Indigenous Advisory Circle

Lisa Bird-Wilson

Author and Chief Executive Officer, SK Arts

Lisa Bird-Wilson is a Métis and nêhiyaw writer whose work appears in literary magazines, newspapers, and anthologies across Canada. Her award-winning novel, Probably Ruby (2022), has been published internationally.

Lisa’s debut poetry collection, The Red Files (2016), is inspired by family and archival sources. The Red Files reflects on the legacy of the residential school system: the fragmentation of families and histories, with blows that resonate through the generations. She has one non-fiction book to her credit, An Institute of Our Own: A History of the Gabriel Dumont Institute (2011), which chronicles the struggle for Métis education rights in the 1970s and early 80s.

In the community, Lisa works collaboratively to support other Indigenous writers. She is former chair and founding board member of the host organization for the Ânskohk Indigenous Literature Festival in Saskatchewan. Lisa lives in Saskatoon and is the CEO of SK Arts, Canada’s first public arts funding agency (est. 1948).

Visit SK Arts online.

Rosemary Georgeson

Artist

Rosemary Georgeson (Coast Salish and Sahtu Dene) was born and raised on Galiano Island in British Columbia and grew up in the commercial fishing industry. Since leaving the industry, Rosemary has worked as a storyteller, playwright and filmmaker. Rosemary’s passion is to bring youth, Elders and ancestors together through storytelling. Her stories are deeply rooted in her family history and the changes that have impacted the west coast.

As recipient of the 2009 Vancouver Mayor’s Award recognizing her as an emerging artist in community arts, Rosemary has applied her talents in dozens of theater, film, and performance projects throughout Canada. Rosemary was the 2014 storyteller in residence for the Vancouver Public Library.

Georgeson has been recognized for her collaboration and sharing of stories with the award-winning play and CBC radio documentary “Women in Fish”. Rosemary’s latest work “The Water We Call Home” launched in July of 2022 at The Yellowhouse Arts Centre on Galiano Island. Rosemary’s latest project is a black and white portrait photography series called “Islanders I”, followed by “Islanders II: Settlers to Galiano – Arrival Stories”.

Learn more about Rosemary Georgeson

Nooks Lindell

Artist

Nooks Lindell is an Inuk artist from Arviat, Nunavut. As designer for Hinaani Design, he creates digital graphic art, artisan handicrafts and designs clothing from his home studio. Nooks seeks to create renewed functionality and beauty out of discarded and used items. The reclamation of materials, land, and culture actively decolonizes his artwork and provides pathways to personal healing. Studying the use of objects and the style of Inuit life and culture, he seeks to explore the intersection of the two.

Resisting traditional gender roles, Nooks passionately pursues his love for designing and sewing clothing, while also hunting and building. He is committed to leading by example to try and show his children and other Inuit that you can pursue your passions no matter your gender. Aside from running Hinaani, Nooks was also Assistant Costume Designer for the CBC/Netflix series North of North.

Curtis Michael

Teacher, Indigenous Studies and the Mi’kmaw Language, Dalhousie University

Curtis is a proud member of the Mi’kmaw Nation and a resident of the Sipekne’katik First Nation (Shubenacadie) in Nova Scotia.

His community was deeply affected by the Shubenacadie Residential School resulting in many community members who never learned to speak Mi’kmaw. His maternal grandparents were among the few families in the area that could speak L’nui’suti — the Mi’kmaw language — and they did so with him and his cousins. Since his teenage years, Curtis has been a leader in teaching the Mi’kmaw Language and Orthography in his community.

Since 2021, Curtis has taught Indigenous Studies and the Mi’kmaw language at Dalhousie University. For Curtis, language has been a lifelong passion to ensure that language continues to be spoken, taught and carried forward along with the stories it preserves.

Watch on CBC News: A Mi’kmaw lesson from language teacher Curtis Michael

Marie-Louise Perron

Knowledge Keeper, Saint-Paul University

Marie-Louise Perron was born on her grandfather’s land in Saskatchewan. She is a descendant of Red River Métis and early French newcomers.

Through different careers, from high school teacher to visual artist, author, archivist and public servant, she has maintained the storytelling tradition of her people. She has presented and published, in both English and French, for national and international audiences, on subjects including the French/Métis songs and stories of the Perron-Ladéroute-Marion-St. Arnaud families, instruction on tracing one's family history, and the value of archives to society.

Now retired, Marie-Louise pursues historical and genealogical research, offers workshops on tracing Indigenous ancestry, studies traditional violin, and participates in many styles of storytelling, including video and digital. An artist in watercolours, mixed media on canvas and photography, she has participated in multiple exhibitions. Her work can be found in private and institutional collections across Canada.

Marie-Louise has been an active member of the Métis community for many years, including on the organizing committee for the award-winning Walking With Our Sisters Memorial Installation in Ottawa.

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski

Curator of Inuit Art, Government of Nunavut

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski was raised in Igluligaarjuk (Chesterfield Inlet) and calls Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, her home. She has a master’s degree in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia. Krista has focused her education and career in the heritage sector in Nunavut and in the fields of Arctic anthropology, museology and collections-based research, with an emphasis on fostering accessibility to collections for Inuit.

Krista works for the Government of Nunavut as a curator of Inuit art. She is a member of the Winnipeg Art Gallery Indigenous Advisory Circle and is co-curating the inaugural exhibition INUA, for the forthcoming Inuit Art Centre at the gallery. Krista is also studying at Carleton University in an interdisciplinary PhD Program.

Visit the Inuit Art Centre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery online.