Language, Land, and Lens: Indigenous Voices in Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Name: Language, Land, and Lens: Indigenous Voices in Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Start: 2026-03-27T19:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-03-27T20:00:00-04:00
Location: 100 Queen's Park , Toronto, ON, Canada, Ontario M5S 2C6

Schedule

Fri Mar 27 2026 at 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

100 Queen's Park , Toronto, ON, Canada, Ontario M5S 2C6 | Toronto, ON

Celebrate Indigenous artistry, language, and collective relationships with the natural world. This special event brings together a panel of Indigenous artists and language carriers whose contributions have enriched the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at ROM.
Through dialogue and reflection, learn more about how language, story, and worldview shape our understanding of animals, land, and water, and how these connections call us to care for future generations. This conversation also honours National Indigenous Languages Day (March 31) and the many Indigenous languages that carry knowledge of the land and our animal relatives.
Light refreshments will be served. The evening includes access to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Crawford Lake: Layers in Time exhibitions.
This evening brings together a panel of Indigenous artists and language carriers, and we are grateful for the ways in which they have enriched our presentation of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at ROM.
Moderating the discussion is Elwood Jimmy, a member of Thunderchild First Nation, an Indigenous community situated in the midwest of what we now refer to as Canada. For 30 years, he has worked in the arts as a writer, curator, artist, and cultural manager. He is currently the curator of Indigenous programs at the Musagetes Foundation, where he collaborates and works with both Indigenous and ally artists committed to wiser futures and practices around Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations, climate emergency, and polycrisis/global instability. Before that he worked for several film festivals and artist-run centres, and guest curated over a dozen visual and media arts exhibitions for various galleries and museums across the country. His writing has been published through the CBC, numerous art magazines & journals, and many gallery & museum publications. He is a well-respected peer assessor and jury member, having served on over 40 arts council and film festival juries during his career. Apart from his work in the arts, his primary hobbies include caring for animals and plants. He has lived in southern Ontario since 2012.
Barbara Nolan is grateful to have survived the attempts by Canada’s residential schools system to take her Nishnaabe language from her.
As a vibrant first-speaker of Nishnaabemwin, Barbara has spent several decades working with a variety of organizations to revitalize the Ojibway/Odawa language, her most passionate method is through storytelling. Barbara was acknowledged for her passion and dedication with language and culture by the City of Sault Ste. Marie and was presented with the Medal of Merit Award. She was also appointed by the Anishnabek Nation as the Anishnaabemowin Commissioner in December 2020.
Barbara is a proud Nishnaabe-kwe, formerly from Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve, who now resides in Garden River First Nation. Nesdotmookiid (“Causer of Language Understanding”)
Barb Garlow is a respected Knowledge Keeper and in 2023 was honoured as an Indigenous Language Guardian from her community. She grew up and lives in Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Barb is from the Cayuga Nation, part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, wolf clan. She has dedicated her life to the protection and revitalization of the Cayuga language, culture and traditional knowledge.
Taqralik Partridge is an artist, writer, spoken word poet, and curator from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. Her artwork has been showcased both nationally and internationally, with exhibitions at venues such as the Mackenzie Art Gallery (Radical Stitch), Carleton University Art Gallery (The Baroness von Elsa Project), Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery (Among All These Tundras), Onsite Gallery (ᐳᓛᖃᑎᒌᑦ (Pulaaqatigiit)), and the Sydney Biennale in Australia. Partridge’s performance work has been featured on CBC Radio One, and she has toured with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Maanii Taylor is a mother, grandmother, singer and translator of the Anishinaabemowin language from Curve Lake First Nation. She has sung and performed internationally and locally sharing her gift of song at various cultural events and programs. As a translator, Maanii has supported the Michi Saagiig Nation in preserving her community's specific dialect. She has translated many resources and text in the language including: Robert Munch books, work for CN Tower in Toronto, Elder Gidigaa Migizi-bun's (Doug Williams-bun)'s reflection on the Chemong Portage from English into Anishinaabemowin, as part of the Right of Way - The Chemong Portage Project and many other translations that have served as a tool of preservation and education.
Arlo Price is a 23-year-old Two-Spirit Anishinàbemowin speaker from Kitigan Zibi who lives and teaches in Mòniyang/Tio'tia:ke/Montreal.