UN75 DIALOGUES

Indigenous Voices / Listening for Tomorrow

DIALOGUE PARTNERS

25 JUNE 2020

This UN75 Dialogue features leading cultural voices working with First Nation communities in the United States and Canada, exploring indigenous values, wisdom and culture as vital drivers for the activation and implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The discussion is moderated by Shamina de Gonzaga, World Council of Peoples for the United Nations (WCPUN) Executive Director and Main Representative to the UN, with panelists Joseph Kunkel (Northern Cheyenne), Director, Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab; Nathalie Bondil, Director General and Chief Curator at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Aaron Leggett (Dena’ina Athabascan), Curator of Alaskan History & Culture at Anchorage Museum and President/First Chief of Native Village Eklutna; and Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota), Writer, Playwright, Director and Choreographer, and the Recipient of the PEN/USA Literary Award for

Drama. The discussion explores the panelists’ work at the intersection of indigenous and non-indigenous communities; the sustainability of indigenous technologies; the role of artists in developing new narratives for indigenous communities; and the roles of language and listening in successful dialogue, collaboration and cross-cultural exchange. The one-hour discussion is followed by a public Q&A, a video message from Wounded Knee, South Dakota and a preview of the 2020 film Gather by Sanjay Rawal.

PANELISTS

Shamina de Gonzaga Moderator

Executive Director & Main Representative to the UN, World Council of Peoples for the United Nations (WCPUN)

Shamina de Gonzaga is Executive Director and Main Representative to the UN for World Council of Peoples for the United Nations (WCPUN). She is Editor-in Chief of “Centerpoint Now,” a WCPUN publication, and co-founder of What moves you?. Her work includes the “MEXUS” interview and portrait series on Mexico-US relations, the “Indocumentales/Undocumentaries” traveling documentary film and dialogue series on immigration, and “Global Voices” traveling exhibit on the Millennium Development Goals.

Aaron Leggett

(Dena'ina Athabascan) Curator of Alaskan History & Culture at Anchorage Museum and President/First Chief of Native Village Eklutna

Aaron Leggett was born in Anchorage and is Dena’ina Athabascan. He works as a special exhibits curator at the Anchorage Museum and has worked for the Anchorage Historic Preservation Commission, as the Dena’ina cultural historian and assistant curator of collections and exhibits at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Mr. Leggett is also a member of the Tribal Council of the Native Village of Eklutna.

Joseph Kunkel

(Northern Cheyenne Nation) Director, Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab

As a community designer and educator, Kunkel's work explores how architecture, planning, and construction can be leveraged to positively impact the built and unbuilt environments within Indian Country. His research work has developed into emerging best practices within Indian Country, leading to an online Healthy Homes Road Map for affordable tribal housing development, funded by HUD’s Policy, Development, and Research Office.

Larissa FastHorse

(Sicangu Lakota) Writer, Playwright, Director & Choreographer. Recipient of the PEN/USA Literary Award for Drama

Larissa FastHorse is a Sicangu Lakota playwright, director, and choreographer whose work radically engages Indigenous collaborators to explore onstage representations of the joys and challenges that the Native community faces. FastHorse won the PEN USA Literary Award for Drama, NEA Distinguished New Play Grant, Joe Dowling Annamaghkerrig Fellowship, AATE Distinguished Play Award, amongst others. She is a proud officer of the Board of Directors for Theatre Communications Group and represented by Jonathan Mills, Paradigm NY.

Nathalie Bondil

Director General and Chief Curator of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Nathalie Bondil is a French and Canadian art historian and curator. She served as director general and chief curator of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from 2007 to 2020. Bondil joined the museum in 1999 and is the first woman to be the museum's director. In 2019, she was awarded the Legion of Honour.