SHELLEY CHARLES
ELDER
Shelley Charles is the Elder and Advisor on Aboriginal Relations for Humber College. She is a respected member of the indigenous community, having worked in the city of Toronto as a knowledge keeper for many years. She is a mother and grandmother, bringing with her, her knowledge of ceremonies and Anishinabe culture. Shelley is Muskinozhe (Musky fish) Clan from Neyaashiinigmiing (Chippewas of Nawash First Nation).
NICHOLAS DELEARY
PIPE CHIEF
Nicholas Deleary is a Pipe Chief within the Three Fires Midewiwin Lodge. Nicholas has dedicated his life to voluntarily work with First Nation communities to understand their connection to indigenous artefacts in museums and reclaim them to the communities they come from. He has an academic background in Native and Anthropological Studies, respectively. Nicholas is Loon clan, and is from Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
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AKEESHA FOOTMAN
YOUTH ADVOCATE
Akeesha grew up in downtown Toronto with her parents and siblings. She currently sits on the Toronto indigenous health advisory circle youth council and previously volunteered with the ENAGB youth program as a council member. Art and community is how she celebrates life. She is a jingle dress dancer, water carrier and Marten clan. Akeesha's lineage is in Manitou Rapids, Northwestern Ontario and Europe. Public health and governance and human rights are some of her academic interests.
KENNETH LISTER
ASSISTANT CURATOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY (RET'D)
THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM
Kenneth R. Lister joined the Department of Ethnology at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in 1978 and retired in 2016 as Assistant Curator of Anthropology in the ROM’s Department of World Cultures. He has been Head of the former Department of Anthropology that holds more than 50,000 ethnographic artifacts pertaining to the Indigenous Peoples of the world. He held curatorial responsibility for the museum's Arctic, Subarctic, Northwest Coast, and Great Lakes ethnographic collections of North America, the Aboriginal watercraft collection of canoes and kayaks, and the collection of sketches and oil paintings by the Canadian artist, Paul Kane. His field research includes archaeological research in the Hudson Bay Lowland of northern Ontario, ethnographic research among the northern Ontario Cree and the Inuit of Baffin Island, and field studies relating to sites sketched by Paul Kane. The main focus of his work is oriented toward understanding the role of material culture within the context of traditional cultures.