November 18, 2010
Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario

On November 18, 2010 Margaret Atwood was honoured on her 71st birthday, along with her partner Graeme Gibson and many friends and guests, with celebrations held at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. Following some welcoming words, congratulations, and a lovely dinner, Debajehmujig actor Joe Osawabine approached the mic and asked Ms. Atwood if would be ok if he introduced her to his cousin Jessica, (actress Jessica Wilde Peltier) in their Ojibway language.

According to Dr. Shannon Hengen who is the Margaret Atwood Birthday Party co-founder and co-organizer, and professor of English at Laurentian University:

"The dinner guests really enjoyed the energy and inventiveness of De-ba-jeh-mu-jig's interactive performance with Margaret Atwood.  One guest referred to it as "thigh slappingly funny."  The young cousin's supposed inability to understand English and to guess at the meanings of certain key Atwoodian terms as "sexual politics" and "surfacing" made the world-famous author see her work and herself in a fresh way!  The cousin attempting to sample "the edible woman" literally at the end of the performance brought the house down."

Celebrating her birthday in Sudbury has become an annual custom for Ms. Atwood, and this is the sixth year that Laurentian University has organized the gathering. During the evening she commented that Sudbury is a city of hope, having transformed itself in the last five decades with its community supported reforestation and beautification. She also commented that it was meaningful to her that the celebration was trilingual – in English, French and Ojibway.