Advisory Committee

Andre Morriseau

Andre Morriseau was appointed to the Ontario Arts Council's Board of Directors in February 2007. Mr. Morriseau is a freelance journalist, writer, performer, and an enthusiastic advocate and ambassador for Aboriginal arts and culture.

A member of the Fort William First Nation outside of Thunder Bay, where he maintains a home, Mr. Morriseau is now based in Toronto. Over the past decade, Mr. Morriseau has served on numerous boards of directors including the Centre for Aboriginal Media, ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, Native American Journalist's Association and the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre.

Mr. Morriseau is one of the first three recipients of Toronto's Aboriginal Affairs Award. Andre Morriseau has gained a reputation for promoting and supporting Aboriginal arts and public affairs. As former host of Nation to Nation on Aboriginal Voices Radio, CFIE 106.5 FM, and UrbaNative in Toronto, he shared countless stories of Indigenous peoples and their experiences. Most recently Mr. Morriseau co-produced a CD First House: Celebration of the Grand Opening of the New Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. He starred in independent short films and appeared on a number of TV shows.

Brian Wright-McLeod

As a journalist, Brian Wright-McLeod began writing concert reviews and music features for the North Bay Nugget in 1979. He currently contributes to several Native publications including News From Indian Country, Native Peoples Magazine and the Smithsonian's American Indian.

His music consultation work includes projects for the National Library and Archives in Ottawa, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, the CBC and BBC Radio.

Since 1997, he served as chair and vice-chair on the Native Juno Award category for the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

He began broadcasting in 1985 and currently hosts Renegade Radio on CKLN 88.1 FM in Toronto. From 2005 to 2008 he hosted Sirius Satellite's only Native music program, Electric Powwow on the Canadian music channel Iceberg 95 .

He was named Businessman of the Year by the Toronto Aboriginal Business Association in 2007.

Daniel David Moses

Daniel, a registered Delaware, was born in 1952 and grew up on a farm on the Six Nations lands located on the Grand River near Brantford, Ontario. He holds an Honours B.A. from York University and a M. F. A. from the University of British Columbia. For Coyote City, Daniel was a finalist nominated for the 1991 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama.

In early 2004, Daniel accepted invitations to the 2004 Adelaide Festival Writers Week in South Australia and the Neva Book Forum in St. Petersburgh in the Russian Republic. He was Poet in Residence for Myty, Ktere Nas Spojuji/ Myths That Unite Us, the Prague-Toronto-Manitoulin Island Theatre Project with productions in Prague (The Czech Republic) and Toronto, Manitoulin Island and Montreal (Canada).

Currently, he teaches at Queen's University Drama Department in Kingston, Ontario and pursues independent writing projects.

Danis Goulet

As the Executive Director for imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Danis Goulet brings with her significant experience in the film and television industry. Her short film spin has screened at several festivals, including the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, and she has recently completed her latest short project Divided By Zero. Prior to joining imagineNATIVE, Goulet worked as a casting director on numerous film productions, as well as for the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. She is currently a member of the board of directors for the Images Film Festival and an advisory committee member for the Planet IndigenUS Festival. She is Métis, originally from northern Saskatchewan and resides in Toronto.

Dave Jones

Dave Jones, an Ojibwe of the Garden River First Nation entered post-secondary school and graduated with a degree in Sociology. Previously a school teacher, Dave has taught all ages. he has always had a love for teaching children and youth, and enjoys sharing his experiences. Dave is the founder of Turtle Concepts which is the end product of many years of training and observation about techniques to help build self-esteem in youth. He enjoys encouraging youth to participate in fashion shows for the chance to be seen and appreciated for what they are. His work is gaining him international attention because of his passion to empower and hire youth. Since 1999, TC has employed over 100 youth in short-term contracts with sponsorship from various different training programs. Dave continues to recruit youth and train these youth as an employer because he strongly believes in providing opportunities for youth. Dave has been very active in the Canadian Aboriginal Arts Festival at the Rogers Centre for the past nine years as he heads the fashion component, and is responsible for the selection of youth to model over the weekend. As well, he annually selects the youth hosts/hostesses for the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards since1999, and to date has featured over 700 youth with this particular event.

Jamie Hill

Jamie is the Chief Executive Officer of Aboriginal Voices Radio, an international indigenous radio programme that provides a distinct service in large urban centres where the majority of Aboriginal/Indigenous people now live. The Aboriginal Voices Radio network informs, enlightens, and entertains with culturally relevant Aboriginal programming for all people. Jamie's extensive background in communication includes experience as the National Sales Director of the National Museum of the American Indian Publication (Smithsonian), Communications and Information Analyst for Chiefs of Ontario to name a few.

Judy Harris

Judy Harris is currently the acting Museum Director, Curatorial Registrar of the Woodland Cultural Centre, and brings many years of experience in the management of the museum, as well as the planning and organizing of festivals and special performance projects. She has been a part of the Six Nations Women Singers for many years. This singing group has performed across North America at various venues, and she has experienced the atmophere and intracasies of festivals. She is a member of the Cayuga/Onondaga nations, and resides on the Six Nations Reserve.

Lauren Williams

Lauren Ann Williams is a turtle clan Mohawk from Six Nations, Ontario. After completing an honours B.A. at the University of Toronto, majoring in English and Classical Civilization, she completed an M.A. at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, in the field of Ancient History and Historiography. In the past, Lauren has worked for various organizations in the Aboriginal Tourism sector in Ontario, including Six Nations Tourism, the Aboriginal Tourism Association of Southern Ontario, and Chiefswood National Historic Site. Lauren has also worked as a legal assistant in an immigration law office, and a practice specializing in First Nations treaty rights, as well as in the fashion industry. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario. She is also a member of the World Spirit Youth Council, and enjoys painting, writing, and authoring and illustrating children's stories.

Michelle St. John

Michelle St. John is a two-time Gemini Award winning actor with more than 25 years of experience in film, television, theatre, voice and music. Film credits include: CBC's Where the Spirit Lives, Miramax's Smoke Signals, CBS's Northern Exposure and Sherman Alexie's The Business of Fancydancing. Theatre credits include: Darrell Dennis' Trickster of 3rd Avenue East, Drew Hayden Taylor's Sucker Falls and Marie Clements' Unnatural and Accidental Women and Copper Thunderbird. In March 2008, Michelle portrayed Cassius in Native Earth Performing Arts' production of Death of a Chief at the NAC and at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto. Michelle is a Co-Founder of Turtle Gals Performance Ensemble and with the Gals, co-created The Scrubbing Project, The Triple Truth and The Only Good Indian.... As a vocalist Michelle has recorded dozens of radio and television jingles; theme songs and voice-overs and is currently writing songs for her first solo album. For two years, Michelle served as Producer and Host for Red Tales, a weekly Native literary show on Aboriginal Voices Radio. In the summer of 2008 Michelle toured Yvette Nolan's play Annie Mae's Movement, to New Zealand and Australia as part of the Honoring Theatre – Tri-International Tour. Most recently she worked with co-composer Jennifer Kreisberg to create a new vocal score for WCT and NAC's co-production of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe in Kamloops and Ottawa. In 2009, Michelle will join Marie Clements and Evan Adams as an Associate Producer with Frog Girl Films.

Millie Knapp

Millie Knapp's family is from Kitigan Zibi in Quebec and from Tuscarora in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Millie is president of Knapp Media, which manages the publishing of the Smithsonian's American Indian magazine for the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Millie has worked on the magazine for nine years now. She began as the managing editor. Millie's company, Knapp Media now manages the editorial, the advertising, the design, the printing and mailing of about 55,000 copies of the magazine that goes to museum members.

Knapp Media has sold $1,000,000 in advertising for the magazine with the Spring 2008 issue. Knapp Media reached a new sales goal high for a single issue of $100,000 for the Summer 2008 issue. Knapp has averaged $60,000 in sales per issue since they started selling advertising for the magazine in 2004.

Millie holds a BA in commercial photography from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MA in American Indian Studies from State University of New York at Buffalo.

Patricia Deadman

Patricia Deadman was born in Ohsweken, Ontario and currently resides in Toronto. She is Tuscarora and was raised in Woodstock, Ontario. Patricia received her Fine Art Diploma from Fanshawe College, London in 1986 and completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Windsor in 1988. She participated in the photography residency at The Banff Centre in 1991. She has exhibited throughout Canada and the United States since 1986. Her solo exhibitions have included Fringe Momentum, Thunder Bay Art Gallery (1990); A Little Bit of Dance, Philadelphia (1992); and This Land Reserved, Woodstock (1995). Her recent group shows include Young Contemporaries, London (travelling 1996-1998); Strong Hearts: Native American Visions and Voices, Washington (travelling 1996-1998); and Godi'nigoha': The Women's Mind, Brantford (1997). Previous curatorial/teaching projects have included Inside/Out, Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Art and Neto Hatnakwe Onkwehowe, Buffalo (1996), and Women's Spirit: Keepers of the Earth, Thunder Bay Art Gallery and Beendigen Inc., Thunder Bay (1997).

Tom Hill

Tom Hill has won the 2004 Governor General's award in visual and media arts in the outstanding contribution category. Hill has held prominent positions in the arts in Canada for over 30 years. As a curator, writer, art historian, volunteer and artist, he has played an influential role in the development of Aboriginal visual arts. A Konadaha Seneca, Hill studied at the Ontario College of Art; he also has a certificate in museum studies from the Ontario Museums Association. From his involvement in the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo '67, he went on to become the first Aboriginal art curator in Canada. A tireless contributor to countless committees and boards, he has lectured and written extensively. Among his many awards is an honorary doctorate from Wilfrid Laurier University. He has been museum director at the Woodland Cultural Centre near Brantford for over 20 years. Tom Hill lives in Ohsweken, Ontario. As a curator, writer, lecturer, art historian, cultural policy-maker and volunteer, he has played a crucial role that has been insightful and visionary. Hill's tireless devotion reflects a generous spirit. His determined quest to “find balance” has served the arts well and inspired untold numbers of artists in several fields.”