Ever since she was a young girl, Nikki Shawana knew she wanted to learn more about her Anishinaabe heritage and culture.
Though her reserve was on Manitoulin Island, Shawana grew up in Southern Ontario and felt disconnected from her home community, language and culture.
One of the ways her parents helped her celebrate their culture was with pow-wow dancing and at the age of 11, she fell in love with it.
Despite the information not being available online, Shawana still wanted to learn more, turning to her elders to learn from them.
As one of the few people her age learning, Shawana would travel around to different schools at 11 and 12 years old to teach other students.
To this day, Shawana still visits schools and other organizations to teach about indigenous culture through the arts.
The experience, she says, is amazing.
Shawana explains that some of her experiences growing up are very different from what people may see today, adding that more people seem to have an open mind to learning about indigenous culture.
Shawana has also continued to work with indigenous groups and communities to learn traditional crafts.
One aspect of her teaching that Shawana is proud of is how accessible it is.
Graduating from Fanshawe College as a Developmental Support Worker, Shawana has worked had to make sure that everything is accessible- for everyone.
The pandemic has slowed her down a little bit, but Shawana says she’s still assisting teachers with indigenous content for their curriculum.
She’s also been offering some at-home learning for people who are interested, on her website, TheBirchCanoe.com.
Looking to the future, Shawana says she’s begun taking online courses through Nipissing University to become a teacher of indigenous language as a second language.
Eventually, she hopes to be able to teach her Anishinaabe language in elementary and high schools.
Her full interview can be heard below: