04/17/2024
The 2024 Indspire Award for Culture, Heritage & Spirituality goes to a person who has not only recovered valuable past teachings, she’s brought them to life and revitalized them, ensuring that generations to come will be able to walk a powerful path.
Edna Manitowabi, Bear Clan from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, has been changing lives across Turtle Island for decades.
As a teacher at the forefront of the Indigenous cultural revitalization movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s, she was a founding member, teacher, and curriculum designer of the Bidassige Native Way School in 1976. She’s a Fifth Degree member of the Midewiwin Society, the head woman for the Eastern Doorway of the Three Fires Midewewin Lodge, and the Ogimaa Kwe (Head Leader Woman) of Minweyweywigaan Midewiwin Lodge.
A teacher of Anishinaabemowin, Edna also taught at Trent University for many years and is a Professor Emerita there. She was the driving force behind the creation of Nozhem Theatre, Trent’s dedicated Indigenous performance space, and has served as the Traditional Cultural Director for The Native Theatre School, The Centre for Indigenous Theatre, and the Banff Aboriginal Dance Program.
She’s an accomplished actor, beginning in 1994 with her first-ever role in Drew Hayden Taylor’s play Someday, and she’s also had roles in the films Indian Horse and Café Daughter as well as the series Resident Alien.
Edna has consistently been a strong advocate for Indigenous peoples, a teacher of Anishinaabemowin and Anishinaabeg traditions, and an unfailing champion of Indigenous ways of knowing.
