Aanii, Jamie-lee Oshkabewisens Dizhnikaaz, Wikwemkoong Doongibaa. Hello, I’m Jamie–lee Oshkabewisens, I hail from Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve, on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. I’ve been in plays for 8 years with Debajehmujig Theatre and their Creation Centre, including “Nanabush Steals the Fire”, “12” (12 days of Christmas 2014), “Spirit of the North” (2013), and “Global Savages” (2015). I also take part in an annual “Wilder Med Scenarios” with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (N.O.S.O.M). I’ve attended an Arts Educator Foundations workshop with the Royal Conservatory of Music & Debajehmujig. I was a traveling and host artist on Jumblies’ 2015 Train of Thought cross-Canada tour. Another notable educational credit is the Heritage Interpreter workshop. I am now a freelance artist, currently working on my own projects as well as working with Jumblies for a year (2018/19), thanks to funds from Miziwe Biik.
Jamie-lee Oshkabewisens
Toronto is home to a large indigenous population including residential school survivors and intergenerational family members who have been impacted by the history and legacy of the residential school system. The sacred land on which we stand has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.
