Of Denesuline and Saulteaux descent, Alexandre Simeon Janvier was born in 1935 on the Le Goff Reserve in Alberta and had a traditional upbringing, speaking the Dene language. At the age of eight, he became a pupil at the Blue Quills Indian Residential School, where he was encouraged to pursue art. Janvier has devoted himself to the development of Indigenous art as an artist, activist, educator and government consultant. In 2002, Janvier received a National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award and he was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2007. Alex Janvier lives and works in Cold Lake, Alberta.