Melissa Mollen Dupuis

Melissa Mollen Dupuis is an Innu film director, radio host, and Indigenous rights activist from Ekuanitshit, Quebec, Canada. Mollen Dupuis is a prominent figure in the Indigenous rights movement in Quebec, particularly as a co-founder of the province's branch of Idle No More. She has hosted the radio show Kuei! Kwe! on Ici Radio-Canada Première since 2021.

Early life Mollen Dupuis was born in Ekuanitshit, an Innu reserve in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada.

Activism Mollen Dupuis and fellow Indigenous rights activist founded the Quebec branch of the Idle No More movement in 2012. Since that time, both Mollen Dupuis and Larivière have been spokespersons for the movement in Quebec. Mollen Dupuis was inspired by the actions of Mohawk land defenders like Ellen Gabriel and Kahentiiosta to become involved in Idle No More.

In 2017, Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award was awarded to Canada's Indigenous rights movement.

Mollen Dupuis currently serves as the head of the David Suzuki Foundation's Forest Campaign.

Career In 2014, Mollen Dupuis was appointed chair of the Board of Directors of Wapikoni Mobile, an organization dedicated to Indigenous cinema. Since 2021, she has hosted the radio show Kuei! Kwe! on Ici Radio-Canada Première.

In a collaboration with writer and illustrator Elise Gravel, Mollen Dupuis published Nutshimit: (Nutshimit: In the Forest), a non-fiction book for young readers, in 2023. Nutshimit, which explores Innu culture through Mollen Dupuis's first-person narrative and Gravel's illustrations, earned Mollen Dupuis and Gravel the 2024 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award in the Children's Picture Book category.

Publications

O (2012) Femmes autochtones disparues et assassinées (2012; "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women") Nanapush et la tortue (2013; "Nanapush and the Turtle") Nitanish – À ma fille (2015; "Nitanish – To My Daughter") Respecter la roue (2016; "Respect the Wheel")