserves in the province of Quebec, Canada, covering of contiguous land and lake area (Assinica wildlife reserve is the largest in the province, but its territory is broken up in four non-cont ...

and in the Maniwaki and Abitibi regions of Quebec. He received a

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from the École normale de Hull, then a BA and MA from

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...

. In 1983, he completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

; his thesis was on

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between Human food, food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well ver ...

in the 16th and 17th centuries. From 1977 to 1980, Noël was director of the Service de l'artisanat et des métiers d'art for the Quebec

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

. He continued to serve in various positions in the same department and most recently has been a coordinator for First Nations affairs. In terms of creative output, he wrote novels, poetry, reference works, stories and plays for young audiences and articles which have appeared in various specialty magazines. During the 1980s, Noël wrote an acclaimed series of books based on First Nations stories, ''Les Papinachois''. He was also a narrator for several films. Noël led workshops in schools, colleges and universities, and taken part in various conferences on First Nations issues. He was named a ''chevalier'' in the French

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

in 2003 for promoting French language and culture. In 1998, he was named a Global Citizen by the

United Nations Association in Canada The United Nations Association in Canada (UNA-Canada) is a historic charitable organization focused on multilateralism in Canada. Established in 1946, UNA-Canada was a founding member of the World Federation of United Nations Association. Missio ...

. In 2008, he was awarded the in the Francophonie category. He was named a ''chevalier'' in the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

in 2011. In 2012, Noël was a finalist for the

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award () is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002). The prize is five million SEK, making it ...

Selected works

Sources: * ''Pien'', youth fiction (1996), in 1997, received the Governor General's Award for French-language children's literature * ''La ligne de trappe'' (1998), received the * ''Journal d’un bon à rien'' (1999), translated as ''Good for nothing'' (2004), received the Geoffrey Bilson Award * (2000) * ''Hiver indien'' (2001) * ''Le Kitchimanitou'' (2003) * ''Hush! Hush!'' (2004) * ''Nishka'' (2009), finalist for a Governor General's Award * ''À la recherche du bout du monde'' (2012), received the

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award The TD Canadian Children's Literature Award is an annual Canadian literary award, presented to the year's best work of children's literature. Sponsored by TD Bank Financial Group and the Canadian Children's Book Centre, the award carries a monetar ...

*''Métis'' (2019)

References

External links

Fonds Michel Noël (R13134)
at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

*
xcerpt from ''À la recherche du bout du monde'' (''In Search of the End of the World'') in English translation
1944 births 2021 deaths Algonquin people Governor General's Award–winning children's writers Poets from Quebec Quebec civil servants Canadian poets in French Knights of the National Order of Quebec Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian children's writers in French Université Laval alumni {{Canada-poet-stub