I grew up in the Prairies, in Spruce Grove, Alberta. Back then, it was a small town but when I visit there now, I need a map so that I don’t get lost. When I was a kid, everyone knew everyone and that made things comfortable. I graduated Spruce Grove Composite High School with a modest art scholarship for my work as a visual artist. I worked for a year – just long enough to pay admission fees for college. College was an adventure that took me to British Columbia, where I attended the University College of the Fraser Valley, studying Apparel Design in the Fine Arts Department. It isn’t by mistake that today I am designing, stitching and beading intricate moccasins, jewellery and garments.
But, my greatest learning by far has been in the immersion of my Métis culture. It has brought clarity to who I am and why I am. I’ve have always known I am Métis, great great great granddaughter to Cuthbert Grant Jr. and great great niece to Gabriel Dumont, although I never began my genealogy search until I was pregnant with my son. Somehow, bringing this new life into the world made it important to know my heritage. I began to uncover the story of the Métis people, the story of my family.
Métis people have always provided for their families. Traditionally, this was through great buffalo hunts, trapping, gathering and trading. Today we still provide for our families, although by more modern means such as working in the trades, in health and social care, and in the professions.
I feel blessed that Creator has provided me with a gift that not only allows me to provide for my family, but also allows me to share the traditional art and culture of the Métis. I am grateful to my Elders for passing down the knowledge so that I may do so. I am proud that much of the traditional art that I create can be produced in a way that is kind to Mother Earth, without the use of machines or electricity. Stitch by stitch and bead by bead, this is the way that Métis women have marked our place in time. This is the way that I honour who we are, where we come from and the pride that I feel in being a Métis woman.
Today, I am an artist who knows the impact that art has on documenting our story. I am a Métis dancer who knows how the fiddle and the jig can bring people together in community and touch a place in their hearts that their bodies remember. I am a Métis woman and Mother who is raising her son to know he is Métis and to be proud of it.