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Tanya Tagaq Gillis, CM, throat singer, experimental musician, painter, novelist (born 5 May 1975 in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut). An experimental artist who has achieved a level of mainstream crossover success, Tanya Tagaq blends Inuit throat singing (traditionally done as a duet) with electronic, classical, punk and rock music. The New Yorker characterized Tagaq’s voice as, “guttural heaves, juddering howls and murderous shrieks,” and praised her work for its “fearless lack of inhibition, technical skill and mastery of tradition.”  A Juno Award, Canadian Aboriginal Music Award and Polaris Music Prize winner, Tagaq is part of what has been called the “Indigenous Music Renaissance” — an innovative new generation of Indigenous artists in Canada. She is also an acclaimed author and a Member of the Order of Canada.

The Cayuga (also known as Guyohkohnyo and Gayogohó:no', meaning “People of the Pipe” or “People of the Great Swamp”) are Indigenous peoples who have traditionally occupied territories along the northern shore of the St. Lawrence River and south into the Finger Lakes district of New York State. The Cayuga are one of six First Nations that make up the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Gabriel Dumont, Métis leader (born December 1837 at Red River Settlement; died 19 May 1906 at Bellevue, SK). Dumont rose to political prominence in an age of declining buffalo herds. He fought for decades for the economic prosperity and political independence of his people. Dumont was a prominent hunt chief and warrior, but is best known for his role in the 1885 North-West Resistance as a key Métis military commander and ally of Louis Riel. Dumont remains a popular Métis folk hero, remembered for his selflessness and bravery during the conflict of 1885 and for his unrivaled skill as a Métis hunt chief.

The Assiniboine (also known as Nakoda Oyadebi) are an Indigenous people in Canada. Traditionally occupying the Plains, Assiniboine communities can be found mainly in Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada, but also throughout parts of Canada and the United States. (See also Plains Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

The McIvor v. Canada case was about gender discrimination in section 6 of the 1985 Indian Act, which deals with Indian status. Sharon McIvor — a woman who regained status rights after the passing of Bill C-31 in 1985 — was not able to pass on those rights to her descendants in the same way that a man with status could. In her case against the federal government, the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that section 6 did, in fact, deny McIvor’s equality rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In response to this case, the federal government introduced new legislation (Bill C-3) in 2011 to counter gender discrimination in the Indian Act.

Eenoolooapik, also known as Bobbie, Inuk traveller, guide (born circa 1820 in Qimisuk [or Qimmiqsut], Cumberland Sound, NT; died in 1847 in Cumberland Sound, NU). Eenoolooapik provided British whaling captain William Penny with a map of Cumberland Sound that led to the rediscovery of that area 255 years after English explorer John Davis first saw it. The geographic information Eenoolooapik provided to whalers led to years of permanent whaling camps in Cumberland Sound.

The Huu-ay-aht First Nation, located along the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, numbers 725 registered members, as of December 2021. The Huu-ay-aht are a Nuu-chah-nulth nation and are self-governing under the Maa-nulth Treaty.

The Oneida (Onyota’a:ka “People of the Standing Stone”) are an Indigenous nation in Canada. The Oneida are one the five original nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Historically, the Oneida occupied a village near Oneida Lake in New York state. They also occupy territory in southwestern Ontario. Oneida people live both on and off reserves. As of 2022, the Government of Canada reported 2,170 registered members of the Oneida community. (See also First Nations and Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

The Shuta Got'ine are an Indigenous group living on the Mackenzie Mountain slopes down to the Mackenzie River. Historically, various small groups using the eastern slopes of the mountain range have been called Mountain and have traded at all the posts between Fort Liard and Fort Good Hope.

The context for Indigenous women and the franchise has been framed by colonialism as much as by gender discrimination. Indigenous women (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) have gained the right to vote at different times in Canadian history. The process has been connected to enfranchisement — both voluntary and involuntary — which means that Indigenous women were afforded political participation and Canadian citizenship rights at the cost of Indigenous rights (see Indigenous Suffrage).

The Kyuquot (Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’) and Checleseht (Chek’tles7et’h’) First Nations make up the northernmost Nuu-chah-nulth communities on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Once separate bands, the Kyuquot and Checleseht officially amalgamated in 1962. Both are currently self-governing nations under the Maa-nulth Treaty.

The Nuxalk are an Indigenous people in Canada. Their traditional territories are in and around Bella Coola, British Columbia. The term "Bella Coola" once referred collectively to the Nuxalk, Talio, Kimsquit and some Kwatna who inhabited villages around North Bentinck Arm and the Bella Coola Valley, South Bentinck Arm, Dean Channel and Kwatna Inlet. Since the late 1970s, the Nuxalk have called themselves the Nuxalk Nation, derived from the term that in earlier times referred exclusively to the people of the Bella Coola Valley. In 2020, the Government of Canada reported the registered population of Nuxalk was 1,786, with 912 people living on reserve. (See also First Nations and Northwest Coast Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

The Hesquiaht are Indigenous people residing on the west coast of Vancouver Island. “Hesquiaht” is an English version of the Nuu-chah-nulth word, heish-heish-a, which means, “to tear asunder with the teeth.” This refers to the technique of stripping herring spawn away from eel grass, which grew near Hesquiaht territory. Part of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, the Hesquiaht number 756 registered members, as of 2021.

The Nuchatlaht (“people of the mountain”) are a Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation residing on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. According to the federal government, the Nuchatlaht numbered 167 registered members, as of October 2021.

Sahtu Got'ine (also referred to as Sahtúot’ine, Sahtugotine and Great Bear Lake Dene) are Dene people who live around Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. They settled in Déline, which has been self-governing since 2016. (See also Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

Ahousaht (Ahousat) is a Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation residing on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The word Ahousaht means “facing opposite from the ocean” or “people living with their backs to the land and mountains” in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. It is the largest of all the Nuu-chah-nulth nations, with a population of 2,224 in 2021.

The Denesuline (also known as Chipewyan) are Indigenous people in the Subarctic region of Canada, with communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

The Hupacasath (Hupač̓asatḥ, formerly Opetchesaht) are a Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation residing in the Alberni Valley, Vancouver Island, BC. According to the nation, Hupacasath means “people residing above the water.” In October 2021, the federal government reported that there were 353 registered members of the Hupacasath Nation.

Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ (formerly known as Ucluelet, Yuu-tluth-aht and Yu’lu’il’ath) are a Nuu-chah-nulth nation from west Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island. As of October 2021, there were 674 registered members, 446 of whom live off reserve. The Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ, along with several other Nuu-chah-nulth nations, have signed the Maa-nulth treaty, which has provided them with self-governance since April 2011.