[1] He began recording in the early 1970s, including projects for broadcaster CBC Northern Service.
His Inuktitut language rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (ᕈᑕᒥ ᑐᒃᑐᒐᖃᓚᐅᓂᐳᖅ, Rutami tuktugaqalaunipuq) with Lorna Tasseor was featured on the 1996 compilation A Northern Christmas (ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐ ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒡᕕᒃ, Ukiuqtaqtu quviasugvik).
Charlie Panigoniak was born on 7 March 1946 in the town of Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories.
This meant that he was cut off from the majority of the mainstream cultural happenings in Canada and would have been heavily influenced by the traditions of his community.
In the late 1950s the Canadian government decided to settle starving inland Inuit in a variety of coastal communities.
Ward was a producer with CBC and liked Panigoniak's sound so much that he arranged for a recording session in Toronto during the following summer.