Katelyn Nani Bell is an Anishinabe-Kwe from Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation on Manitoulin Island. She completed the Animator Program at National Aboriginal Arts in Debajehmujig. Her installation, Can I Just Be Me Now, is displayed in Ottawa at Gallery 101, North of the 45th. She has also worked on two projects with Community Art Companies: Bwaajigiwin “The Practice of dreaming” with Myth and Mirrors Community Arts and The Rivers Speak with Thinking Rock Community Arts. She is also a mix medium painter and does makeup and photography as a hobby. She is a dynamic artist who uses various materials and techniques in her work.

Leland Bell is Anishinabe from the Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation on Manitoulin Island. He is Loon Clan and a second degree member of the Three Fires Midewiwin Society.
Leland was one of the young men mentored by members of the Indian Group of Seven at the Manitou Arts Foundation, a summer school that operated on Schreiber Island in 1972. He was deeply inspired by the work of the Woodland artists and with the help of elders has made the connection between the Anishnabe concept of vision quest and his own commitment to living life as a good being.
Leland Bell's paintings are of stylized human figures sharing the affinity of family or friends, often depicting imagery of nurturing, sharing, learning, peace and serenity.

An Ojibwe, Anishinabe-Kwe from Wabaseemoong Independent Nations. She is a self-taught artist who works primarily in drawing and painting and works from Wabaseemoong (Whitedog)

Blake Angeconeb is an Anishinaabe woodlands artist who hails from Treaty 3 territory. His first venture into art began 6 years ago during a fun painting session with his younger niece, which has since launched him into a full-time career as an artist. Blake’s primary practice involves acrylics and multimedia on canvas, blending the school of woodlands art with pop culture references. Blake is a self-trained painter with a growing collection of small and large scale works who enjoys collaborating with other artists. He is part of the Caribou clan and a proud member of Lac Seul First Nation.

Dawn Marie Marchand is a member of Cold Lake First Nation in Treaty Six territory.
cîpêhcakwawêw-iskwêw (Blue Horse Spirit Woman) is a Cree and Metis artist, educator, advocate, author, writer, speaker, and mother. Her many noted accomplishments include
Circle of Courage Coordinator for the Alberta Indigenous Games in 2011, Co-founder and lead organizer of Cree8 Success Conference in 2012, art installations for the Edmonton Folk Festival in 2013 called “Monto”; Edmonton City Hall in 2014 during the Truth and Reconciliation Gathering “A Place to Hang your Stories”; co-producing the Walrus Talks-Aboriginal City art components in 2015, “Edmonton Treaty 6 Soccer ball”; and Redx Talk “Art is the Medicine” in 2016. Received an Aboriginal Role Model Award for Art in 2017, during her term as the First Indigenous Artist In Residence for the City of Edmonton. Facilitation of the Indigenous Artist Market Collective engagement and launch in 2018. An installation called “The Longest Journey” as part of the Nuit Blanche Festival in 2018. In mid 2019, she relocated to Smoky Lake, AB where she is working on establishing a gallery and studio space to help artists in the area access opportunities to grown their professional resumes.

Shannon Chief was born and raised to the Wolf Clan in the Anishnabe-Algonquin Nation.
Shannon is a cultural carrier who contributes on various levels to the decolonization and the restoration of the Anishnabe sovereignty. The protection of water, land, animals and language is
a priority for the Anishnabeg. She advocates on the issues arising from climate change which
have cruel repercussions in her nation and culture.

Shannon with other women & the Kokomag Council has developed a Land Based Curriculum to
support & strengthen her peoples language for the long term. She hopes to build a teaching
Lodge for language, cultural and the arts practices to be held out on the Land.

Shannon has contributed her knowledge & guidance to the Ottawa Social Forum
2014, World Social Forums 2017, Quebec Native Women’s Association in the Indigenous Women against Extractivism and she was an Advisor to the Ottawa Powershift Youth Forum in 2019. She is presently on the Advisory Council for International Dam Watch.

As self-employment & Artist, she makes hand made mukluks, mitts, moccasins and other beaded accessories through her Ojimak Wear & Designs home business.

Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway is an inter-disciplinary artist whose main source of inspiration is Tatanga aka Buffalo. She is a fashion and textile designer, visual artist, beader, storyteller and co-founder of the Buffalo People Arts Institute. She comes from a long line of Buffalo hunters and is Nakota/Cree/Saulteaux from the White Bear First Nations - signatory to Treaty 4. She has degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Calgary and Mathematics from the First Nations University of Canada. She loves to incorporate mathematics and geometry in her artwork and is inspired by the perfect symmetry in nature. Her mantra envelopes everything Buffalo as it connects her to ancestral memories, the land and is the manifestational glue that keeps her world together.

James Smith Cree Nation (Chakastaypasin Band)
Treaty 6 territory

I was Born in Prince Albert Saskatchewan in 1988, My mother is from Peter Ballantine Cree Nation, Deschambeault Lake. My Father from James Smith Saskatchewan. My mother moved to Edmonton Alberta when I was 3 years old, so I had moved back and forth from Edmonton to James Smith. Spent most of my summers on the reserve with my father. After grade 4 I permanently stayed in Edmonton schools until I graduated from Victoria school of the arts. I have always tried to stay sober, growing up having to watch both my parents deal with addiction. Had kept me from venturing into alcohol and drugs. I found myself escaping into Art instead of substances.

Growing up I spent a lot of time watching my grandmother make StarBlankets and my father make regalia. My Father had always been very encouraging about my art, unfortunately it took me a very long time to understand and love my own skills. It wasn’t until he passed that I realized I had a gift and I wanted to share this with the world.

I am a Tattoo Artist, and Painter. I create custom tattoos here in Edmonton, Alberta. My style would be more indigenous based art work, always trying to tell stories and have a message behind each piece. I try make pieces represent our youth and to show them the power we have within ourselves, while learning about our culture at the same time.

In January 2020 I had created a painting called “Not Invisible” which is a woman in a feather with a red hand print on her face. To represent and honour our Missing and Murdered Sisters. I had been asked by a father that had recently lost his daughter, if I could paint a picture similar for him with his daughter. I was honoured he had asked me to paint such an important picture for him and his family. After seeing her painting, they had told me it had helped them so much, thru missing and remembering their daughter. I started getting more and more requests from other families and I feel so honoured and great full to be able to share my gift and help others heal. I’ve always wanted to help my people and communities in some way.

Lana Whiskeyjack is a multidisciplinary treaty artist from Saddle Lake Cree Nation and is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta. In 2017, Lana completed her iyiniw pimâtisiwin kiskeyihtamowin doctoral program at University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quill, a former Indian Residential School attended by two generations of her own family. She integrates Indigenous ways of knowing and being with methods of Western academia in her research and course development. Lana’s research, writing, and creativity are focused on Indigenous sexual health, economic security, intergenerational resilience, and Indigenous visual literacy. Her current research project explores issues around the theme of (re)connecting to the spirit of nêhiyawêwin (Cree language); nêhiyaw gender worldviews; and, her recent painting series explores iskwêwêwin (womanhood) relationship to the cosmic and earth within 13 moon teachings. She is featured in a documentary about confronting and transcending historical trauma through her arts practice titled, “Lana Gets Her Talk” (2017).

Lorne Kequahtooway is from the Zagimē Anishinabēk in Treaty Four Territory. Lorne is dedicated to sharing and preserving his culture with others in Saskatchewan. Lorne is a co-founder of Buffalo People Arts Institute where he currently teaches cultural awareness through storytelling and community engagement around an interactive buffalo hide-tanning experience.