ESSA TOWNSHIP, Ont. -- Nova Scotia Indigenous playwright, actor and composer Cathy Elliott has died, prompting tributes from across the country on the accomplished artist's career cut short suddenly Sunday night.
Elliott, a member of the Sipekne'katik Mi'kmaq First Nation in central Nova Scotia, was reportedly struck and killed by a car while walking in Ontario's Essa Township, north of Toronto. She was 60.
The National Arts Centre in Ottawa issued a statement saying it would honour Elliott by flying its flags at half-staff for three days.
Kevin Loring, artistic director of NAC Indigenous Theatre, says he is completely shocked at her sudden and tragic passing.
Elliott appeared on the NAC stage last season in the highly acclaimed production of Children of God, a musical about an Oji-Cree family whose children were taken to a residential school in Northern Ontario
She had just premiered a workshop production of the musical Starlight Tours, commissioned by the Grand Theatre in London, Ont.
