Search for "mohawk"

Brian Maracle, also known as Owennatekha, author, journalist and radio host (born in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan). Brian Maracle is a member of the Mohawk First Nation and a passionate advocate for the preservation of the Kanyen’kehaka (Mohawk) language.

Emily Pauline Johnson (a.k.a. Tekahionwake, “double wampum”) poet, writer, artist, performer (born 10 March 1861 on the Six Nations Reserve, Canada West; died 7 March 1913 in Vancouver, BC). Pauline Johnson was one of North America’s most notable entertainers of the late 19th century. A mixed-race woman of Mohawk and European descent, she was a gifted writer and poised orator. She toured extensively, captivating audiences with her flair for the dramatic arts. Johnson made important contributions to Indigenous and Canadian oral and written culture. She is listed as a Person of National Historic Significance and her childhood home is a National Historic Site and museum. A monument in Vancouver’s Stanley Park commemorates her work and legacy. In 2016, she was one of 12 Canadian women in consideration to appear on a banknote. (See Women on Canadian Banknotes.)

Patricia Rolston. Pianist, choral conductor, teacher, b Vancouver 28 Nov 1929; LRSM (1948), ARCT (1949), BA (McMaster) 1963, MA (State U of New York) 1970. Patricia Rolston studied piano privately with Pearl Kerr in Vancouver, winning the Eaton Scholarship in 1949.

Lee (Alfred) Hepner. Conductor, teacher, b Edmonton 24 Nov 1920, d Vancouver 24 Jul 1986; ARCT 1950, B MUS (Toronto) 1951, BA (Washington) 1957, MA (Columbia) 1961, honorary FRHCM 1970, PH D (New York) 1972.

(Jamie) Robbie Robertson (b Klegerman). Guitarist, songwriter, singer, actor, producer, b Toronto 5 Jul 1943; of Mohawk and Jewish parents; honorary LLD (Queen's) 2003, honorary LLD (York) 2005.

John Kim Bell. Conductor, administrator, pianist, composer, conductor, born Caughnawaga (now Kahnawake) Reserve, near Montreal, 8 Oct 1952, to a Mohawk father and American mother; B MUS (Ohio State) 1976.

Jaime Robbie Robertson, singer, songwriter (b at Toronto 5 July 1943). Robertson is the son of a Jewish father and a mother of Mohawk descent. He was raised on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario north of Lake Erie.

Archibald Stansfeld Belaney (also known as Grey Owl), writer, conservationist (born 18 September 1888 in Hastings, England; died 13 April 1938 in Prince Albert, SK). Belaney was a well-known conservationist and writer in the 1930s who falsely presented himself as an Indigenous person. Although born in England, he portrayed himself as the son of a Scottish man and Apache woman and named himself Grey Owl. His articles and books stressed wilderness conservation and became bestsellers in Canada and Britain. Shortly after his death in 1938, a newspaper article exposed his real identity as Archibald Belaney.

James Peachey, painter, surveyor (probably b in Eng; d in Martinique? 24 Nov 1797). He was an officer in the British army, attached to the surveyor general of Canada, Samuel HOLLAND (around 1781), and the staff assigned to settle

In May 1983 Shilling was one of 7 Canadian artists invited by Governor General Edward Schreyer to show at Rideau Hall, Ottawa. His paintings are in many corporate and private collections throughout North America. His life is documented in the film The Beauty of My People (NFB, 1978).

Darcy (Rolston) Hepner. Saxophonist, composer, teacher, b Edmonton 22 Dec 1954; B MUS (McMaster) 1978, M MUS (Miami) 1981. Darcy Hepner was raised in Hamilton, the son of professional musicians (conductor Lee Hepner and pianist Patricia Rolston).

June Marie Hollis Ann Kowalchuk, soprano, actress, administrator (born 20 June 1929 in Regina, SK).

Giuseppe (Francesco) Macina. Tenor, opera director, teacher, conductor, b Modugno, Italy, 20 Jun 1938; Artist Diploma voice (Toronto) 1967.

Electronic group The Halluci Nation (previously known as A Tribe Called Red) has garnered international acclaim for its politically charged, powwow drum-driven dance music. Featuring the DJs Bear Witness (Thomas Ehren Ramon) and 2oolman (Tim Hill), the group emerged from an Ottawa club party called Electric Pow Wow, which began in 2007. Former members include DJ Shub (Dan General), and founding members DJ NDN (Ian Campeau) and Dee Jay Frame (Jon Limoges). The group has described its “powwow step” music as “the soundtrack to a contemporary evolution of the powwow.” ATCR is part of what broadcaster and educator Wab Kinew has called the “Indigenous Music Renaissance,” an innovative new generation of Indigenous artists in Canada. The group was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize in 2013 and 2017, and has won three Juno Awards, including Breakthrough Group of the Year in 2014 and Group of the Year in 2018.

Eberhard Heinrich Zeidler, OC, OOnt, architect (born 11 January 1926 in Braunsdorf, Germany; died 7 January 2022). Eberhard Zeidler was one of the most successful Canadian exponents of building technology as a central theme for architectural design, along with Ron Keenbergof IKOY Architects. Zeidler was known for both the technical innovations of his projects and the humanity of his designs. A friend of Jane Jacobs, Zeidler incorporated the role of the building in the city in which it is set and its role in the lives of the people who use it.

Bertha Skye, cook, entrepreneur, Indigenous Elder (born 1932 on Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, SK). From a young age, Skye learned to cook and used her talent to feed those in her community. She was chosen to participate in the 1992 Culinary Olympics, where she and her teammates won several medals, including a gold for Skye’s corn, bean, and squash soup (also know as Three Sisters soup). Among other advisory positions, Skye has served as an Elder in Residence at various post-secondary institutions in Ontario.

An immigrant to North America, Krieghoff spent the better part of his youth in Protestant Schweinfurt (Bavaria, Germany), where his father managed a factory producing fine and custom wallpapers. By age 22 (1837) he had made his way across the Atlantic.

Jon (William) Ballantyne. Pianist, composer, b Prince Albert, Sask, 8 Oct 1963.

Robert Markle, painter, writer, musician, educator (born 1936 in Hamilton, ON; died 1990 in Mount Forest, ON). Markle was Mohawk, but his relationship to his ancestry was not straightforward. It was only later in life that Markle actively incorporated aspects of his Indigenous identity into his art. Most well known for his female nudes, Markle usually depicted his wife, Marlene, or burlesque dancers. Following a Toronto police raid of a gallery exhibiting his work in 1965, some of Markle’s drawings were identified as obscene by a judge. Markle remains known for his sensual and passionate artwork.