Description
Woodland Cultural Centre is honoured to recognize Elizabeth Doxtater as the recipient of the 2026 Thomas V. Hill Legacy Award, presented during the opening reception of the 51st Annual Indigenous Art Exhibition on June 27, 2026. Through her work in cornhusk, beadwork, painting, storytelling, and writing, Elizabeth Doxtater has dedicated her artistic practice to sharing knowledge, protecting culture, and inspiring others. Her commitment to community, education, and supporting emerging artists embodies the spirit of this award.
The Thomas V. Hill Legacy Award honours an established or late-career artist whose practice reflects a lifetime of artistic vision, cultural expression, storytelling, and community engagement. Named after former Museum Director Thomas V. Hill, whose leadership helped establish Woodland Cultural Centre's Indigenous Art exhibitions, the award recognizes his enduring impact on Indigenous arts and culture.
Dreamfast, A Trail of Stories to Lead You Home, by Elizabeth Doxtater is a call to Action #95 to create a time for the children and (now) adults who were taken away from communities as children to be welcomed home, so they know they were missed and know that when they return home, they will be loved and protected. Dreamfast is a collection of short stories - a dreamfast-repatriation strategy – to say welcome home. Each story and the accompanying images is part of a connecting land bridge for those children (now) adults who seek to come home. Stories include Thanksgiving Address, Where the Smoke Rises, Nu-Yah, No Face, Strawberries, Uncle Louie’s Alarm Clock, Women and Wheelbarrows, Eclipse, Elderberry Jam, Planting Time, Two Row Wampum Treaty Belt, What They Couldn’t Take, Bread and Cheese, Trees, Second Hay, Haldimand Deed, Practicing Peace, Six Nations, Overnighters, Clans, Fields That Continue, Sally During the War, Hunting, Tobacco Farms, Mush Hole, Thunder Boy, Tecumseh’s Victory Dance, and Closing Address. There is an appendix Standing Quiver, Dreamfaster’s Words and Notes to Save Your Stories.