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I was born and raised in Northern Alberta, I loved every minute of it and I want to grow old here. I Identify as Cree-Metis with a mixed heritage . My cree kinship is connected through the Courtoreille family of Tallcree First Nation and Metis kinship through the Lambert family of Buttertown/ North Vermilion. My Indigenous Identity stems from my fathers ancestry and being raised in our traditional territory. My mother is of European decent and was also raised in Treaty 8 Territory. My ancestry and identity is complex, but  a constant is the land that grounds my family and community.

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For those of you Interested in my formal education bellow is a brief chronological synopsis.

I attended Kindergarten to Grade 12 at Rocky Lane Public School. The school was small, but I was given many opportunities.
From High School, I studied at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
My first 3 years at the UofA were spent in the Faculty of Native Studies. This is where I was first exposed to theories around: Indigenous Identity, colonial experiences, histories, contemporary realities, cree language, governance and many others.
Year 4 at the UofA I moved into the Faculty of Education. My focus this year was to increase my content knowledge for my secondary social studies specialization.
My final year was spent doing pre-service teaching practicums. I had the privilege to be given two unique internships. The first was teaching Jr.High Social at a Inner-city school as part of the faculty's first Diversity Cohort. The second was a international placement teaching high school social studies in Bermuda.
With a desire for more formal education I started an MEd in Critical Studies, this is my last Semester!

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My professional experiences have definitely shaped my views on many things. Rather than listing every job that I've held, the following are experiences that have had a significant impact on my journey.

I worked for two summers as a youth worker with the Alberta Future Leaders Program. This was my first time putting theory to practice. Working with Indigenous communities to implement relevant and engaging youth experiences was a privilege.
I spent two years as the First Nations, Metis and Inuit Liaison at Victoria School of the Arts in Edmonton. My time at VSA was transformational.
Most recently I have taught with the Fort Vermilion School Division. My teaching assignment was high school humanities. It was definitely a dream of mine to teach Social studies and Aboriginal Studies so close to home!

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I have learned a lot from many different teachers and institutions. I do have a formal education as well as lessons learnt from my upbringing. I am no were near the end of my educational journey. I not only have so much more lessons to learn, I have a lot of colonial narratives that I have to un-learn. I have, for many reasons been disconnected from traditional cree and Metis teachings. A big part of my educational journey has lead me to modes of re-connection.

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I recently moved temporarily to the traditional territory of the Leckwungen speaking peoples (Victoria BC). My Partner is attending Law School at the University of Victoria. Due to COVID-19 we left Vancouver Island in march and moved home (Treaty 8) while she does studies online. Because of all the uncertainty I took up a social studies position at the school I graduated from! It's a weird time to be a teacher, but I'm happy being here.