William Lyall (born 1941 in

Fort Ross Fort Ross (, , Kashaya: ) is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America in what is now Sonoma County, California. Owned and operated by the Russian-American Company, it was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlemen ...

- 28 December 2021A 'man of community': Remembering Cambridge Bay's Bill Lyall
/ref>), known as Bill Lyall, of

Cambridge Bay Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: Inuktitut syllabics, Inuktitut: ; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 1,760; Census geographic units of Canada#Population centres, population centre 1,403) is a Hamlet (place)#Canada, hamlet located on Victoria Is ...

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

, Canada, was a territorial politician. Lyall was elected to the 8th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly in the 1975 election. Lyall grew up in

Taloyoak Taloyoak or Talurjuaq (Inuktitut syllabics: ᑕᓗᕐᔪᐊᖅ ), formerly known as Spence Bay until 1 July 1992, although the body of water on which it is situated continues to be known as Spence Bay — same as the body of water on which ...

, known then as Spence Bay,

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

, one of ten children of Ernie and Nipisha Lyall. Lyall was a residential school survivor. He attended

Sir John Franklin High School École Sir John Franklin High School is a high school in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, operated by Yellowknife Education District No. 1. The school is named for the explorer Sir John Franklin. Sir John Franklin (SJFHS) offers the ...

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

and then a technology college in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. After returning to Taloyoak, he later moved to Cambridge Bay. In 1975, he was elected to the NWT Legislature. He ran again in the 1979 election, as did his younger brother Bobby Lyall, but the election was won by

Kane Tologanak Kane Tologanak ( – March 24, 2025) was a Canadian Copper Inuk and politician who was a Member of the Northwest Territories Legislature from 1979 to 1983. Tologanak was elected to the Northwest Territories Legislature in the Central Arctic d ...

. In 1978, Lyall was elected president of the Ikaluktutiak Co-op in Cambridge Bay. By 1993, he had helped the Co-op grow from $300,000 in assets to $2.3 million. Later in the 1970s he became a director of Canadian Arctic Producers, a native owned arts and crafts wholesaler. In 1981, he helped form the

Arctic Co-operatives Limited Arctic Co-operatives Limited is a cooperative federation owned and controlled by 32 community-based cooperative business enterprises located in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon, Canada. Arctic Co-ops coordinates resources, consolidates t ...

, a merger between the Canadian Arctic Co-operative Federation and Canadian Arctic Producers.National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation
/ref> He was the vice-president and president of the Arctic Cooperative, a position he has held for several years, and represented the communities of

Kugluktuk Kugluktuk (, ; Inuktitut syllabics: ; ), known as Coppermine until 1 January 1996, is a hamlet at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Island. It is Nunavut's ...

, Cambridge Bay,

Gjoa Haven Gjoa Haven (; Inuktitut: Uqsuqtuuq, syllabics: ᐅᖅᓱᖅᑑᖅ , meaning "lots of fat", referring to the abundance of sea mammals in the nearby waters; or �ʒɔa evən is an Inuit hamlet in Nunavut, above the Arctic Circle, located in th ...

, Taloyoak,

Kugaaruk Kugaaruk (Inuktitut syllabics: ᑰᒑᕐᔪᒃ ''Kuugaarjuk'' or ᑰᒑᕐᕈᒃ ''Kuugaarruk''; English: "little stream") (also called ''Arviligjuaqy'', meaning "the great bowhead whale habitat"), formerly known as Pelly Bay until 3 December 1 ...

(all in Nunavut) and

Ulukhaktok Ulukhaktok ((Kangiryuarmiutun (Inuit): , ) and known until 1 April 2006 as ''Holman'' or ''Holman Island'') is a small Inuvialuit Settlement Region hamlet on the west coast of Victoria Island, in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, C ...

(Northwest Territories). In 1992, he was awarded the

125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal The 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal () is a commemorative medal struck by the Royal Canadian Mint to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada and was awarded to Canadians who were deemed to have made ...

and in 1994 he won the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now the Indspire Awards, for business. In 2002, he was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal () or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was ...

Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
/ref> and in 2003, he was made a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in recognition of his work with the Arctic Cooperative.Order of Canada
/ref> He received the

Order of Nunavut The Order of Nunavut is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Instituted in 2010 it is the highest honour which can be bestowed by the Government of Nunavut. It is intended to honour current and former residents of the ...

in 2015. Lyall was also vice-chair of the Nunavut Implementation Commission.

References

External links

Campaigning on brotherly love from CBC
a video clip of Bill and Bobby Lyall {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyall, Bill 1941 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Inuit people 21st-century Inuit people Inuit politicians People from Taloyoak 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Inuit from the Northwest Territories Indspire Awards People from Cambridge Bay Inuit from Nunavut Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Nunavut