Florida Seminole Tourism

Honoring an Enduring Legacy: Spotlight on Noah Billie

You know a painting by Noah Billie when you see one. Richly colored and graphic, Billie’s paintings weave together Seminole culture, traditions, and history with his own lens and perspective. A Vietnam veteran, Billie began painting after his service, channeling all that he had experienced, learned, and lived into his art. Today, join us to look at Billie’s life and the enduring legacy of his work.

In our featured image, you can see a painting by Noah Billie from 1992. A Seminole man poles a dugout canoe into a camp, emerging from a cypress stand on the left. He wears a patchwork bigshirt. Below, you can see the artist standing in front of his painting at an unknown date.

2015.6.19533, ATTK Museum

Early Life

Noah Billie was born September 14, 1948 to Charlie Billieboy and Alice Huff. With four older sisters and two younger brothers, Noah Billie grew up learning Seminole traditions from his parents and grandparents. His family moved to the Hollywood Reservation when Billie was around eight, a stark contrast to his previous childhood barefoot in the Trail, Big Cypress, and Brighton communities.

A high school football star, he was remembered by Moses Jumper, Jr. as a force to be reckoned with on the field. “He was the biggest guy we had,” said Jumper, Jr., who remembers Noah as the first one picked for football games, the last one you wanted to pick a fight with. “But he had a gentle, sensitive side, too.” (3 March 2000, Seminole Tribune) He would leave Hollywood to finish his education, graduating from Chilocco Indian School in Oklahoma in 1966. He enlisted in the Marines quickly after.

 

Military Service and Beyond

Much of Billie’s later life would be heavily impacted by his time in the Marines. Billie served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970, during a period of the conflict that was particularly brutal. He, and all the other Seminoles who served in Vietnam, would come back. But, not without paying a heavy price. He was heavily exposed to Agent Orange, known for its devastating long-term effects. It would be at the root of his deteriorating health. Beyond his physical health issues, Billie also struggled to come back mentally from war and dealing with that trauma. His art, which began to flourish and become more refined in the decades after his return, was his way of processing those emotions.

During this period, he would earn his associate’s degree from the Institute of American Indian Art (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM. One of his teachers, Linda Lomahaftewa “remembered Noah as a painter of traditional Seminole subjects. ‘That’s what I liked about him,’ she said. ‘We encourage all our students to paint from their experience, and he did that beautifully.” (3 March 2000, Seminole Tribune) New Mexico, which had become almost a second home for Billie, was a place also marked with struggle. Billie would lose his younger brother, Jonah, in Santa Fe in 1992. The duo had completed the coursework at IAIA together.

Returning home and in worsening health, Billie would enter his most successful creative period. At the end of his life, Billie had hit his artistic stride. He had been able to support himself off his art for a number of years, causing the late Billy L. Cypress to call Billie “the best painter we have produced, so far.” (3 March 2000, Seminole Tribune) He would pass away only one month before his very first major exhibition at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. Billie “was really looking forward to his show,” wife Brenda recalled. (3 March 2000, Seminole Tribune)

2015.6.31321, ATTK Museum

Above, Noah Billie, Paul Bowers and Mitchell Cypress (L-R) leading the Grand Procession at the 1991 Tribal Fair at the Laura Mae Osceola Stadium on the Hollywood Reservation.

 

An Enduring Legacy

Noah Billie passed away January 20, 2000 at the young age of 51. Now, nearly 25 years later, his voice, his art, and his perspective are still incredibly potent and shining examples of Seminole excellence. Just two months ago, on November 7, 2024 the Brighton Reservation held a Veterans Day ceremony to honor tribal and non-tribal veterans and their sacrifices.

Guest Speaker Ret. U.S. Army Brigadier General Nolen Bivens shared how art can help veterans heal after battle and help process trauma. Bivens strongly advocated for veterans’ mental health services, and cited the Creative Forces program, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs with the National Endowment for the Arts. “I look at Noah Billie,” Bevins said. “He came back from Vietnam, but he did something creative. He started painting and that helped him heal. His hands went from destruction to creating. We need to create spaces and opportunities for veterans to heal.”

At the ceremony, Billie was also honored with a plaque commemorating his four years of service in the United States Marine Corps. Daughter Amy Cox accepted it on behalf of the family, stating that “My dad’s feeling about his service is best represented in his paintings.”

 

Noah Billie’s Art Today

Following his passing, a number of people mourned the loss not only of the man, but also the loss of what he could have shared with the world. Patricia Wickman stated that “His brilliantly clear vision of the Seminole world was equaled only by his sense of the dramatic and his love of his culture. Noah’s talent should have taken him, and the Seminole people, a great deal farther than it was able to. The Seminole people have lost an articulate, artistic spokesperson.” ((3 March 2000, Seminole Tribune)

But, the last 25 years have also served as an example of the enduring legacy of what he was able to leave behind. His unique perspective and striking paintings still resonate, continuing to find their way into art shows, exhibitions, and installations. Below, you can see museum visitors at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota on March. 18, 2023 viewing a selection of Billie’s paintings. The pieces were loaned by the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, and were included in the exhibition “Reclaiming Home: Contemporary Seminole Art.” At the show, President Mitchell Cypress shared “He painted what he saw over there and did paintings of warriors. That’s something that he left that reminds us of him.”

Image by Beverly Bidney, Via the Seminole Tribune

Influences and Art

Billie’s art was distinctive and moving, taking influence from his own life and experiences and channeling it into each painting. As we explore some of his pieces, we will also discuss some of the themes and influences that can be found throughout his work.

 

Patriotism, Service, and Soldiers

“Three Seminole Scouts”, 1991.3.1, ATTK Museum

Billie often painted historic Seminole war period scenes, like this one above. Here, three scouts walk through a stand of tall, grey cypress trees. Note that three scouts are all in a vibrant primary color, a stark contrast to the ghostly grey of the cypress stand. It is clear that Billie felt a kinship with the warriors of the past in his own service, often painting images that showed his own experiences and service.

 

“Osceola”, 1990.1.1, ATTK Museum

Billie painted this bust of Osceola in 1990. In it, Osceola is shown with an American flag draped around his shoulders. Just prior to Osceola’s death, he sat for three artists while imprisoned in South Carolina. Their portraits have since become famous, often used in talking about Osceola’s life and influence. Billie’s rendering of Osceola mirrors theirs, with his upturned face, kerchief, and gorget. But, Billie takes it a step further, quite literally wrapping Osceola in a mantle of true Native American patriotism and sacrifice.

The flag, which is depicted upside down, cloaks Osceola’s shoulders. It is one of Billie’s most controversial paintings, considering Osceola was at war and died at the hands of the United States. Even this has had varying interpretations, as shown in a 2000 Seminole Tribune article about the artist. “To me, it’s stating that the Seminoles were always mistreated and deceived by the U.S. government, and Osceola was a prime example of that,’ said Mark Billie, Noah’s brother. Brenda Billie offers a very different interpretation: ‘An upside-down flag meant distress. It was a warrior in trouble, and he needed his countrymen’s help.” (3 March 2000, Seminole Tribune)

 

2011.11.1, ATTK Museum

Like in the Osceola painting, Billie often wove in themes of patriotism, pride, and service when depicting warriors and soldiers. In this painting, a modern Seminole warrior marches through tall grass, surrounded by helicopters. Mirrored above him, a historic Seminole warrior is depicted in the sky. Billie draws a distinct parallel between the soldier below with the historic Seminole warrior. Furthermore, the warrior above almost watches over the soldier below, as he marches through the grass.

 

Modern Seminoles and Traditions

“Traditions,” 1992.4.1, ATTK Museum

In this painting, five Seminoles sit around a medicine wheel on the ground. To the right, an elder is depicted in traditional dress. To the left, three men and one young woman intently watch him. The group is dressed in modern, western clothing and looks youthful. Watching the entire group are clan animals, shown as shadows in the sky. This painting speaks to the modern Seminole experience, where cultural shifts and changes in ways of life have altered how the youth dress, interact, and live their lives. But, despite this divide, they still look towards the past, and the traditions that have gotten them there. While they look toward the elder, the clan animals watch them from above, almost protective.

In this, Billie is also drawing from his own life experience. Billie would move to the Hollywood Reservation as a young child, around 8. Living there was a stark contrast to his previous life among the Trail, Big Cypress, and Brighton communities. In a 2000 Seminole Tribune article on Billie, they noted that his wife Brenda “remembers Noah as a man who straddled at least two cultures: the traditional Seminole culture of his parents and grand-parents — the way of life he lived on the Trail and Big Cypress and Brighton — and the swiftly changing urban landscape he saw when the family moved to Hollywood.” (3 March 2000, Seminole Tribune)

 

Landscapes and Fauna

Another theme we can see running through Billie’s work is an homage to the Everglades, to the land and the animals that live in it. Many of Billie’s paintings show cypress stands, grasses, and striking Florida landscapes. They don’t feel like mere backgrounds; but rather living elements of the painting itself. The grasses are in movement, the canoes glide through the water, and the birds fly. In camp scenes, the smoke from the fire curls upward.

2015.6.32626, ATTK Museum

Here, A Seminole man poles a dugout canoe through a marsh and past chickees in front of a cypress forest. Below, you can see Billie’s unique study of an anhinga, with its wings splayed wide.

 

2015.6.18350, ATTK Museum

Noah Billie has left an enduring legacy that can be found beyond his oil paintings. Proud of his heritage and traditions, he communicated that not only through his individual paintings but also his actions and other art. During his career, he also illustrated an alphabet used to teach Miccosukee children, carved totem poles for Coo-Thun Chobee, and collaborated on “Seminole Colors,” a coloring book used at Ahfachkee School which helps to explain Seminole culture through images. (3 March 2000, Seminole Tribune).

We encourage you to explore more of Noah Billie’s paintings, art, and life on your on time. A number of paintings can be found in the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum Online Collection, as well as on the main Seminole Tribe of Florida website.

 

Author Bio

Originally from Washington state, Deanna Butler received her BA in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Washington in 2014. Deanna moved to Florida in 2016. Soon, she began working for the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Deanna was the THPO’s Archaeological Collections Assistant from 2017-2021. While at the THPO, Deanna worked to preserve, support, and process the Tribe’s archaeological collection. She often wrote the popular Artifact of the Month series and worked on many community and educational outreach programs. She lives in Lakeland, FL with her husband, two sons, and dog.

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