Willie Dunn
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Willie Dunn is a Canadian filmmaker, folk musician, playwright and politician. Born in Quebec, he is of mixed Mi'kmaq and Scottish background. Dunn often highlights aboriginal issues in his work.
Dunn is a singer and acoustic guitarist. He wrote a song entitled "The Ballad of Crowfoot" and directed a ten-minute film of the same name in 1968 (Montreal Gazette, 21 October 1990). Both the song and video are about aboriginal Canadians taking charge of their destiny and becoming politically active (Ottawa Citizen, 30 July 1992).
He has released three full-length albums: Willie Dunn (1971) and The Pacific (1980). His 1999 CD, Metallic, reprises material from both releases.[1] Dunn also composed the song, "Son of the Sun", which Kashtin recorded on their second album (Windsor Star, 20 July 1992). In 2004 Willie Dunn released the album Son of the sun with sixteen songs (including three live versions) (data from german album by Trikont). His films include The Eagle Project, The Voice of the Land and Self-Government, [2] and his music was used for the film Okanada, about the 1990 standoff in Oka, Quebec between police and native protesters.
A longtime member of the New Democratic Party, Dunn defeated Mohamed Bassuny to win the party's federal nomination for Ottawa—Vanier in the 1993 federal election. He received 3,155 votes (6.50%), finishing fourth against Liberal incumbent Jean-Robert Gauthier. He turned 52 years old during the election campaign (Ottawa Citizen, 7 October 1993).
He participated in the Culturally Diverse First Peoples Arts Showcase tour in 1998 (Montreal Gazette, 14 November 1998), and the Nations in a Circle spotlight of 2002 (Halifax Daily News, 25 July 2002). He was inducted into the Aboriginal Walk of Honour in 2005 (Edmonton Journal, 25 June 2005).
