Another award for Basil Johnston

Basil Johnston
Basil Johnston

TORONTO – Anishinaabe storyteller Basil Johnston is the 2013 recipient of the Ontario Arts Council Aboriginal Arts Award.

A citizen of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation who was born on Wasauksing First Nation near Parry Sound, Johnston has written 25 books in English – including Ojibway Heritage and Ojibway Ceremonies — and five in Anishinaabemowin.

He is a storyteller, writer and educator who has devoted his career to the celebration and preservation of Anishinaabe heritage. This includes spending 25 years at the Ethnology Department of the Royal Ontario Museum with a focus on Anishinaabe heritage – particularly on recording language and mythology.

Over the years, Johnston has received many honours. He is a recipient of the Order of Ontario, the 2004 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Heritage and Spirituality and the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal. He was the 2012 winner of the Anishinabek Nation’s Debwewin Citation for excellence in storytelling, and has received honourary doctorates from the University of Toronto, Laurentian University and Brandon University.

The $7,500 prize was to be presented to him at a special event on June 21, 2013 at Georgian College’s Aboriginal Resource Centre in Barrie. Created in 2012, the Ontario Arts Council Aboriginal Arts Award celebrates the work of Aboriginal artists and arts leaders who have made significant contributions to the arts in Ontario. The award also honours the next generation: each recipient is invited to nominate an emerging Aboriginal artist who in turn receives a $2,500 prize. Basil Johnston has selected Saugeen First Nation musician Greg Ritchie as this year’s Emerging Aboriginal Artist.