Artist Ambassador Program

Beatrice Deer, Canadian Aboriginal Music Award-Winning and Canadian Folk Music AwardWinning singer-songwriter, is from Nunavik. Half Inuit and half Mohawk, Deer left her small village of Quaqtaq, QC. in 2007. She has five albums to her credit. This is a body of work in which she uniquely blends Traditional Inuit Throat Singing and Contemporary Indie Rock. “My All to You”, her fifth album, marks a milestone in the history of ‘Inuindi’ music (a genre pioneered by Deer), as for the first time, she composed all of the original music and lyrics. The themes covered encompass classic Inuit folk tales and legends, and also deal with personal growth as an important tool in the search for understanding and the search for meaning. She has won over audiences around the world and her songs are particularly loved in the Canadian Arctic, where audiences sing her songs during the many concerts she performs there. She sings in three languages: Inuktitut, English and French. As a role model for her community and a healthy lifestyle activist, Deer is often invited to speak. Her main message is that each of us must take control of our own life. 

“No one else can do it for us. It is impossible to change what has happened. You can only adopt new ways of dealing with the past.” 

www.beatricedeerband.com

Becky (Koonoo) Han is a singer, songwriter and author originally from Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay), NU, who lives and works in Saskatchewan. Han is also known for her presence on social media platforms like TikTok, where she shares new songs and Inuktitut language lessons with her more than 22,000 followers. After asking for donations to the Inuujaq School in Ikpiarjuk in 2020, Han’s tweet caught the attention of actor Ryan Reynolds, who got in touch and collaborated with Canada Goose to donate more than 300 new parkas and additional winter apparel. 

Han began writing after moving to southern Canada, both as a way to retain her grasp on the language and to feel closer to home. “In the beginning I was very homesick…it was my way of feeling connected with my language and culture and people,” she says. While she initially wrote prose, she transitioned to songwriting when her husband gifted her a guitar one Christmas after hearing her talk about it, teaching herself to play using YouTube and Googling chords. 

Musically, Han resists labelling her sound with genres like pop or indie, instead considering it “modern,” providing a different option to the folk songs that are more widely available for Inuktitut-speakers.“You have everything under the sun that’s in English,” she says. “I want that to be the case for Inuktitut content.” She is influenced by “strong Inuit women,” singers and performers like Elisapie, Susan Aglukark and Tanya Tagaq. In 2021 she adapted her award-winning song “Qaariaq” into the children’s book The Bee, which was published in both English and Inuktitut. Although “Qaariaq” and its accompanying book were for children, most of Han’s music is actually written for adults, acoustic songs with themes of life, love and struggles.  

Han’s successes as a songwriter have won her multiple awards at both the Nunavut Department of Culture and Heritage’s Qilaut Inuktut children’s songwriting contest (2016 and 2019) and at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association’s Inuktitut song/poem contest (2018 and 2019). Han opened for Tagaq during her tour stop at the West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg in March 2017, and has performed at Alianait 2020 and the Telling Tales Festival in fall 2021, among other appearances. Han also works from home for the Canadian Red Cross, where she has been working on the Nipivut Youth Leadership Conference 2020–2021, coordinating and leading workshops on healthy lifestyles, Inuit culture and language and more for Nunavimmiut and Nunavut youth. 

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Blake Angeconeb is an Anishinaabe woodlands artist who hails from Treaty 3 territory. His first venture into art began 6 years ago during a fun painting session with his younger niece, which has since launched him into a full-time career as an artist. Blake’s primary practice involves acrylics and multimedia on canvas, blending the school of woodlands art with pop culture references. Blake is a self-trained painter with a growing collection of small and large scale works who enjoys collaborating with other artists. He is part of the Caribou clan and a proud member of Lac Seul First Nation.

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Since her groundbreaking debut, 1964’s It’s My Way!, the Cree singer-songwriter has been a trailblazer and a tireless advocate, an innovative artist, and a disruptor of the status quo. Sainte-Marie has spent her whole life creating, and her artistry, humanitarian efforts, and Indigenous leadership have made her a unique force in the music industry. In 1969, she made one of the world’s first electronic vocal albums; in 1982 she became the only Indigenous person to win an Oscar; she spent five years on Sesame Street where she became the first woman to breastfeed on national television. She’s been blacklisted and silenced. She’s written pop standards sung and recorded by the likes of Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Donovan, Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. She penned “Universal Soldier,” the definitive anti-war anthem of the 20th century. She is an icon who keeps one foot firmly planted on both sides of the North American border, in the unsurrendered territories that comprise Canada and the USA. 

www.buffysainte-marie.com

Tansi, I’m Casandra Woolever. I’m a Red River Métis, mom of two, and owner of Métis Branded. I’m located in Territory 1 and the Homeland of the Red River Métis. I have been on my journey of reconnecting for nearly 8 years now. I use my business to help others, my children and even myself learn Indigenous cultural arts that we struggle to find connection with. My company, Métis Branded, creates the historic Métis Capote from recycled and repurposed old wool blankets and a multitude of other Métis inspired apparel. We aim to help others while also inviting you to take part in watching our reconnection journey. I do workshops on capotes, ribbon skirts, simple sash weaving and basic sewing skills.

www.metisbranded.ca

Chantal’s traditional name is dáduqvḷá k̓in̓ua q̓ṇ́s w̓áw̓ísk̓a, which means, “person who watches over a place”, her English name is Chantal Pronteau. She is Indigenous with mixed ancestry, including Métis heritage on her maternal side and Coast Tsimshian first nation on her fraternal side. She grew up with her four brothers in East Vancouver until 14, where she moved to Klemtu B.C. to live with her fraternal grandmother in 2008. She continued her education at Kitasoo Community School and graduated there in June 2012. 

One of her most recent jobs was working as a Costal Guardian Watchmen for the Kitasoo Xai’xais Stewardship Authority of the Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nations enforcing K/X nation laws. 

She works as a supervisor where she is tasked to document and save the Kitasoo and Xai’xais heritage languages. 

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Cheyanna Kootenhayoo AKA Kookum is a DJ and multimedia maker from the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, and Cold Lake First Nations, their maternal Denesuline traditional territory. Based out of Vancouver BC, Kookum has been making a name for their self across the country and is no stranger in the community. 

Kookum is an open format DJ inspired by EDM and Hip-Hop music. This diversemix-diva is a force on the decks and always keeps the party hype, fresh, and unpredictable. 

Before the pandemic Kookum was touring nationally and internationally with the Snotty Nose Rez Kids, holding down a weekly DJ residency, facilitating videography and DJ workshops, operating sound and lighting for community dance parties, and working as a DJ mentor at a weekly East Van youth drop-in program called The Hip Hop Drop. 

Now you can catch DJ Kookum performing virtually for online festivals, curating online events, hosting online workshops, making beats in the studio, and selling merchandise on their online store. 

Kookum has been a video editor for 10 years and has experience editing television, documentaries, and promotional videos. Kookum is also the music supervisor for the children’s television series called ‘Coyote Science’ and is works with the Indigenous Matriarchs 4 Media Lab to host a new podcast on immersive art and VR technology. 

www.djkookum.com

Cody Coyote was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and is of Ojibwe/Irish descent with ancestry from Matachewan First Nation. With his fusion of strong, profound lyricism accompanied by corresponding influential sounds, this multi-award nominated and award winning Hip-Hop/Electronic artist grasps his listeners attention and delivers a mesmerizing performance. 

www.codycoyotemusic.com

Ahnahktsipiitaa* (Colin Van Loon) originally hails from Piikani aka Brocket AB and spent most of his formative years in Lethbridge AB. After years of experience in the film industry as an actor Ahnahktsipiitaa made a decision to become a filmmaker, entering the SFU School of Contemporary Arts BFA Film Production program. 

Ahnahktsipiitaa works within the film industry commonly as an AD, but most notably spent a year working as the assistant to Alejandro González Iñárritu on the feature film: The Revenant. Ahnahktsipiitaa has been involved with the Talking Stick in many capacities whether it is screening personal films (The Fast, 2014), serving as the Director and Curator of REEL RESERVATIONS: Cinematic Indigenous Sovereignty Series and the additional upcoming Reel IndiGenuity youth film series. When not on a production Ahnahktsipiitaa works on building Blackfoot Nation Films, directing personal projects such as working in collaboration with Section 35 (Kill The Mascots, Save The People Ad campaign) and The Snotty Nosed Rez Kids (Skoden, Clash Of The Clans Music Videos). Ahnahktsipiitaa currently works and resides on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tseil-Waatuth peoples.  

His virtual reality project,  This is Not A Ceremony’, produced by NFB, and directed and written by Ahnahktsipiitaa, and was screened at Sundance, Tribeca and he even went to the Cannes film festival. 

He is Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) from southern Alberta. To see a clip, here’s a link:  https://www.nfb.ca/interactive/notaceremony/ 

*Ahnahktsipiitaa – pronounced Ah-NOT-see-BEE-tah 

https://blackfootnationfilms.com 

Her new album Church House Blues (due April 17th on True North Records) reflects that dedication and devotion and finds her co-writing seven of the ten songs on the album. Produced by her husband, collaborator and cowriter Dewayne Strobel, it not only marks her fourth blues effort to date, but one of her most demonstrative as well. That’s evident at the outset, from the fiery delivery of the title track, the riveting drive of “New Orleans Is Sinking,” and the assertive strains of “Rather Be Alone,” to the quiet, contemplative desire and despair that scorches “Evil Memory,” the radio-ready hooks illuminated in “Hey Love,” and the emotive strains instilled in the bittersweet ballads “When It Comes To Love” and “Bigger Than the Blues.” At the center of it all is Crystal’s evocative vocals, a powerful, provocative force of nature that elevates each encounter and sends the album’s entries soaring towards the stratosphere.

www.crystalshawanda.co

Dawn is a member of the Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She is a Registered Social Worker (RSW). She currently works at the Six Nations Family Health Team which is in historical downtown Ohsweken, as a psychotherapist. Dawn grew up at the Tuscarora Reservation in Lewiston, New York. She received a BA in Community Mental Health from the University at Buffalo, where she also received a Master of Social Work (MSW).  

Dawn has been writing short memoir stories about her family and her time growing up with thirteen siblings, for the past fifteen years. Memory Keeper is her first published collection. Dawn’s stories depict anecdotes, however comedic or horrific, from her life in the Rez. These stories helped her to circumnavigate constructively the residual pain and dysfunction that is the legacy of the Residential School System. As a Registered Social Worker and Community Health Worker, Dawn does not leave the reader impacted by the shock and trauma of her stories, instead she offers a small workbook companion with the published collection as a healing resource for her readers. 

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Desiree Dorion grew up a mile and a half from the grounds of Dauphin Country Fest, one of the biggest outdoor music festivals in Canada.  As a little girl she would ride her bike there when the festival wasn’t on, climb up on the stage, and pretend to play to the thousands of fans that come to watch big country music acts. In 2014 her dream of playing the mainstage came true. Desiree released her fifth studio album on February 7th, 2020, with Break the Chain. Exploring the themes of poverty, resilience, breaking the cycle of violence, family ties and Jack Daniels, Desiree’s music and lyrics reflect the world around her. You can hear the emotional weight of these themes in her vocal. A departure from her previous albums, she has incorporated a hint of pop into her country music style with Break the Chain. 

www.desireedorion.com

Orene Askew, aka DJ O Show, brings energy and expertise to every event she hosts and DJ’s. She brings professionalism and passion and remains true to her love for hip hop and R&B, incorporating beats to ensure you never want to leave the dance floor! With an outgoing personality and friendly demeanor, O Show is one of the easiest DJs to work with.     

From Vancouver to Toronto, Las Vegas to Texas, DJ O Show keeps the dance floor packed, working with clients to put together unique packages and customized playlists for weddings, birthdays, holiday parties, corporate events, restaurant and club openings, charity fundraisers, youth conferences and pride events in her city!  

DJ O Show has experience teaching with an inspired approach. She is an inspirational speaker, having traveled across the country to bring ambition and drive to all generations, and is an elected member and Spokesperson for the Squamish Nation Council.  

O Show has DJ’d the red carpet for WE Day Vancouver and was voted the official DJ for YES in Ottawa since 2012 and the official DJ for Gathering Our Voices for five years. She has hosted/MC’d numerous events, including Bowling for Big Brother’s Classic, Babes on Babes, Hershe and working for radio stations like Vancouver’s Virgin 94.5 and Washington’s Movin’ 92.5. She is the recipient of a 2015 BC Indigenous Business Award and a 2018 Stand Out Award from the Vancouver Pride Society.  

Coming from a diverse background, O Show is driven by her passion. She is Afro-Canadian and First Nations and a proud member of the Squamish Nation. Feeling as though she stood out in a unique way, she has embraced both her cultural backgrounds and incorporates the teachings she has learned into everything she does.  

www.djoshow.com

“Ross’ groove-based style has influenced a generation of…players.”  -Teja Gerken, Guitar Player magazine 

Don Ross was born and raised in Montreal and has lived in various parts of Canada over the course of his life. The son of a Mi’kmaw Indigenous mother and a Scottish immigrant father, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music) degree from Toronto’s York University and started working full-time as a musician in 1988. That year he won the US National Fingerpick Guitar Championshipfor the first time, and also played with his quartet Eye Music at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. 

Signing a solo recording contract with Duke Street Records that same year, he went on to release two CDs of solo guitar music for the label in 1989 and 1990, as well as a third CD for the label featuring vocal music, full band arrangements, and solo guitar tunes in 1993.  

Concentrating his touring primarily in Canada at the start of his career, Don went on to sign with Sony Music/Columbia Records(Canada) in 1994, releasing three CDs for the label. US-based Narada Records also licensed two pieces for the Masters of Acoustic Guitar CD in 1997. Meanwhile, Don won the US National Fingerpick Guitar Championship for the second time in 1996. To this day, he is still the competition’s only two-time winner. Don began touring more internationally at this point in his career, concentrating especially on Germany and other central European countries. 

Signing directly with Narada in 1998, Don went on to release three CDs for the label. Passion Session, released in 1999, has gone on to be considered one of the high water marks in the world of modern solo guitar, with several of the tunes (notably “Michael, Michael, Michael,” “The First Ride,” “Tight Trite Night” and his arrangement of David Essig’s “Berkley Springs”) now considered more or less standard repertoire in the genre. 

Don released Huron Street in 2001, an album of reinterpretations of earlier work never previously released internationally. It went on to spend two weeks in the Billboard Top Ten’s “New Age” chart. In 2003 Don’s last recording for Narada, Robot Monster, explored possibilities of blending solo guitar with electronic music, especially on collaborations with Berlin-based composer Christoph Bendel. 

Don’s period recording for Narada was fruitful in terms of opening up the possibilities for more international touring, and he started playing regularly in Japan, Taiwan, the USA, and multiple European countries. By this time, though, illegal online file sharing had decimated the world of recorded music, and many record labels, Narada included, began to close their doors. In 2005, Don entered into negotiations with the internet-based label startup CandyRat Records, and became the company’s first signed artist. Together they released Don’s next recording, Music for Vacuuming, late that year. Since then, Don has released multiple CDs for the label (including collaborative titles with guitarists Andy McKee and Calum Graham) and two live concert DVDs. In addition, Don has released three other albums independently, Live in Your Head (2006), Any Colour (2009) and Don Ross Louder Than Usual (2019). Over the course of that time, Don’s touring base has gone on to include trips to Australia, India, Russia, China, South Korea, and a dozen European countries. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Don went back to university, completing a Master of Arts degree in Orchestration through the University of Chichester (UK) and ThinkSpace Education, and graduating in early 2021. He immediately started working extensively in the world of scoring orchestral and electronic music for video games, films and television. 

In addition to his solo performances and recordings, Don also heads his quartet Don Ross Louder Than Usual, which focusses on his more jazz-leaning repertoire. 

In 2021, Don won the prestigious Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. 

Don currently lives in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. 

https://donrossonline.com  

During the last thirty years of his career, Drew Hayden Taylor has done many things, most of which he is proud of.  An Ojibway from the Curve Lake First Nations in Ontario, he has worn many hats in his literary career, from performing stand-up comedy at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., to being Artistic Director of Canada’s premiere Native theatre company, Native Earth Performing Arts.  He has been an award-winning playwright, a journalist/columnist (appearing regularly in several Canadian newspapers and magazines), short-story writer, novelist, television scriptwriter, and has worked on numerous documentaries exploring the Native experience. Most notably as a filmmaker, he wrote and directed REDSKINS, TRICKSTERS AND PUPPY STEW, a documentary on Native humour for the National Film Board of Canada, and for CBC, co-created SEARCHING FOR WINNITOU, an exploration of Germany’s fascination with North American Indigenous culture. 

Oddly enough, the thing his mother was most proud of was his ability to make spaghetti from scratch. 

www.drewhaydentaylor.com

Drezus has been a staple in the Indigenous music scene for over a decade. Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and from the Muskowekwan and Cote First Nations respectively, Drezus has opened up a new world that combines traditional Anishinaabe and Nehiyaw teachings with hip-hop music and expression. He credits his growth and perseverance through life’s challenges to the creative arts. 

Drezus won five Indigenous Music Awards from 2012015, was nominated for a Juno in 2009, and most recently won an MTV Video Music Award for “Best Fight Against the System” in 2017 with Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas. In 2019 he appeared on the acclaimed Paramount Network TV series”Yellowstone” alongside Kevin Costner in Season 2. 

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In September 2018, Elisapie released The Ballad of the Runaway Girl, her third solo album. Arguably the most significant work in the singer-songwriter’s career, the album earned her two Felix awards (for Album of the Year – Other Languages and Best Album Production) and a total of five nominations at Gala de l’ADISQ, one nomination for Indigenous Album of the Year at the 2019 JUNO Awards and a feature on the 2019 Polaris Music Prize short list. In addition to taking her all over North America and Europe, this intimate album has amassed great reviews. Rolling Stone France called the music a delicately violent album that seduces as much as it questions, while NPR said Elisapie synthesizes stories from her eventful life with hypnotic arrangements that channel ‘70s rock, indigenous folk music and the low, moody rumble of barnstormers like Tom Waits. On June 19th, 2020, Elisapie returned with a new single called Asuguuq. This song is a gift to Inuit communities in the wake of National Indigenous Peoples Day.  

Ambassador for Inuit culture, Elisapie represents the wild and rough beauty of the North. Her new album, The Ballad of the Runaway Girl, is the musical tale of an expatriate Inuk. She sings about the different facets and challenges of being a woman, but also an adopted child, a mother, and a lover. Through this exploration of her northern roots and her femininity, we learn about an Inuk who is proud of her origins and who works for the recognition of her people’s historic difficulties. Elisapie’s journey started when she was given up for adoption as a baby, on the tarmac of an airport. She went on to grow up in Salluit, dreaming of the South. Then came her escape to Montreal, where she started a family and forgot about the extremes of the North.  

The artist is now reconnecting with her origins, offering her soulful down-home folk music as she tenderly looks back on her heritage. Her style is direct as she tells her story and makes aboriginal musical classics shine. This album goes back to her roots, with both soft and raw moments and her very own mix of Inuktitut, English and French, unveiling the woman behind the music.  

www.elisapie.com

Emily Kewageshig is a 23-year-old Anishinaabe artist. She was raised in Saugeen First Nation #29, a small community located along the shores of Lake Huron. Emily captures interconnection of life forms using acrylic paint, sometimes also working with oil paint, watercolour paint and other culturally significant materials gathered from the land. Her work consists of bold lines, bright colours, and symbolism which is inspired by traditional Ojibwe Woodland artists and Indigenous world view.  

She graduated from Sheridan College’s Visual and Creative Arts Diploma program with Honours in 2017, receiving the “Best in Show” award at the final graduate exhibition. She is currently in her final year at OCAD University to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the Indigenous Visual Culture program.  

Emily presented her first body of work in 2020 at her first solo exhibition titled “Mooshknemgog Bmaadziwin: Full Circle” at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound, Ontario.  

www.emily-kewageshig.com

G.R. Gritt is a Juno Award winning, Two-Spirit, Transgender, Francophone, Anishinaabe/Métis artist. After living many years in Yellowknife and forming the band Quantum Tangle, they have recently moved back to Sudbury/Robinson Huron Treaty territory where they grew up. This homecoming coincides with a journey that they feel better represents them. With these changes has come a new voice both physically and in the growing magnetism of their songwriting. G.R. Gritt pulls effortlessly from the past to create soulful futurisms with their new sound that elegantly weaves the melodies using vocals, guitar and new electronic elements. They create both intimate and anthemic music that would fit in a folk club, a dance club and anywhere in between. 

The Northern cities G.R. Gritt has lived in forced them every winter through snow and harsh temperatures to make a choice between isolation and seeking community as a source of warmth. Their music serves as one of these beacons of connection for all who come near it. Welcoming yet truthful, they reclaim space through songs that show that intersectional identity is expansive and not to be divided into parts. By exploring the emotional and cultural core of their heritage as a non-binary, queer, Indigenous artist they create new space and encourage others to do the same.  

G.R. Gritt is currently preparing for the release of a new full-length album titled, Ancestors, in 2020 on Coax Records.   

www.grgritt.com

Gerald Auger is of Woodland Cree descent, Entrepreneur, GPRC graduate of Marketing Management, in Business Administration, National Native Role Model, Motivational Speaker, award winning Director and Actor.  Gerald spent over 20 years working with Hollywood as an actor. Some of his most notable television & screen roles have been Pawnee Killer, AMC’s Hell on Wheels, Steven Spielberg’s into The West, Dreamkeeper for Hallmark Entertainment’s, Tin Star for HBO, Anichov’s Bridge in Russia, & as Makamuk on Lost Face. Lost Face made it to the Top 10 of the Oscar’s in 2019.  & He won Best Actor in LA. Both his documentary films, Walking Alone & Honour Thy Father, won industry awards & received industry acclaim. Gerald continues to be involved in film, television, and documentaries, advancing the status of Indigenous People in film & television, exposing, and debunking the stereotyping of his people. His latest TV Series is called Matriarchs, as the creator and executive producer is based on 4 Directional prophecy, and 4 Directional cultural and spiritual beliefs.   

Gerald walked away from mainstream society & Hollywood in 2009 to heal from childhood trauma, being a product of inter-generational impact from residential schools & colonization. Gerald’s 6-year sabbatical out on the land with traditional knowledge keepers, healers and ceremonial elders ended in 2015. Gerald’s continues to work with troubled youth, families, and communities. He draws from his personal experiences of abuse as a child & what he learned from his 6-year sabbatical, to help guide and lead troubled youth and others struggling with life. In working with multi-barrier and disengaged youth, Gerald has developed programs that have helped troubled youth turn their life around for the positive, and hosts healing camps dealing with inter-generational impact through culture, spirituality, and ceremony. Gerald currently works with agencies and organizations dealing with MMIWG and Stopping Violence against Women, and Human Trafficking.  

www.geraldauger.ca

Bomgizhik (Isaac Murdoch) is from Serpent River First Nation and is from the Fish Clan.  He has spent year living in the bush as a trapper, wild rice harvester, maple syrup maker and hunter.  He is a student of the pictographs of his people and the stars.  He currently lives at Nimkii Aazhibikoong Language and Cultural Community.

www.onamancollective.com

Jace Martin is a USA Billboard Mainstream Top 40 Charting artist & producer. He has toured North America and shared the stage with Salome Bey, Robbie Robertson, Sam Moore, Jonny Lang & More. He newest album “Rainboworld” released in 2020 is dedicated to his greatest mentor in music, Salome Bey. The album features excerpts from the theatre production Rainboworld, written by Salome Bey and ft Divine Brown, Joey Stylez, HellNBack, Gavin Brown, Justin Abedin and more. 

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James is a 21-year-old Native American singer/songwriter from the Six Nations of the Grand River. He has been teaching guitar to youth, performing shows and writing songs for more than six years.  

Growing up his family was a very musical family, singing traditional songs which became very influential for James as they encouraged him to pick up a guitar and sing.  

James started competing as a soloist at competitions in Nashville, Boston and New York from 2012 till 2015 & sang in an alternative rock group named “Baylight”.  

Recently, James had the great opportunity to sing back-up for “Lorde” at the 2017 MMVA’s (Much Music Video Awards).  

James has just finished recording his debut album “TIDAL WAVE”, which was produced by Billboard Top 40 Recording Artist, Jace Martin at Jukasa Studios.  

James Wilson is set to release his debut single, “City Lights” to Canadian Radio and you can catch him at a show near you soon! 

James Wilson Music Website

Founder & CEO – Redcloud Studios Inc. 

Jennifer Podemski is an Anishinaabe/Ashkenazi actor, writer, director, and producer with a 30+ year career. Her on screen credits include Dance Me Outside, The Rez, Degrassi TNG, Blackstone, Empire of Dirt, Departure and Reservation Dogs. 

Through her production company Redcloud Studios Inc., Jennifer has been at helm of a variety of television series including: The Seventh Generation, Rabbit Fall, The Other Side, Moccasin Flats, and Future History (Canadian Screen Award 2020 for best director Factual) and the acclaimed feature film Empire of Dirt which Jennifer was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture and Shannon Masters received the award for writer making her the first Indigenous woman in this category. 

More recently, Jennifer wrote, directed, and produced Unsettled a ten-part drama series for TV Ontario and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and is in pre-production with Little Bird, a limited dramatic series for Crave and APTN. 

In 2020, Jennifer launched The Shine Network Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating Indigenous women in film and television through training, mentorship, and professional development. 

Jennifer is the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her work in the Indigenous community, The Birks Diamond Tribute Award, the Nell Shipman Showrunner Award, The 2018 ACTRA Award of Excellence and The Weengushk Film Institute’s 2021 Award of Excellence. 

https://www.shinenetwork.ca/ 

Founding member of Skydiggers since formation in 1988. They have released 18 albums over their 30 plus year career. 

Long-time collaborator with Gord Downie’s solo recordings and tours starting with Coke Machine Glow (2001) and including Away Is Mine (2020), the last recording Gord made before his passing. 

Many songwriting, record production, and TV and film composition to his credit. 

www.skydiggers.com

Indigenous actor, JOSHUA ODJICK is of Algonquin-Anishinabe heritage and comes from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nations Community.   

Joshua landed his first series regular role in the Canadian television series Unsettled and has since worked on the award-winning feature film Bootlegger and several shows, including Three Pines, Pour Toi Flora, Bones of Crows, Tom Longboat and most prominently, the international series The Swarm, an ecological thriller from Primetime Emmy Award winning television producer Frank Doelger (Game of Thrones).   

Joshua currently received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the independent film Wildhood, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and has since garnered 6 CSA nominations.   

Industry professionals have found that Joshua possesses a deep presence that is rare in an actor. Having grown up on a reserve with relatives who are survivors of residential/day schools, his work has an authenticity that reveals a beautiful juxtaposition of the love, vulnerability, and brokenness of his characters. Joshua approaches everything from a place of Spirit. He holds a powerful connection with his creator, his guardians, the land and all the beautiful creatures it inhabits.   

Joshua is grateful for the opportunity to have a platform to tell the stories, teachings, and traditions of his people.  

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Julian Taylor is a Canadian singer-songwriter of West Indian and Mohawk decent. Formerly associated with the band Staggered Crossing, he has continued to record and perform as a solo artist. He is a prolific artist who has released nine studio albums since 2001. Three with Staggered Crossing, Four with his band JTB and two on his own.   

A Toronto music scene staple and a musical chameleon, Julian Taylor is used to shaking it up. With his songs being placed in such TV shows as Haven, Private Eyes, Kim’s Convenience and Elementary, his versatility as a songwriter is signature; one minute he’s on stage playing with his band spilling out electrified rhythm and blues glory, and the next he’s featured at a folk festival delivering a captivating solo singer-songwriter set reminiscent of Jim Croce.  

www.juliantaylormusic.ca

Justin Stephenson is an award-winning filmmaker and moving image designer. 

Justin’s recent work includes the animation for Tasha Hubbard’s We Will Stand Up, directing, editing, and animating Gord Downie’s Secret Path in Concert for the CBC, Distributed, a 360-degree video work commissioned by the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab, and the animated film for Gord Downie’s The Secret Path. Justin’s film based on the work of bpNichol, The Complete Works, toured internationally and won two Golden Sheaf awards at the Yorkton Film Festival. 

Justin’s work focuses on materiality’s – the physical qualities of subjects and media. For example, the ink, paper, and letterforms used in his title work for David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, in which the narrative is staged against handwritten letters. Developing concepts through process, Justin takes a hands-on approach with all aspects of production from the design, editing, and animation through to postproduction. 

Other works include direction and design for television, commercials, interactive media, and live performance. He created the video design and interactive projections for Fujiwara Dance Inventions’ production of Christian Bök’s Eunoia, the animation design for the remounting of Robert Lepage’s Erwartung and Bluebeard’s Castle with The Canadian Opera Company, and interactive video design with Tribal DDB NYC, Digitas Boston, Strawberry Frog, Struck Salt Lake City among others. 

Some notable film title works include Atom Egoyan’s Guest of Honour and Remember, Sarah Polley and Mary Herron’s Alias Grace, Keith Behrman’s Giant Little Ones, Miranda de Penciers’s The Grizzlies, Nathan Morlando’s Mean Dreams and Edwin Boyd, and David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars, and Cosmopolis. 

Justin’s work has won two Canadian Screen Awards (Secret Path, Gord Downie’s Secret Path in Concert), garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Director (Gord Downie’s Secret Path in Concert), a Juno Nomination for Video of the Year (The Stranger), two Golden Sheaf Awards (The Complete Works), and many BDA, Applied Arts and Hustonfest awards for his design work.  

www.justinstephenson.com

Kevin Hearn is best known as a multi-instrumentalist from Barenaked Ladies, the multi-platinum selling band he’s played with for over two decades. One of the most respected Toronto musicians of the past 25 years, Hearn’s solo albums always attract equally brilliant collaborators such as singer/songwriters Ron Sexsmith and producer Gavin Brown (Metric, Tragically Hip, Sarah Harmer), not to mention his 22-year-relationship with the rhythm section of Chris Gartner and Great Bob Scott. Hearn’s recently released album ‘Calm and Cents’ features violinist Hugh Marsh, alongside Gartner, and Brown. 

Also released earlier this year is Hearn’s exclusive EP titled Kevin Hearn and Friends Present: The Superhero Suite. The special edition 12” EP is a wild medley of vintage superhero-related songs, including iconic music from TV and film running the gamut from the classic Batman theme to the 1978 soundtrack of Superman. The musical luminaries include Ron Sexsmith, Michael Ray of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Carole Pope, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Alan Doyle, The Persuasions and more. One noteworthy highlight is Violent Femmes, Barenaked Ladies and Colin Hay joining forces for the theme song from TV’s Batman. 

One of Hearn’s closest relationships, both musical and personal, was with the late, great Lou Reed, for whom Hearn acted as keyboardist and musical director from 2007 up until his passing in 2013. 

Though Hearn has contributed songs to Barenaked Ladies albums in the past 10 years, the songs on his solo records are much more personal, both in subject matter and musical exploration. “It’s fun for me to make music that doesn’t have to fit a certain criterion, whether it be regarding the style or sound, or who is playing it,” he says. 

www.kevinhearn.com

Kiefer Collison was born and raised on Haida Gwaii, an archipelago of islands off the coast of British Columbia.  

Growing up on an isolated island had its own set of challenges for Kiefer to overcome. He got his start in youth work at the age of 18.  

At the age of 23 he ran for the tribal council and was elected as a representative of Old Masset. During his time on council he was offered a full time job at Canada’s First Nations Radio (CFNR) to host a First Nations talk show “Journeys” that would air 5 nights a week, CFNR broadcast to over 80 communities in British Columbia. Kiefer now hosts the Midday show from 10am-2pm weekdays.  

Kiefer was selected to be a contestant on the reality TV show Big Brother Canada Season 9. He was 1 of 14 houseguests selected from thousands of other hopefuls around the country. Kiefer’s time on the show was impactful for many reasons, as he shared his Indigenous language and his songs with not only his fellow houseguests but all of Canada. Kiefer came in 4th place make it right to the final episode. Kiefer also won Canada’s favourite houseguest! It was the very first time Canada has ever had this award! Kiefer took home not only the title as Canada’s favourite but he also won $10,000! 

Lindsey is an Ongweoweh/ Anishinaabe artist & community developer originally from Six Nations of the Grand River with ancestral roots to the Mississauga’s of the New Credit. She specializes in painting & beading as well as arts and culture facilitation, Indigenous governance, community, and program development. Her traditional name is ‘Mushkiiki Nibi Kwe’, which translates to ‘Medicine Water Woman’ and she is turtle clan.   

Lindsey is a graduate of OCAD University and has sat on several community boards and committees in the Toronto area over the last 15 years. Some of her past committee work has been for the Planet IndigenUs Festival, Indigenous Education Council (OCADU), Native Canadian Centre of Toronto and the Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society (IRIS). She is currently a member of the Toronto Arts Council and Steps Public Art- Indigenous Advisory Committees.   

In 2017, Lindsey was shortlisted and awarded a public arts project for the Region of Waterloo’s LRT System resulting in a permanent public instillation for the Block Line stop that speaks to the historical stewardship of the land base of Waterloo and the importance of agriculture from a First Nations perspective. Lindsey also received an International Women’s Day- Leadership in the Arts award in 2019.   

She is currently the Community Safety Liaison for the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) and practices out of both Toronto and Six Nations of the Grand River.   

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Lloyd Gwin first volunteered to play Santa in the 1970s, he loved it, since then he would ride around on a snowmobile delivering presents to families of his colleagues at the volunteer fire department in High Level, Alberta. Last year, he was able to fulfil his dream of being what he calls Métis Santa. A Métis Santa wears a sash rather than a belt, mittens, and moccasins instead of gloves and boots. Join Lloyd as he reads Métis Christmas Mittens by Leah Marie Dorion and then takes questions from students about Métis Christmas. In the Metis Culture, it’s all about being grateful, thanking our Creator for the gifts of family, friends and community and sharing the spirit of the Christmas Season. 

It’s the kind of sound many musicians take years searching for, and since the rave reception of Mariel Buckley’s acclaimed sophomore album, Driving In The Dark, she has planted her flag firmly as a singer-songwriter who’s in it for the long haul. 

Buckley’s momentum has built quickly, and 2019 earned her Roots Solo Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards and first place in the Project WILD – Country Artist Development Program. She finds herself touring steadily with a dependably captivating live outfit, and with performances in support of k.d. lang, Sam Roberts, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers and The Deep Dark Woods; she’s garnered impressive experience and charisma. 

Driving In The Dark solidified her as a rising name among the roots community, and earned a coveted position as one of  No Depression’s Favourite Roots Music Albums of 2018. She experienced chart success, sitting on the CBC Top 20 List for more than 8 consecutive weeks – and placed No. 54 on the  CBC Music’s Top 100 Canadian Songs of 2018 for ‘Rose Coloured Frames’. 

Her songwriting has been described as melodic and tender – a “dazzling and assured take on the sounds of classic country.” (Jonathan Frahm, PopMatters) Now carefully assembling songs for her third release, Buckley’s studious attention to her craft and appetite for stellar recordings will no doubt produce an exceptional collection of music. 

She proves that with each new endeavour she is bound to vulnerability and authenticity. This signature candour is what captivates audiences and listeners alike and will continue to drive her forward. Whether you’ve heard Mariel Buckley or not, you will soon. 

Email: mariel@marielbuckley.com 

www.marielbuckley.com

Marika Sila is an Inuit actress from Yellowknife, NWT. She is best known for her work on the popular TV series ‘The Twilight Zone’ where she played the lead role as Sergeant Yuka Mongoyak, the first female Inuit police officer to attain the rank of Sergeant in the state of Alaska. Marika also specializes in stunts and special skills including, hoop dancing, fire spinning, sword, and staff handling. She started her special skills journey as a hoop dancer and was recently voted Canadian Hoop Dancer of the Year. Marika is currently filming a TV series called ‘Tribal’ and is passionate about sharing their RedPath Empowerment programs to schools and communities across the world. You can watch her episode #4 of ‘The Twilight Zone’ on CBS All Access or download it on iTunes.

www.marikasila.com 

Johnston’s spirit name is Wiishkoonseh Miigizi’enh means Whistling White Headed Eagle. He grew up in Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and apprenticed with Storytellers since his youth. Sources of his artistic inspiration include woodland painters, Story Tellers, and the traditions of his indigenous culture. Johnston notes: “In a time of reconciliation, it is important for all people to know that we exist and have such a strong, beautiful legacy of stories and teachings from the Anishinaabe Nation that are grounded in my experience and identity.” 

A painter, mural artist, traditional storyteller, and traditional helper, Johnston uses his gift of storytelling to connect his peoples’ stories of love and healing with the broader world and offer support to a range of community organizations. His work has been exhibited across many of Canada’s most important institutions, from the AGO and ROM to the Evergreen Brickworks and the Chippewas of Nawash Cultural Centre. His artistic practice is focused on illustrating stories of the Anishinaabe Nation in a variety of media to raise awareness of their unique histories as they in turn inform his process. He was born and raised on his beautiful reserve, Neyaashiinigmiing, on the Saugeen Peninsula (Bruce Peninsula) and took a keen interest in painting and art at a very young age. 

Johnston has an established portfolio of work and is well recognized in Toronto. His original works are showcased at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in the Jennings Young gallery (J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art). Johnston’s Diiyah Muh’gaanag (Our First Family) is a collection of images of spiritual beings, plants and animals based on Anishinaabe teachings. Drawn in a pictographic style, they tell stories of botany, astrology, and the interconnectedness of all living things. Johnston currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, and is a contributing member to the Indigenous & Canadian collection at the AGO 

www.miigizi.com/pages/artist-introduction

Patrick Hunter is a 2-Spirit Ojibwe painter, graphic designer, and entrepreneur from Red Lake, ON. In 2011, he made the move to Toronto to pursue a career in the visual arts after completing the graphic design program at Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, ON. After spending too long working in the service industry, it became clear that a major career move would need to be made. Knowing that his cultural background was an asset to his success, in 2014 he launched Patrick Hunter Art & Design. The focus being specializing in original and digital artwork and designs from his Ojibwe roots with the intent to create a broader awareness of Indigenous culture and iconography. He is best known for his paintings in the Woodland art style. However, he is also making a name for himself in the corporate world through artistic and graphic collaborations with RBC and BMO Banks, Ernst & Young, TSN, and most recently the NHL Blackhawks. Patrick’s dream to create a positive future for his people has led him to become the first Artist in Residence for the Prince’s Trust Canada, a Royal charity in which aides in the reclamation of Indigenous languages in Canada. He currently resides in Toronto and is busily preparing a Made-in-Canada collection of apparel, paintings and houseware products to share with all of you. 

www.patrickhunter.ca

Peatr Thomas is a multidisciplinary Ininew and Anishinaabe self-taught full-time visual artist from the Pimicikamak and Miskooseepi Territories located near the heart of Turtle-Island. Raised on reserve and raised by Residential School Survivors, childhood was a struggle with the first hand recycled trauma. 

Through Visual Art and Indigenous ceremony, Peatr has found ways of coping and continued healing from past, present, and preparing for future struggles. The practice of Visual Art has also allowed Peatr to have a voice at a young age, and now is practicing Visual Art to share Teachings and Stories Coast to Coast. 

As Youth Facilitator since 2010 he is sharing passed down knowledge, traditional teachings, culture and the healing process in creating visual forms of art across Turtle-Island. 

www.peatrthomas.com

Most notably known for his Series Lead role in the Hulu original series Utopia Falls, his Guest Star role in CW’s Supernatural and his Recurring Guest Star role in the series finale of History Channel’s Vikings where you meet his character ‘Wejitu.  

Phillip recently wrapped a Series Recurring role in the Spielberg/Hanks produced Masters of the Air and a Series Lead in an upcoming limited series to be announced. His Lead role in the feature film Wildhood which premiered at TIFF 2021 garnered him a prestigious TIFF Rising Star recognition and is one of the highlight roles of his career to date.   

Born in Canada, Phillip comes from a French, Ukrainian, and Mohawk ancestry. His heritage is a strong part of his identity, and he strives to learn and explore his cultural roots.  

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Reuben and the Dark is the spirited folk-rock outfit led by songwriter/vocalist Reuben Bullock. Contemplative, passionate, and expansive, Bullock’s song writing has earned comparisons to contemporaries like Vance Joy and Matt Corby. Together, the group makes chilling, emotive folk and alt-rock driven by dark, introspective lyrics that explore the duality of sorrow and joy. 

un | love, the new album by Reuben and the Dark, is a collection of lush and beautiful songs about endings and hope for the future. Chronicling a tempestuous time in frontman Reuben Bullock’s life, the album’s eleven songs represent an exploration of life’s crossroads, and the personal growth that comes from it. On the band’s third album, Reuben and the Dark evokes the raw emotion of Bullock’s soulful vocals with spacious sonics that suggest the levity that comes with the passage of a storm. un | love was produced by the band and Marcus Paquin (The National, Timber Timbre, Local Natives), who also takes up the mixing chair, as well as Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. 

www.reubenandthedark.com

Rhonda Head is from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba, Canada.  Rhonda is a Mezzo-Soprano and has released five albums to date, numerous singles, and is currently working on her sixth album.  Rhonda has received 16 nominations in total and won six international music awards since she began her music career in 2010.  She writes her lyrics in her Indigenous Cree Language, and composes her melodies based off the landscape in her home reserve of Opaskwayak Cree Nation. 

www.rhondahead.com

Santee is a multidisciplinary artist from the Kahnyen’kehàka Nation, Turtle Clan, Six Nations of the Grand River, Haldimand Treaty Territory, Ontario.  

Santee trained at Canada’s National Ballet School, completed Physical Education and Psychology degrees from McMaster University and a M.A. in Dance from York University. Santee premiered her debut work Kaha:wi – a family creation story, in 2004 and one year later founded Kaha:wi Dance Theatre which has grown into an internationally renowned company.  

Santee’s artistic work speaks about identity and Indigenous narratives. Her body of work includes 14 productions and numerous short works which tour nationally and internationally. Her commissions include choreography for the National Arts Centre Orchestra and recent Grand Acts of Theatre, among others. She is the recipient of the K.M. Hunter Award; Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award; John Hobday Award; Hamilton Music Award for Kaha:wi; Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography in Dance for Susuriwka – willow bridge, REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award, and the inaugural Johanna Metcalf Prize for the Performing Arts. Her work Blood Tides received Outstanding Production and Outstanding Performance Ensemble in Dance at the 2019 Dora Mavor Moore Awards and 5 Dora Mavor Moore 2020 awards went to her production of The Mush Hole.  

Santee is a sought-after teacher and speaker on the performing arts and Indigenous performance and culture. Her life and works have been the topic of TV series and films and most recently on CBC Arts – The Move. Smith is the 19th Chancellor of McMaster University.  

www.kahawidance.org/santeesmith

Sara Dawn Nungos Cornthwaite is a content creator from Nipissing First Nation and is currently living and working in Toronto. She is a cinematographer and photographer, helping to bring projects full circle with editing and animating. With over nine years of professional experience, she frequents television sets and broadcast productions, along with solo videography and documentary work. 

With a love for people and travel, her work has taken her around the world. Often travelling as a solo camera operator, she documents stories from a global perspective. She’s also taken her passion back home, to work with her community to share important stories and teachings. 

Her content has been featured online and in television programming, across radio platforms, digital billboards, and concert arenas. Her photography has been published in branded packaging, books, magazines, newspaper, and digital articles across North America. 

Sara strives to tell meaningful stories in a beautiful way. 

www.saracornthwaite.com

Semiah is a singer/songwriter from Six Nations, Ontario. She began professionally singing traditional music from her Haudenosaunee heritage in her late teens in solo performances and as a member of the singing trio, Hatiyo (the good voice). At the same time, she also began writing songs in English, however had never published any of her contemporary works until her first single, ‘Nothing Can Kill My Love for You’ debuted on May 14th, 2021. Semiah continues to challenge herself in her song writing to explore the nuances of identity, love, and the growing pains of her twenties. 

www.semiahsmith.com

Shadow Colomb AKA Shadow Xtreme came into the wrestling ring by way of Pukatawagan, Manitoba. Shadow trained to be a Pro Wrestler in 2008 and has pursued a long career in professional wrestling across Canada. He has entertained crowds with his technical and high-flying wrestling action as seen on MTV Canada, Vice TV, and many other TV programs across North America. 

In 2013, Shadow saw a void in the market and launched the first 100% First Nations-owned wrestling company known as Northern Empire Wrestling (NEW). Through NEW he continues to travel across Canada hosting live wrestling events and anti-bullying workshops, working closely with youth promoting positive and healthy life choices. 

He understands the experiences of growing up on a reservation and made a goal to inspire and give hope to First Nations youth. He continues to work very hard to motivate everyone around him through his work in filmmaking, music, and pro wrestling training. 

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ShoShona is an Anishinaabekwe community organizer, producer, activist, & international touring artist with the JUNO award winning band, DIGGING ROOTS. 

In 2018 ShoShona was recognized for her work with the Professional Excellence Award from WOMEX, “for her role in the ongoing revolution, using the medium of music as an agent of change, to awaken our humanity and help us connect”. 

She is the founder and Artistic Director of the International Indigenous Music Summit, and she serves as President on the Board of Directors for Folk Music Canada. 

www.diggingrootsmusic.com

Siibii is a singer-songwriter/multidisciplinary artist from Mistissini Cree Nation, Quebec. An absolute powerhouse vocalist, Siibii flows with emotions and an intimate vulnerability that cascades through distinct warm textures and catchy acoustic pop melodies. As an Alumnus and participant in various N’we Jinan Programs, Angel has developed their own artistic practice and is looking to make their mark on the world. 

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Suzette Amaya is Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw – Cree, Nisga’a, Coast Salish pf the GwaSala-Nakwaxda’xw Nation, living on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations known as Vancouver.

She is a reality TV star, seen on Big Brother Canada Season One and Back In The On The Mighty Fraser (APTN), and winner of online reality TV show SEQUESTER 5.0.

Previously Hip Hop Host for CBC Radio 3 AB-ORIGINALS, Suzette Amaya is proud to promote Aboriginal hip hop/urban and pop artists!

Suzette Amaya created & produces/hosts the award-winning radio show ThinkNDN on CFRO 100.5fm, is owner of SAMAYA Entertainment, and manager of award-winning artist Joey Stylez.  www.joeystylez.com

Touring to over 500 First Nations communities across Canada, Suzette has been on the road with Joey Stylez and her Husband DJ Staniml with the wellness tour Waniskawin AWAKE & RISE. Home | WANISKAWIN ᐊᐧᓂᐢᑳᐃᐧᐣ. www.waniskawin.com

Suzette has been working in the DTES for over 19yrs in Women’s & Children’s and Youth Shelters. Her experience is working in a Harm Reduction, supporting people with Addictions, Mental Health, Trauma, Homelessness, Poverty and an advocate helping clients dealing with MCFD, The Justice System and Barriers. A proud member of the City of Vancouver Urban Indigenous Advisory Counsel her passion is to give community members a voice!

Former Manager for the Youth Justice Program at Indian Residential School Survivors Society with Qwum Qwum Xwii Xwaa, Suzette developed the program and worked to build partnerships with Law Enforcement, the Legal System and MCFD and dedicated herself in working with Young folks in proving cultural connections, mental wellness, physical wellness and support in the Justice System.

An entrepreneur, she is the owner of Suzette Amaya Lashes and also creator of the new YouTube show Suzette Amaya TV.

A motivational speaker/workshop facilitator, Suzette is passionate about inspiring others to live healthy, balanced lives through topics such as sexual abuse, residential school, building confidence and esteem, self-image, and goal-setting – along with sharing her knowledge of radio, media, and arts.

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I am a survivor of St Paul’s Indian Day School from 1966-1968 and Sechelt Residential School from 1968-1971. Born and raised on Eslha7an Reservation in North Vancouver, BC. Both my parents are Residential School survivors as both set of grandparents. My late wife was also a Residential School survivor, so our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren are inter-generational survivors. 

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Tanya Talaga is Ojibwe with roots in Fort William First Nation in Ontario, Canada.  She worked as a journalist at the Toronto Star for more than twenty years and has been nominated five times for the Michener Award in public service journalism. Talaga holds an honorary Doctor of Letters from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, and shares her expertise on the boards of PEN Canada and The Narwal. Tanya is the President and CEO of Makwa Creative, a production company focussed on Indigenous storytelling. 

Tanya is the acclaimed author of Seven Fallen Feathers, which was the winner of the RBC Taylor Prize, the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, and First Nation Communities Read: Young Adult/Adult. The book was also a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize and the BC National Award for Nonfiction, and it was CBC’s Nonfiction Book of the Year, a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book, and a national bestseller. 

Tanya was named the 2017–2018 Atkinson Fellow in Public Policy and this series resulted in her new book, All Our Relations: Finding A Path Forward, Tanya shared the messages of this book through the Massey Lectures 2018 across Canada.  This book was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize for Non-Fiction in 2019. All Our Relations has also been published and released in the United Kingdom and Australia under the title, All Our Relations: Indigenous Trauma in the Shadow of Colonialism.  The book will be released in French in 2020. 

She lives in Toronto with her two teenage children, but her heart is in northern Ontario.  Her great-grandmother, Liz Gauthier, was a residential school survivor. Her great-grandfather, Russell Bowen, was an Ojibwe trapper and labourer. Her grandmother is a member of Fort William First Nation, and her mother was raised in Raith and Graham, Ontario. 

www.ttalaga.ca 

The North Sound is ever-changing with lyrics spanning across haunting metaphors and a sound balanced between today’s modern production and the era of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris blazing the highways. The group was formed in 2014 by lead singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Forrest Eagle speaker with his partner Nevada Frei Stadt supplying harmonies. The North Sound was created to share stories in keeping with Forrest’s Blackfoot identity and traditions from Treaty 7 Territory.  The North Sound has had four singles reach #1on the Indigenous Music Countdown as well as Saskatchewan’s MBC Radio, has won the Saskatchewan Music Award for Indigenous Artist of the Year, was nominated for Roots Album of the Year at the 2021 Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards, and has received three nominations from the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards. Forrest and Nevada also have a working relationship with JUNO-winner Crystal Shawanda and her partner Dewayne Grobel, owners of independent record label New Sun Music. Sharing the stage with the likes of Blue Rodeo, Kathleen Edwards, Eagle and Hawk, Derek Miller, Susan Aglukark, Caleigh Cardinal, Logan Stats, and many more, The North Sound has performed at multiple venues and festivals across Canada and the United States. Most recently they performed on APTN’s Indigenous Day Live 2021.Scott Roos from Exclaim! says The North Sound’s latest album, As the Stars Explode, “offers afresh take, both musically and lyrically” and “takes a different route compared to the usual country music norms that at times stifle the genre, and it really works.” 

www.thenorthsoundmusic.com

Theland Kicknosway is an Indigenous youth trailblazer who utilizes his voice to spread his message and showcase Indigenous culture. He is wolf clan from the Potawatomi and Cree Nations and is a member of Walpole Island, Bkejwanong Territory. 

Theland has gained recognition in the Indigenous community and worldwide as a traditional singer, drummer, dancer, activist & influencer. In 2018, Theland became the youngest Indspire Laureate named for Culture, Heritage, and Spirituality. His path-breaking efforts have been highlighted by Nike, Disney, BBC and been mentioned in Teen Vogue, Entertainment Tonight, and Complex. In his 19th year in the Physical World, Theland continues to shine.   

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Tom Wilson is a Canadian music legend, famed storyteller, and visual artist. Wilson’s memoir, Beautiful Scars published by Penguin/Random House has become a national bestseller. The memoir has been adapted into a TVO Original documentary (directed by Shane Belcourt) and premiered at Hot Docs in May, 2022. Exposing incredible truths about Wilson’s biological family and Indigenous heritage, the documentary delves into the singer-songwriter’s lifetime quest to find himself and ultimately uncover his true identity as a Mohawk man.

Tom Wilson’s extensive career and tireless efforts as a musician has bestowed upon him numerous nominations and awards from the Hamilton Music Awards to the Polaris Prize to the Juno Awards, including certified gold and platinum records. His songwriting has seen his works recorded by and with artists such as; Sarah McLachlan, City and Colour, Jason Isbell, Colin James, Lucinda Williams, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mavis Staples, The Rankin Family, as well as his own bands Lee Harvey Osmond, Junkhouse, and Canadian treasure, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Lee Harvey Osmond was awarded a 2020 Juno Award for the album “Mohawk”.

After the success of his show at the Art Gallery of Burlington Beautiful Scars: Mohawk Warriors, Hunters and Chiefs, Tom’s paintings are now on display in various galleries across Canada.

In 2020, Tom established the Bunny Wilson Indigenous Scholarship fund at McMaster University, supporting year one indigenous students from Ontario secondary schools completing an undergraduate program in any faculty.

www.tomwilsononline.com

Allan and Christian Nabinacaboo are brothers from the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, a small community in the northern borderlands of Quebec and Labrador, and are founders of the rap group, Violent Ground. The group’s name is inspired by the history of the land we live on, and issues indigenous people face, such as drug addiction, alcoholism, colonialism, racism, crimes, and violence. They want to give a voice to all native people through their music. They are composers and lyricists who aim to enlighten and inspire crowds with powerful lyrics and their unique brand of music.   

wwww.violentground.com

Violet Gatensby is an inland Tlingit artist from the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. Born into a large family, she spent much of her childhood on the land. She explored art as a youth and was supported by community mentors like Keith Wolfe Smarch and Claudia Mcphee, and later by Dempsey Bob, Ken McNeil, Stan Bevan and Arlene Ness. Violet went to art school in BC and she holds an advanced diploma from the First Nations Fine Arts program at the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art. A versatile and talented artist, Violet’s preferred medium is wood but she also enjoys metalwork, designing and painting. She has completed an astounding number of major commissions for a young artist, including a carved panel for the Yukon Supreme Court, public utility artworks for the City of Whitehorse, and a dugout canoe apprenticeship with Wayne Price. Violet has been deeply influenced by the values of her parents and grandparents – stay connected to the land, have an open mind, be teachable – and she brings these influences into her art and the contemporary world. An articulate leader and community force, Violet is one of the North’s rising talents.

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Kwey kwey, Wahjay, I am Algonquin / Cree from Timiskaming First Nation. My workshops and inspirational talks are a culmination of what I have learned through various life experiences. In 1992 I went to a native treatment center in Thunder Bay. There I learned the Anishnabe way of life, and how to live without drugs and alcohol. Several years went by and a couple of artist friends taught me how to paint and stretch canvas. This started me on another new journey where I began selling art across North America and parts of Europe. I took a break from creating art and worked in the mines in Northern Ontario for a few years, later transitioning into a position as elected Chief of Timiskaming First Nation. After stepping aside from the 2019 summer election, I picked up my paint brushes again. I find painting to be therapeutic and enlightening.   

Meegwetch.  

www.lineagearts.ca/wayne-mckenzie

Wesley Hardisty is a fiddler and composer whose music blends rock, country, folk, Celtic, Métis and Traditional sounds. His passionate playing is compelling to watch, his love of music evident. 

Wesley is from the Dene First Nation in the Northwest Territories. Largely self-taught, he took up the fiddle at age thirteen in Fort Simpson through the outreach work of the Kole Crook Fiddle Association. He attended the prestigious Gulf Islands School of Performing Arts on Saltspring Island BC. 

His debut CD 12:12 won the 2012 Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Award for Best Fiddle CD. Just 26, he has an impressive resume with hundreds of gigs, festivals, and TV performances. Wesley creates emotionally evocative music and is a soulful musician and inspiring young man.

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Willie Thrasher is an Inuvialuit singer-songwriter from Aklavik, Northwest Territories. At five, Thrasher was taken from his family and sent to a series of residential schools where he was forbidden to practice his traditional culture. In the mid-1960s, he co-founded the Cordells, one of the first Inuit rock and roll bands. With Willie behind the drum kit, the group performed contemporary hits by the Rolling Stones and the Kinks at community venues across the north. One evening, a stranger recommended that the Cordells tap into their Aboriginal roots for inspiration instead of the charts. This prompted Thrasher to pick up a guitar and write original material about his life, family, region, and environment. In 1981, he released his debut album, Spirit Child, via the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). For the last 15 years, Willie has been based out of Nanaimo, B.C. and performs with his singing partner Linda Saddleback. Thrasher’s music was featured on the Light in The Attic’s GRAMMY®- nominated Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966- 1985 compilation in 2014 while 2015 saw the re-release of Spirit Child. Most recently, Willie’s 1994 Sunshine Records album, Indian/Inuit Country, has been made available in 2022 through Voluntary in Nature. Having performed across Turtle Island and as far away as London, England, Willie, and Linda are excited to share their musical heartbeat and history with audiences around the world.  

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Eight years into the story of Wolf Saga, electropop polymath Johnny Saga is ready to debut himself-titled LP. A 2018 JUNO Masterclass Finalist who was named RBC Canada Emerging Artist in 2017, Saga’s dreamlike synths dynamize as they soothe, offering a matured take on the affable bangers of the 2010s—MGMT, Daft Punk, Justice and Boyz Noize come to mind, with the wisdom of a decade in between. Wolf Saga was named to honor the spirit of the wolf—a loyal protector of loved ones that holds special meaning in Saga’s Ojibwe culture. With this album, generous in its wisdom and lavish in its fun, Saga is on a quest to give listeners a reason to dance, but jokes that it’s not all bottle service and strobe lights. The album’s songs, guided by the unwavering presence of Saga’s father, who passed away in 2019, were inspired by important causes, such as Black Lives Matter and support for Indigenous land defenders. Saga wants listeners to pay attention. He also wants to ignite our imaginations, comfort our memories, and to help us envision a resilient tomorrow. 

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