Wilfred Buck

Wilfred Buck is from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation of northern Manitoba and previously worked for the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre (MFNERC) as a science facilitator. He has over 15 years of experience as an educator and expanded on MFNERC’s vision to bring a First Nations perspective to the sciences by doing what he is most passionate about: looking up at and thinking through the stars.

Known as ‘the star guy’ due to his extensive knowledge of First Nations astronomy, Wilfred has researched and consulted with Elders to learn more about the astronomical knowledge of Cree, Ojibway and Lakota peoples. In 2016, in collaboration with members of the Native Skywatchers initiative, Wilfred helped create an Indigenous sky map, Ininew Achakos Masinkan, an artistic rendering of Cree constellations in planisphere format. He is the author of the 2018 publication Tipiskawi Kisik: Night Sky Star Stories as well as the 2021 memoir I Have Lived Four Lives. Wilfred was also one of the co-organizers of the first Indigenous Star Knowledge Symposium hosted in Ottawa, on traditional Algonquin Anishnaabeg territory.