Evan Tlesla Adams (born November 15, 1966) is an Indigenous Canadian actor, playwright, and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. A

Coast Salish The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the C ...

from the Sliammon First Nation near

Powell River, British Columbia Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, which is part of the larger Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and th ...

, he is best known internationally for his roles in the films of Sherman Alexie, as Thomas Builds-the-Fire in the 1998 film '' Smoke Signals'' and Seymour Polatkin in the 2002 film '' The Business of Fancydancing''.

Career

Entertainment

He won an Independent Spirit Award in 1999 for Best Debut Performance for his role in ''Smoke Signals'', and a Los Angeles Outfest award in 2002 for his role in ''Fancydancing''. In Canada, Adams has acted primarily in television, including roles in '' The Beachcombers'', "Lost in the Barrens" '' Da Vinci's Inquest'', '' Neon Rider'', '' These Arms of Mine'', '' Da Vinci's City Hall'', '' The L Word'', and ''Wolf Canyon'', and stage roles in '' Lear'' and ''

Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing ''Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing'' is a play by Canadian writer Tomson Highway (Cree), which premiered in 1989 at Theatre Passe-Muraille in Toronto. Character List *Nanabush (playing the spirit of Gazelle Nataways, Patsy Pegahmagahbow, a ...

''. He appeared in the 1990 made for TV movie "Lost in the Barrens". He also appeared in the documentary film '' Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the '70s Generation'', speaking about his own experience as a young gay, First Nations man growing up in Canada during the Pierre Trudeau's era. His plays, including ''Dreams of Sheep'', ''Snapshots'', ''Dirty Dog River'' and ''Janice's Christmas'', have been produced across Canada and internationally. He appears in the 2017 films '' Indian Horse'' and '' Kayak to Klemtu'', and the 2020 film ''

Indian Road Trip ''Indian Road Trip'' is a Canadian comedy film, directed by Allan W. Hopkins and released in 2020. The film stars Ajuawak Kapashesit and Paul C. Grenier as Hank and Cody, two aimless young First Nations cousins in British Columbia who are plannin ...

''.

Medical

Adams has also worked extensively with First Nations health programs in Canada, including

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

education and alcohol and drug abuse treatment. In 2002, Adams completed a medical degree at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being inst ...

. He completed his residency at St. Paul's Hospital/UBC (as Chief Resident), a Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, and served as the Deputy Provincial Health Officer with the British Columbia Ministry of health. In April 2007, Adams was appointed the first-ever Aboriginal Health Physician Advisor for the province of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

. In April 2012, Adams was made Deputy Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia by Dr. Perry Kendall. On December 1, 2014, Adams became the Chief Medical Officer of the

First Nations Health Authority The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) is a health service delivery organization responsible for administering a variety of health programs and service for First Nations people living in BC. Overview The FNHA is part of a First Nations Healt ...

in British Columbia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Evan 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors First Nations male actors First Nations dramatists and playwrights Canadian gay actors Canadian LGBT writers Male actors from British Columbia 1966 births Living people Gay film actors Gay television actors Gay stage actors Gay dramatists and playwrights Canadian public health doctors Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Indspire Awards 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 20th-century First Nations writers 21st-century First Nations writers LGBT First Nations people First Nations academics University of Calgary alumni Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni