Beverley Diamond, Gold Medal winner, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Beverley Diamond: The kind of work that I do has depended on a lot of relations, and it’s depended on generosity and trust from many, many people—musicians, culture bearers, Aboriginal elders, cultural actors of many sorts. I thank everyone who has given me that trust and that generosity over many decades.

I’d also like to thank my colleagues at the Research Centre for Music, Media and Place at Memorial University [of Newfoundland] along with many, many people in Newfoundland and Labrador, where over the last 13 years, they have helped create that centre as a place for collaborative research between community and university researchers.

I want to thank SSHRC for their support over the length of my career, especially for this unbelievable personal honour, but also for all the support that SSHRC gives researchers in the arts and humanities and social sciences.

I think that research support has never been more important than the present moment. Expressive culture is a very powerful tool for telling neglected and hidden histories, for building healthy communities and also for generating global attention to issues of environmental and social concern.

So thank you, SSHRC, for enabling all of the wonderful things that you do across the country and my gratitude particularly for this huge honour today.

Thank you.