The City Imagines: Indigenous Toronto
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Indigenous Toronto explores the poles of cultural continuity and settler colonialism that have come to define the city as a significant cultural hub. Join Brian Wright-McLeod, Kerry Potts,
Event Details
Indigenous Toronto explores the poles of cultural continuity and settler colonialism that have come to define the city as a significant cultural hub. Join Brian Wright-McLeod, Kerry Potts, Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, and elder Duke Redbird as they discuss the deep foundations of Indigenous history and culture that underpin the city to this day.
Speakers
Brian Wright-McLeod
Brian Wright-McLeod (Dakota/Anishnabe) is a Toronto-based music journalist, archivist and educator. His first book The Encyclopedia of Native Music [University of Arizona 2005], and the companion 3-CD set the Soundtrack of a People [EMI Music Canada] were the basis for the Smithsonian Institute’s Native music exhibit Up Where We Belong that launched the documentary film Rumble in 2017.
Dr. Duke Redbird
Dr. Duke Redbird is an elder, poet, activist, educator, and artist with a legacy stretching back to the 1960s. He is a pillar of First Nations literature in Canada, and has practiced poetry, painting, theatre, and film in his career. In 2020, Duke was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by JAYU in recognition of his influence on human rights through art. He occupies the position of Elder with Museum Toronto, the Toronto Biennial, Summer Works, Toronto Arts Council’s Banff Leaders Lab, and is Artist in Residence with the Urban Indigenous Education Centre at the TDSB.
Kerry Potts
Kerry Potts is Teme-Augama Anishnabai of mixed heritage with familial roots in Temagami and Prince Edward Island. Since moving to this city in 1998, Kerry has worked with a number of Indigenous-led organization. Currently a professor at Humber College, Kerry created the course “Indigenous Perspectives on Music, Film and Media” and continues to build Indigenous-focused training and curriculum. She is also Faculty Research Lead on the journalism project “Surviving Hate” seeking to fill the data gap on hate crimes in Canada, with a particular focus on anti-Indigenous racism.
Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere
Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, Grouse clan, from M’Chigeeng First Nation, has a Bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in History and English from the University of Toronto. Mnawaate currently works at Heritage Toronto as their Indigenous Content Coordinator, previous to this she was a Research Assistant for the Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Culture (GRASAC). She currently lives in Toronto.
Nadya Kwandibens
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Books
Indigenous Toronto: Stories That Carry This Place
Beneath many major North American cities rests a deep foundation of Indigenous history that has been colonized, paved over, and, too often, silenced. Few of its current inhabitants know that Toronto has seen twelve thousand years of uninterrupted Indigenous presence and nationhood in this region, along with a vibrant culture and history that thrives to this day.
With contributions by Indigenous Elders, scholars, journalists, artists, and historians, this unique anthology explores the poles of cultural continuity and settler colonialism that have come to define Toronto as a significant cultural hub and intersection that was also known as a Meeting Place long before European settlers arrived.
AuthorEdited by Denise Bolduc, Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, Rebeka Tabobondung, and Brian Wright-McLeod
PublisherCoach House Books