Dr.Duke Redbird (born 1939) is an

Indigenous Canadian In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada, Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fal ...

poet, journalist, activist, businessman, actor and administrator, best known as a key figure in the development of

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

literature in Canada. An

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

from the

Saugeen First Nation Saugeen First Nation ( oj, Saukiing) is an Ojibway First Nation band located along the Saugeen River and Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. The band states that their legal name is the "Chippewas of Saugeen". Organized in the mid-1970s, Sauge ...

in Southwestern Ontario,Jeannette Armstrong and Lally Grauer, ''Native Poetry in Canada: A Contemporary Anthology''.

Broadview Press Broadview Press is an independent academic publisher that focuses on the humanities. Founded in 1985 by Don LePan, the company now employs over 30 people, has over 800 titles in print, and publishes approximately 40 titles each year. Broadview's o ...

, 2001. . p. 41. he became a ward of the

Children's Aid Society Children's Aid, formerly the Children's Aid Society, is a private child welfare nonprofit in New York City founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace. With an annual budget of over $100 million, 45 citywide sites, and over 1,200 full-time employees ...

at nine months of age after his mother died in a house fire."An unbending spirit: The creative journey is far from over for the artist, poet, and former politico, Duke Redbird". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', April 10, 1999. Raised predominantly by white foster families, he began writing as a way to deal with the anti-indigenous racism he faced in schools.

Early career

During the mid-1960s, he started his career as a

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

artist on

folk festival A folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music. This list includes folk festivals worldwide, except those with only a partial focus on folk music or arts. Folk festivals may also feature folk dance or ethnic foods. Handicra ...

, coffeehouse and theatre tours across Canada, he then became editor of a native newspaper named ''The Thunderbird'',"Joni: `Dirt poor,' 20 and pregnant Excerpts from a new book reveal details of Joni Mitchell's life in '60s Toronto". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', April 7, 1997. and was a determined organizer of protests and spoke on native rights issues."Shaman of the global village". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', September 12, 1981. In this era, he was also the neighbour of

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

during her early career on Toronto's Yorkville coffeehouse scene, and had his first acting role in an episode of '' Adventures in Rainbow Country''. Marty Dunn published a biography of Redbird, ''Red on White'', in 1971.

Writing

His collections of published poetry includes ''I Am Canadian'' (1978) and ''Loveshine and Red Wine'' (1981). He has also done other commissioned work for various public events in Canada, including the official opening of the

Canadian Museum of Civilization The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...

and

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

."Pre-opening gala planned for Museum of Civilization". ''

'', June 22, 1989. A project of musical theatre primarily based on his poetry was performed for

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

during the

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in 1977, and Redbird represented Canada at the Valmiki World Poetry Festival in

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in 1985. He collaborated with musician Winston Wuttunee in the 1970s, including a joint appearance at the

Mariposa Folk Festival Mariposa Folk Festival is a Canadian music festival founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario for a f ...

and the album ''See the Arrow''. From his spoken word work, two CD's ''Duke Redbird the Poet'' (1994) and ''In Other Words'' (1999) have been released. In 1999, indigenous rapper TKO persuaded Redbird to work together on his next album, asserting that "Duke Redbird is the old master of the spoken word and I'm the new master." "Silver River", a song Redbird recorded in 1975 in collaboration with musician

Shingoose Curtis Jonnie (26 October 1946 – 12 January 2021), better known by his stage name Shingoose, was an Ojibwe singer and songwriter from Canada. He played in Roy Buchanan's band during the early part of his career. He also recorded with Bruce Coc ...

, appears on the 2014 compilation album '' Native North America, Vol. 1''. The song originally appeared on Shingoose's four-song EP ''Native Country''. With

Bonnie Devine Bonnie Devine is a Serpent River Ojibwa installation artist, performance artist, sculptor, curator, and writer from Serpent River First Nation, who lives and works in Toronto, Ontario.Robert Houle Robert Houle (born 1947) is a Saulteaux First Nations Canadian artist, curator, critic,"Robert ...

, he also cowrote ''The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition'', the guidebook to the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

's 2009 retrospective exhibition of artist Daphne Odjig.

Activism

During the 1970s, Redbird was the then vice-president of the

Native Council of Canada The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) (formerly the Native Council of Canada and briefly the Indigenous Peoples Assembly of Canada), founded in 1971, is a national Canadian aboriginal organization, that represents Aboriginal peoples ( Non-Sta ...

. After earning a master's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, his academic thesis ''We Are Metis'' was then published in 1980.Ethnic Literature
at

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. He subsequently served as president of the Ontario Métis and Non-Status Indian Association.

Media work

He began working in television and film during the 1990s. He wrote the teleplay '' Four Directions: A Canoe for the Making'' for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

, was an associate producer on the feature film ''

Dance Me Outside ''Dance Me Outside'' is a 1994 Canadian drama film, directed by Bruce McDonald (director), Bruce McDonald. It was based on Dance Me Outside (book), a book by W.P. Kinsella.Rob Salem, "Dance Me Outside struts a lively two-step". ''Toronto Star'', M ...

'', and produced a multimedia documentary on indigenous art for the

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. He has also worked in television as a news producer and First Nations issues reporter for

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

. He took on multiple acting roles in this era, appearing in episodes of ''

Wonderfalls ''Wonderfalls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller that was broadcast on the Fox television network in 2004. The show centers on Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a recent Brown University grad ...

'' and '' Relic Hunter'', and in the films ''

Elimination Dance ''Elimination Dance'' is a 1998 Canadian short drama film. Directed by Bruce McDonald, Don McKellar and Michael Ondaatje based on Ondaatje's poem of the same name, the film stars McKellar and Tracy Wright as a couple in a jazz dance competition, ...

'', ''The Shaman's Source'' and ''

Casino Jack ''Casino Jack'' (known in certain territories as ''Bagman'') is a 2010 comedy-drama thriller film directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Kevin Spacey. The film focuses on the career of Washington, D.C. lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramof ...

''.

Business

In the 1990s he was co-owner of a downtown Toronto pub, the Coloured Stone, and played a pivotal role in reuniting Mitchell with Kilauren Gibb, the daughter she had given up for adoption in the 1960s."Joni Mitchell's Secret"
''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...

'', April 21, 1997. He also launched Native Blend Coffee, a line of

fair trade coffee Fair trade coffee is coffee that is certified as having been produced to fair trade standards by fair trade organizations, which create trading partnerships that are based on dialogue, transparency and respect, with the goal of achieving greate ...

, in 1999. In 2000, he opened a restaurant, Eureka Continuum, to specialize in indigenous cuisine."Restaurant celebrates home and native food". ''

'', June 28, 2000. In this era, he described to the ''

'' the ways in which his philosophy of activism had shifted: "I'm still a kind of activist, but it's on a different level. Now, I'm an elder, a wisdom-keeper, a sharer. I try to help people from community - aboriginal, indigenous people who may be Metis, First Nations or Inuit - who are assembling strategies to accomplish their goals. Wisdom is choosing the right goal. It's my job to ask: Is it wise?"

Academic work

After leaving Citytv in 2009, Redbird joined

OCAD University Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within d ...

as a mentor and advisor in the institution's indigenous visual culture program until 2012. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the institution in 2013. In 2019, he collaborated with Myseum of Toronto on an indigenous history project at

Ontario Place Ontario Place is an entertainment venue, event venue, and park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The venue is located on three artificial landscaped islands just off-shore in Lake Ontario, south of Exhibition Place, and southwest of Downtown Toronto. ...

."Why the otter is better than the beaver and other Canada Day lessons with Indigenous elder Duke Redbird"
''

'', June 30, 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Redbird, Duke 1939 births 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Canadian television reporters and correspondents Canadian spoken word poets Canadian television producers Canadian restaurateurs Film producers from Ontario Academic staff of OCAD University First Nations poets First Nations musicians First Nations journalists Ojibwe people Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors First Nations male actors First Nations screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century First Nations writers 21st-century First Nations people Canadian male non-fiction writers Saugeen First Nation First Nations academics Non-Status Indians