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Carl Ray, Cree artist, illustrator, editor and art teacher (born January 1943 in Sandy Lake, ON; died 26 September 1978 in Sioux Lookout, ON). Ray was known for his innovative paintings in the Woodlands style and was a founding member of the Indian Group of Seven. Ray’s work has influenced Indigenous art in Canada and can be found in the collections of various galleries and museums across the country.

​Freda Ahenakew, OC, Cree scholar, author (born 11 February 1932 on Ahtahkakoop First Nation, SK; died 8 April 2011 at Muskeg Lake First Nation, SK). Ahenakew is recognized as a leader in the acknowledgment and revitalization of the Cree language in Canada. In her life, Ahenakew helped to preserve the oral traditions of the Cree people and share Cree traditions and stories with Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples alike. (See also Indigenous Language Revitalization in Canada.)

(Helen) Daryl Irvine. Pianist, teacher, b Toronto 25 Aug 1932; ARCT (organ performance, RCM), ARCT (piano performance, RCM), LRSM (piano pedagogy, Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music), ARCM (organ and piano performance, Royal College of Music).

Claude Thomas Bissell, cultural administrator and author (b at Meaford, Ont 10 Feb 1916; d at Toronto 21 June 2000.). He was educated at Toronto public schools, University of Toronto (BA 1936, MA 1937) and Cornell (PhD 1940).

Donald K. Donald (b Tarlton). Producer, impresario, b Montreal 12 May 1943. He studied at Rosemere High School near Montreal, and at Sir George Williams U (Concordia University). As a teenager he organized dances in schools and youth clubs.

Arsinée Khanjian, actor (b at Beirut, Lebanon 6 Sept 1958). Arsinée Khanjian grew up in Beirut and attended Armenian National and Catholic schools until she was 17 years old, when her family immigrated to Canada and settled in Montréal.

Eva Vecsei, née Hollo (born at Vienna 21 Aug 1930), architect. Eva Vecsei studied architecture at the Budapesti Muszaki Egyetem (University of Technical Sciences, Budapest) and was an assistant professor (1952-53) at the University's School of Architecture.

(John) Lansing MacDowell. Educator, organist-choirmaster, b Brockville, Ont, 30 Oct 1918, d London, Ont, 6 Nov 1987; BA (Toronto) 1942. A pupil of Charles Peaker in Toronto, he taught music and modern languages in high schools there and in Simcoe, Ont, until 1956.

Brian (Samuel) McCool. Educator, administrator, conductor, b London, Ont, 20 Oct 1901, d Toronto 22 Jan 1982; BA (Toronto) 1923. He taught English, physical training, and classical languages in Toronto schools and was head 1928-39 of the music section at Harbord Collegiate, Toronto.

Alexander Muir. Songwriter, school principal, poet, b Lesmahagow, near Lanark, Scotland, 5 Apr 1830, d Toronto 26 Jan 1906; BA (Queen's) 1851. His parents settled, when he was three, in Scarborough Township, east of Toronto, and he later taught 1853-60 in several Scarborough schools.

Keith (Warren) Bissell. Composer, educator, conductor, b Meaford, near Owen Sound, Ont, 12 Feb 1912, d Newmarket, near Toronto, 9 May 1992; B MUS (Toronto) 1942. While teaching 1934-48 in Toronto schools he studied composition at the University of Toronto with Leo Smith.

John Wilmer Long, "Jack," architect, community activist (b at Johnstown, Pennsylvania 12 Dec 1925; d at Vancouver 8 Feb 2001), was educated at Pennsylvania State University, graduating with a B.Arch in 1950.

Wabanakwut Kinew, hip hop artist, broadcaster, university administrator, author, politician (born 31 December 1981 in Kenora, ON). An Ojibwa activist and public intellectual, Wab Kinew began his career as a musician and rapper with the hip hop group Dead Indians. He gained national attention through his radio and television journalism for the CBC, including 8th Fire, a television series on Indigenous issues. Kinew’s 2015 memoir, The Reason You Walk, was a national bestseller and finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize. Kinew was elected to the Manitoba legislature in 2016, despite controversial tweets and rap lyrics that dogged his campaign. Similarly, revelations of stayed domestic assault charges from 2003 threatened to derail his bid to become leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party, though he was named leader in September 2017.

Maria Campbell, O.C., Cree-Métis writer, playwright, filmmaker, scholar, teacher and elder (born 26 April 1940 in Park Valley, SK). Campbell’s memoir Halfbreed (1973) is regarded as a foundational piece of Indigenous literature in Canada for its attention to the discrimination, oppression and poverty that some Métis women (and Indigenous people, in general) experience in Canada. Campbell has authored several other books and plays, and has directed and written scripts for a number of films. As an artist, Campbell has worked with Indigenous youth in community theatre and advocated for the hiring and recognition of Indigenous people in the arts. She has mentored many Indigenous artists during her career.

Sheila Burnford, author (b in Scotland 11 May 1918; d at Bucklers Hard, Hampshire, Eng 20 Apr 1984). Educated at private schools in England, France and Germany, Burnford served as a volunteer ambulance driver during WWII before immigrating to Canada and settling in Port Arthur, Ontario.

Markoosie Patsauq, Inuk writer, pilot, community leader (born 24 May 1941 near Inukjuak [then Port Harrison], QC; died 8 March 2020 in Inukjuak, QC). The life of Markoosie Patsauq intersected dramatically with many of the most significant events affecting Inuit in 20th century Canada. He survived upheaval and trauma, both collective and individual, and went on to be the first Inuk and the first Indigenous person in Canada to publish a novel. Uumajursiutik unaatuinnamut, or Hunter with Harpoon, appeared serially in 1969–70 in Inuktitut and then as an English adaptation in late 1970. Patsauq’s writing career spanned many decades and included fiction as well as essays on topics ranging from his flying career to his experiences of colonization and injustice. (See also Influential Indigenous Authors in Canada.)

Andrew Randall Cobb, architect (b at Brooklyn, NY 13 June 1876; d at Halifax 2 June 1943). After studying at Acadia, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the École des beaux-arts, Paris, Cobb travelled in Italy, returning to Halifax in 1909 and establishing his practice there in 1912.

Tanya Tagaq Gillis, CM, throat singer, experimental musician, painter, novelist (born 5 May 1975 in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut). An experimental artist who has achieved a level of mainstream crossover success, Tanya Tagaq blends Inuit throat singing (traditionally done as a duet) with electronic, classical, punk and rock music. The New Yorker characterized Tagaq’s voice as, “guttural heaves, juddering howls and murderous shrieks,” and praised her work for its “fearless lack of inhibition, technical skill and mastery of tradition.”  A Juno Award, Canadian Aboriginal Music Award and Polaris Music Prize winner, Tagaq is part of what has been called the “Indigenous Music Renaissance” — an innovative new generation of Indigenous artists in Canada. She is also an acclaimed author and a Member of the Order of Canada.

 Jeremy Sturgess's designs are characterized by striking, unusual geometries, bright colours and thoughtful attention to site features and the larger urban context.

Rj Staples. Administrator, conductor, trumpeter, educator, broadcaster, b Grenfell, near Regina, 1904, d Richmond, BC, 9 Nov 1972; BA (Manitoba) 1931. In his home town he played in the dance and theatre orchestras and directed the band.