OCDSB Indigenous Speakers Series

The OCDSB Indigenous Speaker Series is a series of insightful talks featuring Indigenous leaders, authors, creators, innovators, and storytellers. These events provide an opportunity to learn about the culture, perspectives, and experiences of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit community members.

All OCDSB staff and students are invited to join us for these free virtual talks. Links to the livestreams will be posted on the OCDSB Student Portal and Staff Portal. If you have any questions, please contact the Indigenous Education Team.

Past Speaker

Waubgeshig Rice

Date: Thursday, June 18
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation on Georgian Bay. His first short story collection, Midnight Sweatlodge, was inspired by his experiences growing up in an Anishinaabe community, and won an Independent Publishers Book Award in 2012. His debut novel, Legacy, followed in 2014. A French translation of Legacy was published in 2017. His latest novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, was released in 2018 and quickly became a bestseller. As a journalist, he most recently worked as host of Up North, CBC Radio’s afternoon show for northern Ontario. He currently lives in Sudbury, Ontario with his wife and son.

Watch the recording of Waubgeshig's talk
(This video will be available for OCDSB students and staff to stream until September 30, 2020. Log in with your OCDSB credentials to watch.)

Drew Hayden Taylor
Date: Thursday, June 11 Time: 1:00 p.m. Drew Hayden Taylor is an award-winning playwright, novelist, journalist and filmmaker. Born and living on the Curve Lake First Nation (Anishnawbe), Drew has done everything from performing stand up comedy at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC to serving as Artistic Director of Canada's premier Indigenous theatre company, Native Earth Performing Arts. Drew is the author of 33 books, including his latest novel, Chasing Painted Horses. He sees himself primarily as a contemporary storyteller.

Watch the recording of Drew's talk
(This video will be available for OCDSB students and staff to stream until September 30, 2020. Log in with your OCDSB credentials to watch.)

Jesse Thistle

Jesse Thistle

Date: Friday, June 5
Time: 1:00 p.m.Jesse Thistle is a Métis-Cree-Scot from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, whose bestselling memoir, From the Ashes (Simon and Schuster Canada), chronicles his life on the streets and how he overcame trauma and addiction to discover the truth about who he is. His scholarship is focused on intergenerational and historic trauma of the Métis people, and also reflects on his own past struggles with homelessness. Jesse is widely recognized in the scholarly community and beyond. He holds an MA in History from Waterloo and is an Assistant Professor of Métis Studies at York University.

Watch the recording of Jesse's talk

(This video will be available for OCDSB students and staff to stream until September 30, 2020. Log in with your OCDSB credentials to watch.)

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