Fighting racism and inequality as a light-skinned Aboriginal person, John’s life has been described as both romantic and Dickensian. From the suicide of his father when he was ten to the substance abuse and life on the streets he faced as a teenager, John overcame his demons through the power of words, and has spent the last eleven years capturing his life in word and verse, healing his spirit through writing and through art work.
His recent discovery of a long lost Scottish heritage has rekindled John’s quest for knowledge of his history and of who he is.
John has studied at the prestigious University of Cambridge, one of only a handful of First Nations people to do so, where in July 2000, he drew international media attention by “discovering” then “claiming” England for the first peoples of the Americas.
John’s art and writings have been published in several countries around the world, and he has sat as an editorial writer for several publications in Canada and the US.
John has also been a guest speaker at several international venues, with his most esteemed presentation being before the Governor General of Australia in 2001. John was also the Creative and Cultural Consultant for the Kamamakus Drama Troupe, writing the vast majority of the material performed.
John is a practicing neo-pagan witch in the religion of Wicca, and he resides with his wife in Prince Albert.



John McDonald is a writer, artist, musician and playwright of Plains Cree blood from north-western Saskatchewan. He is a sixth-generation direct descendant of Chief Mistawasis of the Plains Cree, signer of Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton, and part of the Dreaver dynasty of chiefs and politicians.


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