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Who we are

Mandate and values statement

Sacred Fire Productions (SPF) are established as a non-for-profit organization since 2012, under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. The organization is also registered in Quebec as a not-for-profit enterprise and benefits from charitable status since October 2021.

Our core mandate is to contribute to the development of an Indigenous cultural ecosystem in order to address the socio-economic challenges and barriers faced by Indigenous artists and youth. Our initiatives also serve as a springboard for cultural education and reconciliation between nations. Our actions, which fall within four areas of activity, are essentially aimed at the inclusion, development and promotion of Indigenous artists.

  1. Artistic production and dissemination: Contributing to public appreciation of the arts and provide a space for artistic expression for indigenous artists and craftspeople by producing exhibitions and various events related to visual and performing arts.
  2. Raising awareness of traditions: Promoting the transmission and preservation of Indigenous knowledge, arts and cultures, by creating, in collaboration with Indigenous communities, works using oral tradition and traditional artistic practices that translate into the contemporary art world, providing a powerful channel for intercultural exchange with today’s audiences.
  3. Pedagogy: Educating the public and cultural mediators by increasing their knowledge and appreciation of the culture and traditions of Indigenous peoples, and by raising their awareness of contemporary and historical issues relating to Indigenous culture, through conferences, workshops, publications, online information capsules and guided exhibitions.

Here are the values that guide our actions:

  • Respect
  • Inclusion
  • Cohesion
  • Equity

Management team

Nadine St-Louis, VP Operations, Partnerships & Funding
nadine@productionsfeuxsacres.ca

Cécile Bond, Director of Administration
cecile@productionsfeuxsacres.ca

Gail Chamberlain, Artist Delegate
gail@productionsfeuxsacres.ca

Caroline, Marketing and Communication Coordinator
caroline@productionsfeuxsacres.ca

Marjolaine, Meet and greet officer and Translator
marjolaine@productionsfeuxsacres.ca

Alexis, Executive Assistant, Planning and Production
alexis@productionsfeuxsacres.ca

Board of directors

Name and position on the board

Biographical information

Special contribution

Kevin Deer

President

Ka’nahsohon Kevin is from the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake. He has been a faith keeper for almost 40 years now at the Mohawk Trail Longhouse in Kahnawake. Kevin has been involved in education for the past 32 years focusing on maintaining and enhancing the Mohawk language and culture starting in Six Nations (Ohswe:ken) in September 1988. The following year he moved back to Kahnawake and was at the Karonhianonhnha Mohawk immersion school for the last 30 years, progressing through roles as a teacher, vice-principal, principal and then returning back to the classroom delivering health curriculum to nursery groups, kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2 classes. He received his Bachelor’s in Education at McGill University in June 1996. He is passionate about Indigenous spiritual knowledge of Turtle Island (North America) that must be shared and understood by all the newcomers to the New World who are guests in our house. Our guests must understand this Knowledge and begin to live accordingly if we want any hope for future generations. He is the acting vice-president at the First Nation Technical Institute, where he uses his knowledge, experience, and expertise to help guide the institute in becoming a model institution that can influence the entire world from the historic birthplace of “Rononhsionniton” (the Peacemaker).

  • Elder,  traditional teachings keeper in carrying out the PFS mission
  • Representation activities

Wendy Phillips

Vice-President

Wendy is of the Bald Eagle Clan, of the Potawatomi Nation and Jimenhdamog Nation from Wasauksing First Nation. These two nations are the dialect families from what is known today as the Ojibwa Nation. Her Anishinaabe name is Ahwidokazit (“the one who helps”).
The last hereditary chiefs in her territory were her ancestors, who lived along the shorelines of Georgian Bay for thousands of years, and who made first contact. Wendy is a Keeper of the 8 th Fire Prophecies, and a Keeper of the Ancient Thunderbird calendar. She is an elder of the community and of many organizations. Wendy is also a wisdom keeper, traditional healer, ceremonial and spiritual leader.
Wendy is a singer, a dancer, a traditional artist who makes a variety of craft and ceremonial items, and a published poet. She studied at York University, where she earned a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on traditional Anishinaabe governance and environmental sustainability. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and a Major in Indigenous Studies from Trent University.
She worked in many different sectors, non-for-profit and for profit. She been on many Board of Directors, Committees and Councils. In addition, she was part of some of the most prestigious research in the country. Wendy has been able to secure over 100 millions in infrastructure programs, projects in the City of Toronto and across the country for different colleges, universities, hospitals and Indigenous organizations.

Felicia Tremblay

Administrator

Felicia Tremblay, of Cherokee Freedmen descent, grew up in a non-indigenous family in the Laurentians, where arts have always played an important role. Over the years, this consultant in inclusive strategies has taken various trainings that reflect her multiple interests, (leadership, public relations, audio production) but she defines herself mainly as self-taught. Since May 2021, she has been the Senior Advisor for Diversity, Inclusion and Community Outreach at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and is the first person to hold this position. “In everything I do, I am constantly looking for ways to build bridges of communication between people to better understand each other,” says the artist and consultant.

Marisa Barkhouse

Treasurer and Secretary

Marisa holds a Bachelor’s degree of Commerce (2016), as well as a Graduate Diploma in public Accountancy (2017) from McGill University.
Marisa joined the Transaction Advisory Services group at EY in 2019. Previously, she worked for 3 years in the audit department with experience auditing both large public companies, as well as smaller privately owned entities in a wide variety of industries, such as retail, financial services, information technology, and manufacturing.
She is a member of the CPA (Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada) as an audit and also is a CFA level II candidate. She is also a member of the Namgis First Nations band located on Vancouver Island, BC.

  • Financial advisor
  • Audit

Marcia Wetherup

Administrator

Marcia graduated with honors from the University of Toronto with a B.A. in Developmental Psychology and has also studied communications. She has worked for the federal government in a variety of capacities, including project management, communications liaison, legal review and managing culturally diverse teams. These experiences have given her a strong interest in building cross-cultural bridges, effective communication and human rights. In 2006, Marcia and her husband Brian established the Brian Bronfman Family Foundation, whose mission is to support community organizations and institutions that contribute to building a more peaceful society.
In 2009, she co-founded the Peace and Social Harmony Network and coordinated two major symposia on social-emotional learning, which were attended by over 400 educational stakeholders in Quebec. Following the success of the symposiums, the Ministry asked the Network to collaborate with them in the development of content for a series of trainings deployed across Quebec.
Marcia also collaborated with experts and key players in the coordination of a multi-sectoral forum on violence against women and girls. The results were published in a public report and shared with several Quebec ministries.
Marcia now devotes 100% of her time to philanthropic activities. She firmly believes that the work of the Peace and Social Harmony Network cultivates its strength through the power of collaboration and is grateful to the many partners who have contributed to the success of the Network’s projects.

Maggie Napartuk

Administrator

Maggie Napartuk is a printmaker and artist from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Quebec. Maggie’s artistic practice is broad and includes metalwork, jewelry making, illustration, graphic arts and linocut engraving. Her bold monochrome prints reflect the everlasting traditions of the Inuit, while celebrating the relationships between landscapes and their inhabitants. She is one of a small but growing number of linocut printmakers in Nunavik.
In January 2015, she began instruction training in traveling printmaking workshops organized in the Nunavik region. She produced her first solo printmaking workshop in Umiujaq in November 2019.
In July 2016, Maggie received a grant from the Arts Secretariat of Aumaaggiivik, Nuvavik to undertake a linocut printmaking workshop with Lyne Bastien in Montreal. She is an active member of her community, working with young Inuit and emerging artists in Nunavik. She has also participated in numerous workshops across Nunavik to learn and share her printmaking skills.
Some of her prints are permanent fixtures at the Avataq Cultural Institute and in the collection of the Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec.

Marissa Hill

Administrator

Marissa Hill is committed to reclaiming, restorying, rematriating, and recentering place-based Indigenous knowledge systems within the areas of impact measurement, evaluation, and research. All of her work is guided by Elders, community members, and ceremony, and centres art as witness, record keeper, storyteller, and disrupter – including artists who are part of the Sacred Fire ecosystem.

Marissa is currently working alongside Elder Wendy and Mark Phillips, Impact Frontiers, Realize Capital Partners, and Common Approach to Impact Measurement to co-create a capacity building program for the Social Finance Fund that will help investors create more authentic space for Indigenous approaches to impact measurement. This curriculum builds on another project, in partnership with with Common Approach, where Marissa leads a global collective of Indigenous impact measurement leaders and experts (including Sacred Fire) who are working together to co-create a bundle of stories, tools, and resources to support community and investors to advance Indigenous approaches to impact measurement within the impact investment and social innovation space.

Outside of this, Marissa is supporting Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations in their impact measurement and evaluation journeys, is authoring a chapter in an Indigenous evaluation book, is leading a literature review on Indigenous impact measurement methodologies, and is co-leading an emerging global collective of Indigenous data sovereignty leaders and experts who are working together to build capacity, tools, and resources to advance data sovereignty initiatives across sectors and geographies. Previously, Marissa co-led Health Commons Solutions Lab and helped birth the first-of-its-kind pre-seed through scale Indigenous Innovation Initiative (at Grand Challenges Canada).

Marissa is a member of the inaugural City of Toronto Data and Technology Advisory Circle, completed her Honours Specialization in Kinesiology at Western University, graduated top of her MSc in Global Challenges program at the University of Edinburgh, is a certified Project Management Professional, and is trained in Lean Six Sigma and Process/Quality Excellence.

Most important, Marissa is mom to an incredible 8 year old who dreams of being a language speaker, beader, and dancer and she enjoys nothing more than a good laugh, big squishy hugs, and sharing space and food with the people and places she loves.

Marlene Hale

Honorary Member

Nicknamed Maluh, Marlene Hale is from the small town of Smithers, British Columbia and belongs to the Wet’suwet’en community. She learned to cook as a child and quickly considered becoming a chef, which she did after graduating from the culinary program at Vancouver Community College. Her talent and determination led her to work in prestigious restaurants in Vancouver, Hungary and England. In addition to opening Chef Maluh’s Catering in Vancouver, her own catering service specializing in First Nations cuisine, she has been teaching cooking classes for all ages for many years and at many educational institutions, art galleries and First Nations groups across the country. She feels that people have chosen her as an Elder because of her experience and knowledge, but a very important criteria according to her is that you must also be involved in the various Indigenous communities across Canada. ”That’s what I did. I’ve taught over 10.000 kids how to cook and if you name a First Nation, I’ve been there. I have a salmon on my chief’s uniform because we are the salmon people” she says.

THE 11 NATIONS EXHIBITION : AN ACHIEVEMENT CONFIRMING THE POTENTIAL AND INTEREST FOR INDIGENOUS ART

From December 2012 to December 31st, 2013, Sacred Fire Productions presented the 11 Nations Exhibition in Montreal, at Marché Bonsecours, to raise awareness on today’s Indigenous Art and artists. After the exhibition, Sacred Fire Productions created the 11 Nations Cultural Space to ensure that the artworks of the 22 Aboriginal artists who participated in the event would remain accessible to the public for one more year. The Exhibition and the 11 Nations Cultural Space made more than 30 000 people aware of the talent of the First Nations’ artists living in Québec today. The success of this experience highlighted both the potential and importance of building a bridge to Montreal between communities across the vast territories and isolated artists in the urban centers. Access to the works raised public awareness, broke stereotypes and fostered cross-cultural dialogue.

THE MIX ART FESTIVAL : AN ANNUAL EVENT TO GATHER BOTH INDIGENOUS AND NON INDIGENOUS ARTISTS

In June of 2013, Sacred Fire Productions launched their first edition of what has now become an annual gathering of Indigenous and non Indigenous artists. The three day event, celebrates both Art and the National Indigenous Day starting each year on June 21st and where the public has a rare opportunity to meet more than 30 painters, sculptors, musicians and craftsmen performing live while having a chance to ask them question about their techniques and vision. The Mixed Art Festival will present its third edition in 2015.

“CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT OF INDIGENOUS ART THROUGH SOCIAL ECONOMY”, A UNIQUE PROJECT TO SUSTAIN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW ABORIGINAL CULTURAL ECONOMY, IN MONTREAL

The Sacred Fire Productions developed in 2012, an innovative project, moving beyond the limits of a temporary exhibit. The “Capacity Development of Indigenous Art through Social Economy” Project has an ambitious yet essential objective: opening doors for a long term presence of the First Nations artists in one of the major art and tourism market in Canada. To be a success, that initiative had to address two major areas where the artists are facing challenges in the city: their social and economic integration and development. To build the conditions to succeed, Sacred Fire Productions decided to open, in the heart of Montreal, the hub of the art market, a Cultural Space where artists will find the tools to build and share their vision in a cultural environment where they will be able to build, from their own roots and develop their personal, artistic, social and economic skills to build a new Indigenous Cultural Entrepreneurship model that integrates fair trade principles and their community values and symbolic expression.

Partnerships and supporters

Ask for a copy of Sacred Fire Productions’ financial statements here.

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