Evan Adams Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

Evan Adams          

Physician; Former Actor, Playwright & Producer

Dr. Evan Adams is well known in the Aboriginal communities and is a member of the Tla'amin (Sliammon) First Nation, near Powell River, British Columbia.

This actor/playwright/producer turned-physician is best known for his role as Thomas Builds-The-Fire in the film Smoke Signals (1988), as Seymour Polatkin in The Business of Fancydancing (2002) and his part in Lost in the Barrens (1990). His acting career also includes roles in television including "The Beachcombers", "Da Vinci's Inquest", "Neon Rider", "These Arms of Mine", "Da Vinci's City Hall", "The L Word", and "Wolf Canyon". He also appeared in the documentary film Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the '70s Generation, speaking about his own experience as a young gay, First Nations man growing up in Canada during the Trudeau era.

His plays, including Dreams of Sheep, Snapshots, Dirty Dog River and Janice's Christmas, have been produced across Canada and internationally.

He appears in the 2017 films Indian Horse and Kayak to Klemtu.

In addition to his impressive acting career, he is an accomplished medical doctor and currently the Chief Medical Officer with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). He is a graduate of St. Michael's University School and of Lester B. Pearon College of the Pacific and received his Medical Doctorate from the University of Calgary in 2002. In April 2007, Adams was appointed the first-ever Aboriginal Health Physician Advisor for the province of British Columbia. In April 2012, Adams was made Deputy Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia by Dr. Perry Kendall.

Speech Topics


A First Nations Physician’s Perspective

Related Speakers View all


More like Evan