Duke Redbird

Duke Redbird
Born	1939 Saugeen First Nation, Ontario
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	poet, journalist, academic, actor
Years active	1960s-present
Notable work	I Am Canadian, Loveshine and Red Wine, We Are Métis

Duke Redbird (born 1939) is a Canadian poet, journalist, activist, businessman, actor and administrator, best known as a key figure in the development of First Nations literature in Canada.

An Ojibwe from the Saugeen First Nation in Southwestern Ontario, he became a ward of the Children's Aid Society at nine months of age after his mother died in a house fire. Raised predominantly by Caucasian foster families, he began writing as a way to deal with the anti-aboriginal racism he faced in schools.

In the mid-1960s, he began performing as a spoken word artist on folk festival, coffeehouse and theatre tours across Canada, was editor of a native newspaper called The Thunderbird, and was an active organizer of protests and a speaker on native rights issues.

In this era, he was also the neighbour of Joni Mitchell during her early career on Toronto's Yorkville coffeehouse scene, and had his first acting role in an episode of Adventures in Rainbow Country.

Marty Dunn published a biography of Redbird, Red on White, in 1971.

His published poetry collections include I Am Canadian (1978) and Loveshine and Red Wine (1981). He has also written commissioned work for various public events in Canada, including Expo 67 and the official opening of the Canadian Museum of Civilization. A musical theatre project based on his poetry was performed for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977, and Redbird represented Canada at the Valmiki World Poetry Festival in Delhi, India in 1985.

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