Who We Are

Who we are

LAND InSIGHTS is the driving force behind the Montreal First Peoples Festival, a multidisciplinary artistic and cultural event that makes Montreal the nerve centre of Indigenous creativity from the three Americas for ten days in August.

We set three strategic objectives upon our foundation in 1990: create a major First Nations festival in Montreal, commemorate and remember the Great Peace of Montreal 1701 upon its tricentennial, and secure a permanent home for First Cultures in Québec’s metropolis.

Mission: Link the artistic and cultural renaissance of First Peoples to the cultural dynamics of a major metropolis within a sustainable development perspective based on friendship between peoples, diversity of sources of expression as a collective cultural wealth to share and recognition of the specificity of First Nations.

Year after year, Land InSights has developed a collaborative network with many Montreal institutions interested to include an Indigenous cultural component in their programming. This type of development has proven most emphatically relevant with the agreements reached with Pointe-à-Callière for joint organization of the celebrations of the Great Peace of Montreal tricentennial.

In the meantime, Montreal First Peoples Festival has moved forward, holding outdoor events in public space (from 1996), organizing civic ceremonies to mark National Aboriginal Peoples’ Day (from 1995) and securing recognized competition status for First Peoples Festival’s film and video showcase.

Right now, the projet for a cultural space in Montreal has once again come to the forefront. Land InSights handed the baton to DestiNATIONS, a new body it contributed to create that will administer the future establishment. Several Aboriginal cultural bodies in Montreal, including Land Insights, will have permanent tenancy status and will act as  partners in programming.

LAND INsIGHTS has proven able to create a space for affirmation and recognition, in its organisational structure and its activities. If the bridge may still seem fragile, the confidence the many partners as well as artists in all disciplines have shown for more than twenty-five years gives its existence its full meaning and confirms its necessity.

The founding members are André Dudemaine, Daniel Corvec and Pierre Thibeault

LANDINSIGHTS is guided by an eleven-member board. Most members belong to a First Nations:  Mohawk, Huron-Wendat, Algonquin, Atikamekw or Innu nations.

Prizes awarded to LandInSights

Land InSights has been awarded the Jacques-Couture prize for intercultural rapprochement (2001) awarded by the Government of Québec, and two Mishtapew prizes, awarded by the First Peoples’ Business Association; the first was Cultural Firm of the Year Award (2001) and the second was an award recognizing the impact of its activities in the French-speaking world, Prix Radio-Canada de la Francophonie (2002). In 2015, the Montreal First Peoples’ Festival has been recognized Best Touristic Event by Tourisme autochtone Québec (TAQ).

Board of Directors

Charles Bender, president

Since a Gémeaux nomination for hosting the young adult show C’est parti mon tipi, Charles has become a regular presence on Aboriginal People’s Television Network. On stage, he has had the chance to work with Ondinnok, the Quebec first Indigenous theatre company. On screen, he has appeared in a variety of productions, both in English and in French. Most recently, he appeared as host of the four-part documentary series, Le 8e feu/8th Fire, a series tackling a variety of contemporary First-Nation issues, produced and aired by Radio-Canada.

Alana-Dawn Phillips, secretary

Alana-Dawn Phillips is a Mohawk woman from Kahnawake, Quebec. She studied at Concordia University, while working at APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network). She has been an active member of the Aboriginal community of Montreal for over 20 years and has previously worked various summers for the Montreal First Peoples’ Festival. Today, she is director of the Rising Sun Childcare Centre.

Daniel Corvec, treasurer

Founding member
Daniel Corvec has worked in the film field as a documentary filmmaker and has taken part in several community education projects (in particular for Oxfam, NFB, NABET, le Front commun des communications). He is LandInSights office manager.

André Dudemaine, administrator

Founding member
An Innu, André Dudemaine has made a name for himself as a producer and cultural facilitator. He took part in founding the Abitibi Témiscamingue International Festival. Since the founding of LandInSights, he has worked as cultural activities director.

Manon Jeannotte, administrator

Manon Jeannotte is an urban elected councilor for the region of Montreal of Gespeg Micmac Nation. In 2014, she received the first scholarship for managers of Indigenous origin granted by The EMBA McGill -HEC Montreal.

Karine Awashish, administrateur

Belonging to the Atikamekw community of Obedjiwan, Karine Awashish is Bachelor of Business Administration (UQAM) and a Master of Leisure, Culture and Tourism (UQTR). She accumulates experiences for over 15 years in the field of culture having participated in several projects including theater, television production, event planners and multidisciplinary arts.

Widia Larivière, administrateur

BA in International Studies and Modern Languages from Université Laval and Immigration and Ethnic Relations (UQAM), Widia Larivière, an Anishnabe of the community of Timiskaming, is Youth Coordinator at Quebec Native Women since 2009. She has contributed to various books, including «Les femmes changent la lutte», «Libres d’appendre» and «Sœurs volées : enquête sur un féminicide au Canada».