MEDIUMS: INDIGENOUS VOICES IN MEDIA
ESSENTIAL READS AND MORE BY INDIGENOUS AUTHORS AND STORYTELLERS
BOOK
From the Rez  
to the Runway  
by Christian Allaire
From the Rez to the 
Runway: Forging my 
Path in Fashion is a 
memoir about resilience 
and making space for 
yourself in places 
where you don’t 
historically belong. 
Author Christian 
Allaire, Ojibwe 
from Nipissing 
First Nation, hopes 
sharing his story of 
how a “little native 
rez kid” ended 
up working in 
the New York City 
fashion industry can help inspire 
other youth to chase their  
wildest dreams.
Allaire currently lives in Brooklyn, 
N.Y., and is a senior fashion and 
style writer at Vogue, where he 
writes about red carpet fashion, 
trends and celebrity style, emerging 
designers and more. His first book, The 
Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty 
Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures, was released 
in 2021.
Issue 1 2026 – Chiefs of Ontario Advocate magazine  l   37
MUSIC
Live Like the Sky 
by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
The album Live Like the Sky reflects the personal history 
of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and how she grew up in 
rural southwestern Ontario listening to alternative, punk, 
new wave and goth music through poor reception and 
static on the radio. Differing from previous works, Simpson 
writes lyrics and vocals to songs guided by those formative 
musical influences, and in the process, she develops her own 
sound. Live Like the Sky is the first new musical work from 
Simpson since Theory of Ice in 2021, which was shortlisted 
for a Polaris Music Prize. 
Simpson is a renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg from 
Alderville First Nation. She is a musician, writer and 
academic and has been widely recognized as one of the 
most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation. She 
is the author of eight books, including Theory of Water and 
Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back.
Author photo credit: 
Hunter Abrams.

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