Name Wah pi ki iw ls kwew White Eagle Woman Tribal Nation Chippewa Cree, Rocky Boy Reservation Create Be it fate, coincidence, or serendipity, Kaylene Big Knife entered the world on her father’s birthday. She grew up creative and adventurous, exploring what she called her grandmother Minnie’s backyard—the hills and…
Elevating the lives, voices, and dreams of Indigenous Women The Intergenerational Indigenous Women’s Sisterhood is a year-long, paid program, or Circle, that facilitates the sharing of cultural knowledge between Indigenous Women Elders and younger Indigenous women. Each annual circle brings together Indigenous women elders–Legacy Leaders–who have acquired unique cultural knowledge…
Katsi Cook Executive Director Mohawk Tekatsi:tsia’kwa Katsi Cook Katsi is a member of the St.Regis Mohawk Tribe. She was born and grew up on the territory of Akwesasne along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River. Her Mohawk name, Tekatsi:tsia’kwa, means “she’s picking up flowers”, a good name for an Indigenous midwife to carry. …
Meet Our Circle 4 Legacy Leaders and Future Legacy Leaders! These powerful women leaders are participating in a sisterhood program that will help nurture their relationship over the trajectory of their lives. The program is designed to encourage, support and deepen cultural knowledge between Indigenous women elders and younger Indigenous…
Name Mah’piya Keyaké WiŋCloud Shield Woman Tribal Nation Oglala LakotaPine Ridge Reservation Shield From a young age, Barbara Dull Knife was taught the importance of caring for children as wakanyeja—sacred beings. Barbara was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Her parents, Daniel Dull Knife…
By Katsi Cook, Spirit Aligned Leadership Program Executive Director Recently, a friend asked me about the possible provenance of this beautifully beaded bag that had been hanging on the wall of an Adirondacks cabin for about a hundred years. Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook (Oglala Lakota), a Spirit Aligned Legacy…
Name Benozaadleyoshe has followers / leader (grandma’s sister’s name) Tribal Nation Koyukon Athabascan / DeneTribal member of Native Village of Ruby Serve Born in Fairbanks and raised throughout seven different Alaska communities, Helena Benozaadleyo Jacobs has ancestral ties to Ruby and Kokrines. She is Koyukon Athabascan and the daughter of…
Name Treiva Tribal Nation Métis Understand Surrounded by wilderness, Hay River sits on the south shore of Great Slave Lake. Hay River was the first community in the Northwest Territories to be connected by a road to the rest of Canada. This is where Treiva Plamadon was born and raised.…
Name Dehga By the Water Tribal Nation Tłı̨chǫ Denefrom Yellowknife, NT Change When she was seventeen, Dehga Scott attended four births of teenage mothers. She witnessed her community come together to support these young mothers. The experience taught her the importance of having your grandmother, your mother, and your aunties…
Name Oceanna Tribal Nation Cowlitz Indian Tribea Salish-Sahaptian Tribe ofSouthwest Washington Dream The Cowlitz River is a potent arm of the Lower Columbia River. It begins on the glaciers of Mount Rainer and gathers streams from Mount Adams and Mount Saint Helens. Oceanna McKenzie ceremoniously introduced her three-day-old daughter, tə́ktkni…
