2024 Presenters
Dr. Barbara Dumont-Hill – Elder
Barbara Dumont-Hill is Algonquin Anishinabeg from the Kitigan Zibi community in Quebec. She has served as a Knowledge Keeper at Carleton University since 2018. Barbara was a grandmother with the 2015 Walking With Our Sisters installation at the Carleton University Art Gallery. More recently, she traveled across Canada as an advisor with the Canadian Department of Justice to witness the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls National Inquiry. Barbara’s work has inspired her path to honor and empower Indigenous youth. In June 2023, Barbara received an Honorary Doctorate in Law from Carleton University to recognize her outstanding contributions as an advisor and community volunteer working to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples.
Shannon Chief – Presenter
| Image coming soon! | Waba/Shannon was born and raised in the Wolf Clan of the Anishinabe-Algonquin Nation. She contributes at various levels to the decolonization and the restoration of her people’s sovereignty. Waba commits to the defense of her people’s culture and language. The protection and advocation for land, waters, and animals is a priority for the Anishnabeg with climate changes also affecting the Algonquin Unceded Territory. Waba was a Language Teacher but now runs a land-based culture camp called Odinewin that was built up with her traditional Elders focusing on fully immersed language building and reclamation of their Nation’s cultural and seasonal traditions.
She presently works as the Anishinabe Moose Committee (AMC) Coordinator for the community-led Moose Studies. |
Ron Indian Mandamin – Presenter
| Image coming soon! | Bio coming soon! |
Mkomose (Andrew Judge, Ph.D) – Presenter
Mkomose (Andrew Judge, PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Anishinaabe Studies at Algoma University. He has worked in education for 15 years focusing on awakening Ancestral Anishinaabe teachings to restore land and to heal ourselves.
Elder Charlotte Nolin – Presenter
Charlotte Nolin is a 73-year-old, 2 Spirit Metis woman with Ojibway and Cree background. Miss Nolin, the youngest of eight children was raised in an era governed by Residential Schools, Indian Day Schools and 60’s Scoop. Miss Nolin grew up in non-Indigenous foster homes and attended roman catholic schools run by nuns and priests. She was exposed to racism, homophobia and transphobia, and violence. Miss Nolin left the child welfare system only to fall within the clutches of the justice system and homelessness and addictions. Miss Nolin entered the violent lifestyle of “working the streets” and finally in 1974 realized that if she continued like this, her life would be short. Returning to the “closet” rather than face any more violence, Miss Nolin became a parent and worked in the construction industry till 1989. In 1990 Charlotte changed careers and dove into the social work industry. She remained in this field till 2020 when she decided to retire after going through 2 heart attacks,
In 2016, Miss Nolin completed her transition and now enjoys the liberties that weren’t afforded to her as a young person. Today Miss Nolin devotes her time to teaching younger people in regards to being 2 Spirit, Trans, and Indigenous. Miss Nolin led her relatives in the first 2 Spirit Sundance on Turtle Island in August of 2023. Miss Nolin shares her life with various individuals across this country and hopes that her story will impact others on their journeys.
Kookum and Knowledge Keeper Barbara Bruce (Flies High Thunderbird ad Truth Talker) – Presenter
Kookum and Knowledge Keeper Barbara is a citizen of the Red River Metis Nation– Michif aen Otipemisiwak. Her beliefs of Indigenous traditional teachings are reflected in all of the work she takes on.
A Sundancer, Sweatlodge leader, and Pipe Carrier, her dedication to advancing the rightful place, recognition, and acknowledgment of the Two Spirit community, Indigenous women, and children are an integral part of her life.
Some of her past and current board appointments include the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board, Manitoba Communities Economic Development Fund, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, Top 40 Under 40, University of Winnipeg Board of Regents, and Chair of the Metis Child and Family Services Authority. Most recently, she Co-Led a working group for the University of Manitoba on Identity Fraud
Barbara has been recognized and honoured for her work by the Human Rights Commission of Manitoba for her significant contributions to promoting Indigenous rights and equality. She was honoured by ‘Keeping the Fires Burning’ as a Kookum/Grandmother for contributing to the wellbeing of all Indigenous Peoples.Sageeng First Nation honoured her for her extensive contribution to economic development in First Nation and Metis communities. In recognition of her lifetime of work, she was inducted into the Order of Manitoba in 2018. In 2020, she was acknowledged in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly in a Member’s Statement for her work and contribution as a Two Spirit Elder. In 2021, she received the Nellie McClung Manitoba 150 Women Trailblazer Award. In November 2022, she received the Natural Resources Canada Departmental Achievement Award in the category of Workplace Culture and Wellness and she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal of Manitoba in December 2022.
Jackie Tenute – Panelist
Jackie is Anishinaabe kwe of Ojibwe and Potawatomi descent, Thunderbird Clan from Chippewas of Nawash -Neyaashiinigimiing First Nation. She is the new Mental Health Counselor at the Southwestern Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre (SOAHAC)..
Jackie is a counselor/therapist and provides culturally appropriate counseling services that often blend mainstream clinical skills and traditional knowledge and ceremony into session work. She offers cultural sensitivity and decolonizing workshops, full moon, and other Indigenous ceremonies to support those who may be looking for other mental wellness services.
Louella Tobias – Panelist
Louella Tobias is from Moravia town First Nations in Southern Ontario. She is a mother of three: 2 boys and a girl; a grandmother of 7; and a great-grandmother of 1. Louella is third-degree Midewin from the lodge on Manitoulin Island. She has followed the culture for over half her life and is currently residing as a guest in Ottawa, the unceded, unsurrendered land of the Algonquin peoples.