photo/foto: Hemispheric Institute Staff

The Place of the Indigenous Voice in the 21st Century

Inside the verbs, pronouns, articles of the world’s Aboriginal languages are the keys to the planet's long-term survival. Western languages hold that nature died at mankind’s eviction from a garden. Aboriginal languages refute this—to them, nature has a soul, the planet is a garden. Kill those languages and that vision—and the planet—would die.

Biography

Tomson Highway is a writer from northern Manitoba, producing works in Cree, French, and English. Plays include "The Rez Sisters," "Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing," and "Rose"; he is the author of the best-selling novel, "Kiss of the Fur Queen." As a classically-trained pianist, he frequently writes music for his shows.