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Collective Members Biographies

Taajii Dorothy Cameron (cultural and spiritual mentor to OKW) is an Ojibwe Anishinaabekwe from Wabaseemoong First Nation in northwestern Ontario. She is mother of four and has two grandchildren. She has raised her family in Shoal Lake First Nation, and in Curve Lake First Nation where she currently resides. For the past 22 years, Taajii has worked with diverse age groups and in many communities as an Anishinaabe Ojibwe language Instructor, spiritual messenger and cultural awareness educator.

Sarah DeCarlo (co-founder and current member of OKW) is an Ojibway filmmaker/musician and community arts and access advocate. Her films have screened at Optic Nerve, Image+Nation, Imaginenative and Weeneebeg Film Festivals.

She has had a wide range of experiences working in First Nations communities in various capacities. For nine years she has worked with the Cree Nation of Wemindji located in Northern Quebec completing various contracts including proposal development, community development and as a youth arts and video animator.

She was the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre and has worked by contract with the Department of Canadian Heritage as well as the Laidlaw Foundation.

Sarah is an Ontario Arts Council grant recipient and has carried out several youth based video workshops in Toronto, Peterborough as well as in remote communities. She has continuously worked by contact producing short promotional films for various grassroots organizations. She has also multiple experiences as a juror on grant selection committees.

In 2006/07 she worked with Isuma Distribution International on their Indigenous Film Network Initiative assisting in the coordination of a large scale tour of First Nations communities in Quebec and Ontario. She also attended the tour delivering workshops and film screenings in 6 communities.

Sarah has a wide range of video production and post-production skills and possesses her own gear. She specializes in teaching video skills in many communities working most closely with youth.

Sarah studied Native and Political Studies at Trent University while having also completed the Canadian Film and Television Production Association's Aboriginal Producer Training Program with the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto in 2005/06.

Sarah has since been involved in a wealth of film and video workshops as experiences.

William Kingfisher (current member of OKW) is Anishnaabe from Rama, Ontario and is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in the Indigenous Studies Department at Trent University. His dissertation research explores contemporary aboriginal visual culture, focusing on art, performance and art outside the gallery system. He has been involved in many theatre productions at the Nozhem First People's Performance Space at Trent University. This has helped William to think about storytelling and how important it is for native people today. He has worked both in the creative part of the production such as creating the story, writing, and acting, as well as being involved in the technical side of things, such as lighting and creating projections. He has also worked at the Canadian Museum of Civilization from 1999 - 2003 as a researcher/curator focussing specifically on contemporary native art.

Patti Shaughnessy (co-founder and current member of OKW) is a member of Curve Lake First Nation, also known to the local folk as, Wshkiigimong, a beautiful pennisula located in south eastern Ontario. Wshkiigimong is home to a small band of Anishnaabeg (Ojibway).

Patti works as an actor and arts programmer. During 2002-2004, Patti studied at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre (Toronto, ON) and at the Banff Centre for the Arts Aboriginal Dance Program.

Most recently, Patti has been touring throughout Canada with Toronto based company, Red Sky Performance in Drew Hayden Taylor's Raven Stole the Sun and made her debut at Theatre NorthWest (Prince George, BC) in Tomson Highway's The Rez Sisters in October/November 2007. Patti reprised her role as Marie-Adele Starblanket in Magnus Theatre's (Thunder Bay) production of The Rez Sisters in October/November 2008.

Patti also has an extensive background in arts administration. In 2001, Patti worked as Festival Director of the Optic Nerve Moving Media Festival through the Peterborough Arts Umbrella. In 2004, Patti worked on the inaugural Harbourfront Centre's Planet IndigenUs: an International Indigenous Multidisciplinary Arts Festival in Toronto, ON, as a festival coordinator. In 2005, Patti settled in Peterborough working with Peterborough New Dance/Public Energy, an animator of contemporary dance as a program coordinator. Patti assisted in the coordination of Indigenous Dancelands, a contemporary dance tour that presented four Indigenous contemporary dance artists in four Canadian cities. Patti has taken several contracts with Indigenous Performance Initiatives to assist with the presentation and promotion of Indigenous Arts Programs at Trent University. At present, Patti continues to work with Public Energy assisting with performance programming with approved Trillium

Sara Roque (co-founder and former member of OKW) is a media artist, writer, administrator and activist who has worked on a number of community based arts projects in different roles including development coordinator, event coordinator, researcher and artist. Her work experience includes contracts with The Centre for Indigenous Theatre, Te Wairiki Purea Trust, and Fourth Line Theatre. Most recently she was appointed as the acting Aboriginal arts officer at Ontario Arts Council. She is co-founder of the O'Kaadenigan Wiingashk Collective based in the Kawarthas, a collective dedicated to raising the profile of Indigenous artists and training in the region. Her short films have played at various film festivals including ImagineNative Film Festival, Splice This Super 8 Film Festival and Muchmusic broadcast. Current artistic projects include director for Six Miles Deep, a documentary exploring the role of traditional women leaders of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy produced by the National Film Board of Canada. She is Ojibwe-Metis from the community of Killarney (Shebohnaning) Ontario

Artists Biographies

(this section under construction)


Upcoming Events | About OKW | Biographies | Partners | Past Events | Photo Gallery | Contact | 2009 Ode'min Giizis Photos | Mapping Resistance