Willie Dunn

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Dunn was a singer and acoustic guitarist. He released several full-length albums of recorded music including Willie Dunn (1971), The Pacific (1980) and Metallic (1999). Metallic reprises material from both earlier releases.^[4] Dunn's most famous song, "I Pity the Country", was a critique of colonialism and anti-indigenous racism;^[5] he was also known for the song "Son of the Sun", which Kashtin covered on their second album Innu.^[6] In 2004 Dunn released the album Son of the Sun with sixteen songs (including three live recordings).

He participated in the Culturally Diverse First Peoples Arts Showcase tour in 1998,^[7] and the Nations in a Circle spotlight of 2002.^[8] He was inducted into the Aboriginal Walk of Honour in 2005.^[9]

Dunn died in Ottawa on August 5, 2013, aged 71.^[10][11][12]

His songs "I Pity the Country", "Son of the Sun" and "Peruvian Dream" are featured on the 2014 compilation album Native North America, Vol. 1.^[13]

Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies, a compilation of songs from throughout his career, was released in 2021 on Light in the Attic Records.^[14]

He wrote a song entitled "The Ballad of Crowfoot" and directed a ten-minute National Film Board of Canada (NFB) film of the same name in 1968.^[15] Both the song and video are about inhumane and unjust colonial treatment of indigenous Canadians, as well as their taking charge of their destiny and becoming politically active.^[16] The first NFB film directed by an indigenous filmmaker,^[17] the film received several awards including a Gold Hugo for best short film at the 1969 Chicago International Film Festival.^[18][19] His other films include The Eagle Project, The Voice of the Land and Self-Government,^[20] and his music was used for the films Incident at Restigouche, about a 1981 police raid on the Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation,^[21] and Okanada, about the 1990 standoff in Oka, Quebec between police and native protesters.

The Ballad of Crowfoot has sometimes been credited as the first known Canadian music video.^[22] In 2020 the Prism Prize, Canada's annual award for innovations in music video, introduced a lifetime achievement award named in Dunn's memory, with choreographer and video director Laurieann Gibson named as the first winner of the award.^[22]

A longtime member of the New Democratic Party, Dunn defeated Mohamed Bassuny to win the party's federal nomination for Ottawa—Vanier in the 1993 federal election. He received 3,155 votes (6.50%), finishing fourth against Liberal incumbent Jean-Robert Gauthier.^[23]