Talks

Landscape of Nations: Beyond the Mist

Rick Hill is a renowned educator of Indigenous cultures, histories, and arts whose visionary work shaped the programming of several influential educational institutions including Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous Knowledge Centre, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian where he served as assistant director for Public Programs, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe where he served as director, Native American Center for the Living Arts where he served as museum director, Niagara Falls Museums as a historian and advisor, and as a master lecturer at several post-secondary institutions including McMaster University, State University of New York at Buffalo, Six Nations Polytechnic, and First Nations Technical Institute among many others. As an accomplished artist, researcher, and writer Rick serves as Indigenous innovations specialist advising on a number of projects for Mohawk College. Rick is a citizen of the Tuscarora Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, residing at the Grand River Territory.

Tim Johnson is senior advisor for Heritage and Legacy at the Niagara Parks Commission, senior advisor at Plenty Canada, Indigenous advisor on museums, heritage, and legacy for Lord Cultural Resources, and executive producer of the multiple award-winning documentary RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World. He holds board memberships with the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network, Niagara Peninsula Aspiring Geopark, Bruce Trail Conservancy, Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and the Shaw Festival. Tim has also been instrumental in the development of several distinguished works of public art in the Niagara Region. These consist of memorials of national significance that recognize and honour Indigenous peoples’ contributions to Canada, including the Landscape of Nations Memorial. His recent exhibition, Misko-Aki (Red Earth): Confluence of Cultures at the Muskoka Discovery Centre, earned the 2024 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Canadian Museums Association and the 2024 Ontario Tourism Award of Excellence for Indigenous Tourism. He is the former associate director for Museum Programs at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.