Indigenous Leaders
BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE
Buffy Sainte-Marie is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, social activist, philanthropist and visual artist from the _Plains Cree First Nations. Throughout her career, she has won multiple awards, including a Polaris Music prize, Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, Golden Globe, an Academy Award, as well as several Juno Awards, Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, lifetime achievement awards and honorary degrees.
ROSANNA DEERCHILD
Rosanna Deerchild is an award-winning Canadian Cree author and radio host of the CBC Radio One program Unreserved, which is a show that showcases stories, music, and cultures from Canadian indigenous people. Additionally, she is the co-founder and member of the Indigenous Writers Collective of Manitoba. Some of her works include the poetry collection “this is a small northern town” and her book “calling down the sky”.
TRAVEY LINDBERG
Travey Lindberg is a Cree-Métis lawyer, scholar, award-winning author, and Indigenous Rights activist, who also performs as a blues music singer. She is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, Harvard University, and the University of Ottawa law schools. Her work interests include traditional Indigenous governments, Cree laws, and translating between Canadian and Indigenous laws. She is an advocate for Indigenous women and peoples, and has been awarded a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Legal Orders and Laws. Additionally, she has a published novel “Birdie,” which is a story of “an extraordinary woman who travels to the deepest part of herself to find the strength to face the past and to build a new life”.
Alanis Obomsawin is an Abenaki filmmaker, singer, artist and activist. She is well-known for her documentary films which raise awareness of the discrimination and injusticed faced by Canadian indigenous peoples, as well as their strength and culture. She has won many awards, including the Prix Albert-Tessier and the Canadian Screen Awards’ Humanitarian Award, and a number of Governor General’s Awards, lifetime achievement awards and honorary degrees.
ALANIS OBOMSAWIN
DR. EVAN ADAMS
Dr. Evan Adams is an actor, playwright, producer, physician, and a member of the Tla’amin First Nation. He is well-known for his roles in Smoke Signals, The Business of Fancydancing, and roles in television including The Beachcombers, Lost in the Barrens, Neon Rider, and many more. He has won awards such as the Independent Spirit Award and a Los Angeles Outfest award. He is also a family physician, and has worked extensively with Canadian First Nations health programs. In 2007, he was appointed as the first Aboriginal Health Physician Advisor in British Columbia.