Indigenous Arts Committee

Lindsey Lickers, Chair, is an Onkwehon:we (Kanien’kéha)/ Anishinaabe (Ojibwe- Missisakis) artist & community developer originally from Six Nations of the Grand River with ancestral roots to the Mississauga’s of Credit First Nation. She specializes in painting & beading as well as Indigenous arts and culture facilitation, governance, community and program development. Her traditional name is ‘Mushkiiki Nibi’, which translates to ‘Medicine Water’, she is turtle clan.

Lindsey is a graduate of OCAD University and has sat on a number of community boards and committees in the Toronto area over the last 15 years. Some of her past committee work has been for the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto and the Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society (IRIS). She is currently a member of the Toronto Arts Council and Steps Public Art- Indigenous Advisory Committees.

In 2017, Lindsey was shortlisted and awarded a public arts project for the Region of Waterloo’s LRT System resulting in a permanent public instillation for the Block Line stop that speaks to the historical stewardship of the land base of Waterloo and the importance of agriculture from a First Nations perspective. Lindsey also received an International Women’s Day- Leadership in the Arts award in 2019 from the City of Toronto.

She is currently the Community Safety Liaison for the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA), providing advocacy, awareness and capacity building supports for Indigenous women & families, as well as service providers, in the area of human trafficking and gang involvement. She currently practices out of both Toronto and Six Nations of the Grand River.

Emily Henderson is a Kalaaleq (Greenlandic Inuk) writer based out of Toronto. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, her educational background is in cultural and museum anthropology, and she was a staff writer and editor at the Inuit Art Quarterly for two years before transitioning into the Executive Assistant role with the Indigenous Curatorial Collective in 2020. Emily's primary focus has been on Inuit and circumpolar arts, and in 2019 she guest-edited the first ever issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly that featured all-Inuit contributors. 

Ginew (Graham) Paradis (he/him) is Michif/Wiisaakodewin from Penetanguishene with ancestral ties to the Metis homelands, specifically Lesser Slave Lake, AB and the Red River Settlement. He is a citizen of the Metis Nation of Ontario. Giniw has been beading since 2012 as a self-taught artist and started mentoring under Naomi Smith (Chippewas of Nawash, Neyaashiinigmiing Unceded Territory) in 2014. His beadwork and quillwork have been featured at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Art Mûr, the PAMA Museum, Guelph Civic Museum, the Niagara Falls History Museum, and the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum.

Michael White is currently at the University of Toronto as the Special Projects Officer, Indigenous Initatives office.  He’s the Vice President for the board at Miziwe Biik, Employment and Training and holds an Honours B.A. focused in Specialist in General Anthropology from University of Toronto.  He’s an experienced Executive Board Member with a demonstrated history of working in the government relations industry.