Free admission, tickets required

To celebrate the new Indigenous Law wing, join us in conversation with Polaris Music Prize winner Jeremy Dutcher! Moderated by renown Indigenous lawyer Maggie Wente, this fireside chat will highlight the intersections of law, language, music, and cultural resurgence. It will consider how both art and Indigenous legal traditions can serve as tools for resistance and transformation.

Jeremy Dutcher is a classically trained tenor, Two-Spirit song carrier, polymuse, activist, ethnomusicologist, and member of Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation) in Eastern Canada. Dedicated to language revitalization, Jeremy’s debut album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa unearthed century-old archival recordings of his ancestors, turning them into collaborative compositions on the grand piano. Sung entirely in Wolastoqey, his endangered mother tongue, it would go on to win the 2018 Polaris Music Prize and lead to collaborations with such iconic artists as Yo-Yo Ma and Leslie Feist. His sophomore album Motewolonuwok ᒣᑌᐧᐁᓓᓄᐧᐁᒃ was awarded the 2024 Polaris Music Prize, making Jeremy the first ever two-time winner.

Maggie Wente is a partner with the law firm Olthuis Kleer Townshend (OKT) in Toronto. She is a member of Serpent River First Nation born and raised in Toronto and is of Anishinaabe and settler descent. Maggie advises First Nations and regional Indigenous groups on a broad range of subjects as a litigator and a solicitor. Maggie has a particular focus on advocating and assisting First Nations in exercising jurisdiction over child welfare.

Thank you to Olthuis Kleer Townshend for their support of this event.