Art Napoleon

Art Napoleon was a former Chief of the Saulteau First Nation (see West Moberly First Nations) and has been consulted as a cultural advisor for archeological findings in northeastern British Columbia.[7] Napoleon led an educational training camp on First Nations traditions that was facilitated by the Treaty 8 Tribal Association.[8]

Art Napoleon was a leading figure in the protests of the construction of the Site C dam, participating in the summit,[9] and signing a letter to "BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald, Premier Christy Clark and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau".[10] Napoleon helped organize the Rocky Mountain Fort protest camp.[11] Napoleon and other elders expressed the belief that Treaty 8 had been repeatedly undermined and that the dam was one of many examples.[12] At least three of the protestors participating in a road block were arrested.[13][14] Many of the protestors were sued by BC Hydro and were accused of "conspiracy, intimidation, trespassing, creating a public and a private nuisance, and intentionally interfering with economic relations by unlawful means", but Art Napoleon was not targeted, despite his involvement.[15]

Art Napoleon was cast in the third season of the children's television show "Tiga Talks!", a program which served to improve children's language skills and introduce them to media in aboriginal languages.[16][17] During the filming of the show, Napoleon met Dan Hayes, who had been catering for the set.[6] Napoleon had been considering a comedy cooking show that would "juxtapose" his rustic "bush cooking" with the food preparation of a trained chef, and approached Hayes with his idea.[18]

As a result of their conversation, the first season of Moosemeat & Marmalade was filmed in 2015 and was funded by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network,[19] the Bell Fund, the Canadian Media Fund, and the Government of Nunavut.[20] The show focused on the collaboration and competition between Art Napoleon with his traditional outdoors "bush cook" approach to cooking and co-host Dan Hayes' classically-trained British cooking style.[6] The show continued to be hosted on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and Napoleon translated each episode into Cree.[2] Each episode of the show was set in a different community across Canada and the United Kingdom.[21] Most of the ingredients cooked in the show were obtained by the hosts through hunting, gathering, or fishing.[4] Napoleon regularly emphasized conservationism, food security and sustainability, and other ethical considerations of cooking,[22][23] and he has been noted as an important figure in the indigenous food sovereignty movement more broadly.[24][25] Seasons one and two focused on hunting and gathering whereas season three focused on river food, lake food, seafood, and fishing.[4] Season four focused on experimental foods.[26][20]

Art Napoleon released his debut album, Outta the Woods in 1995. He released his second album, Miyôskamin in 2006;[27] it received playtime on CBC’s Galaxy Folk-Roots radio program and won two Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards.[3] Napoleon released his third album Mocikan: Songs for Learning Cree in 2008,[28] which was nominated for best children’s recording at the Western Canadian Music Awards.[3][29] His fourth album, Siskabush Tales was released later the same year[28] and received "best country album and best folk/acoustic album" at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.[30] Napoleon released a covers album in 2010 entitled Creeland Covers.[31][32]

• The NESA Activities Handbook for Native and Multicultural Classrooms (2010), ReadHowYouWant.com ISBN 978-1-458-78301-1
• Dancing Towards the Sky: David Meeko's Journey with AIDS (1998), Twin Sisters Publishers ISBN 978-0-969-65098-0

• Outta the Woods (1995)
• Miyôskamin (2006)
• Mocikan: Songs for Learning Cree (2008)
• Siskabush Tales (2008)
• Creeland Covers (2010)

• The Napoleon Collective (2012)

• The Dead Dog Café Comedy Hour (1997-2000)