Me Tomorrow: Cyndy Baskin, Shelley Knott-Fife, Lee Maracle & Drew Hayden Taylor

Cyndy Baskin, Shelley Knott-Fife, Lee Maracle, Drew Hayden Taylor and Wab Kinew 

9:00pm

Sunday, October 31, 2021

First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists, activists, educators and writers, youth and elders have come together to envision Indigenous futures in Canada and around the world. The result is Me Tomorrow: Indigenous Views on the Future. The collection of essays is a powerful expression of imagination rooted in social critique, cultural experience, traditional knowledge, activism and the multifaceted experiences of Indigenous people on Turtle Island. Meet a selection of its contributors, including Cyndy Baskin, Shelley Knott-Fife, Lee Maracle and its editor, Drew Hayden Taylor, in this important conversation about cultivating a better future.

Interviewer: Wab Kinew

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Panel Discussion

First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists, activists, educators and writers, youth and elders have come together to envision Indigenous futures in Canada and around the world. The result is Me Tomorrow: Indigenous Views on the Future. The collection of essays is a powerful expression of imagination rooted in social critique, cultural experience, traditional knowledge, activism and the multifaceted experiences of Indigenous people on Turtle Island. Meet a selection of its contributors, including Cyndy Baskin, Shelley Knott-Fife, Lee Maracle and its editor, Drew Hayden Taylor, in this important conversation about cultivating a better future.

Interviewer: Wab Kinew

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

Panel Discussion

Featured Authors

Cyndy Baskin, PhD, is of Mi’kmaq and Celtic descent. Her clan is the fish and her spirit name translates as “The Woman Who Passes on the Teachings.” She is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at X (Ryerson) University in Toronto, Ontario. Her teaching, research and writing interests involve how Indigenous worldviews can inform education, spirituality and anti-violence approaches towards Indigenous women. Prior to joining Ryerson, Cyndy was a social worker for many years within Indigenous agencies and assisted several First Nations communities to set up culture-based programing, the latter of which she continues to do.

Read more about Cyndy Baskin

Shelley Knott-Fife

Anishnaabekwe, Shelley Knott-Fife, resides where she was raised, in Curve Lake First Nation. With the honour of being mom to son, D.J., and daughter, Jaime, she has a career spanning over 20 years in First Nation education. She has been Curve Lake First Nation’s Education Manager, a provincial school board consultant, an Indigenous Education Officer with the Ontario Ministry of Education and is currently an education specialist with Indigenous Services Canada. A PhD Candidate in Indigenous Studies (Trent) focusing research on Special Education, Shelley has a B.A. (Waterloo), a B.Ed. (Trent) and holds an M.Sc. in Special Education (Purdue).

Read more about Shelley Knott-Fife

Si’Yam Lee Maracle is the author of a number of critically acclaimed and award winning works, including Ravensong, Celia’s Song, My Home as I Remember, My Conversations with Canadians and Hope Matters. Maracle has received many awards and recognitions including the Blue Metropolis Festival First Peoples Prize and the Harbourfront Festival Prize. Recently, she was shortlisted for the Neustadt International Award. Maracle is a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. A member of the Sto:lo Nation, Maracle lives in Toronto and teaches at the University of Toronto.

Read more about Lee Maracle

Drew Hayden Taylor

Drew Hayden Taylor, an Ojibway from the Curve Lake First Nations in Ontario, has worn many hats in his career, from performing stand-up comedy to being Artistic Director of Canada’s premiere Native theatre company, Native Earth Performing Arts. He has been an award-winning playwright (with over 100 productions of his work), a journalist/columnist (appearing regularly in several Canadian newspapers, magazines and news networks), short story writer, novelist, television scriptwriter and has worked on over 20 documentaries exploring the Native experience. The author of 34 books, he looks forward to finding out where his imagination will take him next.

Read more about Drew Hayden Taylor

Wab Kinew is the bestselling, award-winning author of the picture book Go Show the World and the memoir The Reason You Walk. A member of the Midewin and an Honorary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, he is also a former journalist, hip-hop artist, and television host. Kinew, who is leader of the provincial NDP in Manitoba, lives in Winnipeg with his family. This fall he will publish his first YA novel, Walking in Two Worlds.

Read more about Wab Kinew 