Crossing the stage at convocation this June was only the beginning of a summer to remember for Dawn Martin ’13. The recent Indigenous Studies graduate can now add acclaimed writer to her list of achievements as the 2017 Aboriginal Arts & Stories Senior Writing Prize winner for her free verse poem, Kahnekanoron – Water is Life.

The national prize encourages Canadians of Indigenous ancestry to explore their heritage and culture through mediums of storytelling. Ms. Martin’s poem explores what water means to her, and is written in both Mohawk and English.

As the 2017 winner, Ms. Martin will head to The Banff Centre for a week-long writing residency and will be one of four students to receive an invitation to the Governor General’s History Awards in November.

Ms. Martin says her time at Trent was instrumental in fostering her writing, and the support she received from the Indigenous Studies department and the First Peoples House of Learning opened many doors for her writing and performance skills.

“I took Indigenous Literature and Creative Writing in my second-year at Trent with Professor Neal McLeod and Ph.D. candidate Angela Semple who helped me explore my work further and also helped with my performance pieces,” explains Ms. Martin. “I have also co-written many works for the Indigenous Women’s Symposium, Remembrance Day, and I wrote one for Indigenous Studies' video, Nibi The Water of Our Learning. Through these opportunities and the faculty who guided me along the way, I was able to explore my creative side throughout my academic journey.”

This fall Ms. Martin will be finishing her B.Ed. degree at Queen’s University as a student in the Queen’s-Trent Concurrent Education program. After that, she hopes to study her Indigenous language Kanien:kehá (Mohawk) at an adult immersion program on her reserve and explore Master’s programs in Indigenous Governance.