596 - Paul Noot - Shared Sacred Ground

North Dakota artist Paul Noot, originally from the Marion and Valley City area, holds degrees from the University of North Dakota and Brooklyn College. A Bismarck High School teacher for more than three decades, he draws on his farming roots and experiences in New York to shape his work. His mural, Shared Sacred Ground in Mandan’s Art Alley, reflects the connection between Indigenous and pioneer histories.

Shared Sacred Ground sits on the wall as a meeting place, bringing together Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara traditions with the pioneer farming history that followed. The idea really centers on that connection. The Mandan woman represents the original farmers of this area, since women held that role in the tribes, and I wanted her to meet the pioneer farmer, which also reflects my own family background.

She stands with a garden hoe and is surrounded by the Three Sisters, beans, corn, and squash. The corn stalk is something I thought about quite a bit. One side shows Indigenous corn and the other sweet corn, growing from the same plant as a way to suggest how people can come together and share the same common ground.

I tried to keep the figures simple, more like silhouettes. The pioneer farmer includes elements of the prairie, a farmstead, windmill, and wheat worked into his form. There are small personal details too, like the wooden shoes and the colors of the Netherlands flag, which is a nod to my grandparents. And every farm needs a pig, duck, and chicken.

A lot of the mural is tied to the land itself. The lines trace the Missouri River and the Heart River, and together they form the shape of Morton County. I left those elements unlabelled so people can discover them over time. The butterfly is a monarch, which appears often in my work and represents rebirth, and it also holds meaning in Indigenous culture.

I included places and symbols that connect to Mandan, like old Highway 10, the refinery, Fort Lincoln, and rodeo imagery, along with a reference to Little Yellowjacket in the horn shapes.

This piece evolved more than most of my murals, especially working around the window and air conditioner. As a teacher, I try to bring the same process into the classroom, sharing ideas with students and encouraging them to keep creating. If you want to see more of my work, you can find murals in Bismarck, Jamestown, Valley City, and New Salem.