“In the Cree culture, when they ask you where you’re from, they ask you, ‘Who’s your mom?’ They talk about your umbilical cord, ‘Who are you attached to?’ It’s a matriarchal society. So when you think about that, you think about … the strength that comes from your mother and your grandmother and your great-grandmother, and then the branches go out from there. “My indigenous heritage… helps me to feel that peace in my life where everything feels complete. So when I think about my family and the things that they’ve been through, it helps me to keep going. Or I stop for a moment and try and pray and ask for help from the ancestors and from God, and I just say, ‘You know what, I need you to give me super women’s strength today.’ “Since I was born, there was the smell of smudge around. It’s a traditional usage of sweetgrass. My family would burn sweetgrass, either for cleansing or for offering up a prayer. Whenever I smell sweetgrass, it reminds me of my grandmother and my aunt. So I sti...