Hello Auntie! I’m Nehiyawak and a member of the Cold Lake band of First Nations. The twist in my story is that my father is dead and my uncles are totally disconnected from our Cree heritage. My grandma still lives on the Rez in Alberta (the rest of us are American), but she has severe dementia. Therefore, I make my own regalia and am learning to dance on my own. I want a feather, and cannot get one from a repository because I’m First Nations, not Federally Recognized. What now! My friends and mentors are all Salish and Blackfeet and they also know nothing about Cree-specific tradition.

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