Interview: Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel, Grand Prix, Conseil des arts de Montréal by Arnold August

2024-05-14. Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel, whose Mohawk name Katsi’tsakwas means “picking up flowers,” is from the Turtle Clan in the Kanehsatà:ke community, part of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation (“people of the flint”), commonly known as Mohawk.

Katsi’tsakwas is an artist, and has been an activist on behalf of murdered and missing Indigenous women and other issues since 1990. She has presented at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and at the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP). This gives her global experience and fosters a sense of nationhood in the international arena. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Concordia University in Montreal and recently became a documentarian, as a graduate from the New York Film Academy.

As reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on April 16, 2024, “Katsi’tsakwas (Ellen Gabriel) … is the first Indigenous artist to win a prestigious Montreal arts prize.”