P r e s e n t e r s
George Littlechild
A painter and educator known for his bold use of colour, digitally manipulated photographs, and portraits that honour family members and his Plains Cree ancestry, George has exhibited extensively in both solo and group shows in Canada, the US, and abroad. His work is found in public and private collections across Canada and his art and books have won numerous awards. He teaches at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver. Children hold a special place for George and he is always willing to talk to them about art and life. “I am a storyteller, a visualist. It is what I was born to do. It is my passion, my joy, as art has been there through my life’s journey.” It is his hope that his work will contribute to reducing racism and promote heritage, pride, and a celebration of the unique person each of us is born to be. George is a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Originally from Alberta, he now lives in Comox, BC.
Gloria Miguel
Gloria Miguel is an actress and founding member of Spiderwoman Theater, and has worked extensively in film and television. With Spiderwoman Theater she toured throughout Europe, Australia, and New Zealand as well as Canada and the US. She toured the US in Grandma, a one-woman show, and appeared in the original Native Earth production of Tomson Highway’s The Rez Sisters as well as performing in Native Earth’s Son of Ayash. In Edmonton, she performed in the Northern Lights Production of Jessica, and was nominated for a Sterling Award as Best Supporting Actress. Gloria studied drama at Oberlin College in Ohio and is a lifetime member of the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. She received an honorary DFA degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, her recent one-woman show, she takes a humorous and poignant look at the treatment of Elders in our society. She is of Kuna and Rappahannock ancestry and she lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Waubgeshig Rice
Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist who developed a strong passion for storytelling as a child while listening to the stories his elders shared. This, along with his unique experiences growing up in his community, inspired him to write creatively. Some of the stories he wrote as a teenager eventually became Midnight Sweatlodge, his first collection of fiction published by Theytus Books in 2011. His debut novel, Legacy, was also published by Theytus, and he was the 2014 recipient of the Debwewin Citation for Excellence in First Nation Storytelling. His journalism career began when he was a 17 year-old exchange student in northern Germany, writing about being Anishinaabe in a European country for newspapers back in Canada. He graduated from Ryerson University’s journalism program in 2002, and has worked in a variety of media across Canada. He started working for CBC in Winnipeg in 2006, and along with reporting the news, has produced television and radio documentaries and features for the public broadcaster. He currently works as a radio and television journalist for CBC News Ottawa.
Tiio Horn
Kaniehtiio Horn is a film and television actress and writer who burst onto the feature film scene with roles in The Trotsky, New Reel Film’s Leslie, My Name is Evil, as well as the lead role in the critically acclaimed and award-winning The Wild Hunt. All three films premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Other credits include supporting roles in Jacob Tierney’s Good Neighbours, Immortals, and On the Road. In 2009, Tiio earned a Gemini Award nomination for her portrayal of Angel in the APTN movie of the week, Moccasin Flats: Redemption, and in 2010 and 2011 as part of the ensemble cast of CBC TV’s 18 to Life. Other television credits include the 2010 pilot for the APTN series Mohawk Girls, and a recurring role on the Syfy Channel’s Defiance, as well as guest appearances on Being Human, Alphas, 19-2 and the CBS/Warner Bros show Supernatural. Tiio currently appears in the Netflix original horror/thriller series Hemlock Grove. Tiio wrote, directed, and acted in the semi-autobiographical short film The Smoke Shack, which took home the Golden Sheaf award for Best Comedy at the 2013 Yorkton Film Festival. Tiio is a Theatre Arts graduate from Dawson College and divides her time between Kahnawake, Toronto, and Los Angeles.
Digging Roots
Digging Roots, the award winning musical duo comprised of Raven Kanatakta and ShoShona Kish, employs a style that has been variously described as “indie roots” or “global blues.”
Their first album, seeds, received a Juno nomination, and the second, WE ARE, secured the Juno award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year in 2010. They and their band have toured extensively to communities large and small throughout Canada, the US, Europe, Mexico, and Australia as well as the Canadian and Norwegian Arctic. Their new release, For the Light, is an eclectic tapestry of light and dark sound with sweet harmonies and the melodic accompaniment of ukulele, banjo, mellotron, and Raven’s renowned resonator guitar. They trade lead vocals, fluidly complementing each other’s strengths while moving from whispery intimacies to smoky wails. Inspired by their travels, the husband and wife songwriting team has produced a set of songs reflecting a maturing sense of storytelling infused with the roots and blues of the inner city, back roads, and all the places in between.
Raven, from Winneway/Long Point First Nation and Kahnawake, is a graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston and ShoShona, from Baatchewana Bay First Nation, studied music at Carleton University, and creative writing at the En’owkin Centre in British Columbia. Digging Roots is currently performing as a six-piece band.
A presentation of the New Sun Chair in Aboriginal Art and Culture
with the support of the Dean of Arts and Social Sciences and the New Sun Fund
administered by the Community Foundation of Ottawa