I am from Lil’wat Nation, Mount Currie, BC.  I was raised by my grandparents on their ranch with gardens, cattle and horses. Language and education has always been very important to my family and they made sure that we knew the stories and oral history. It was here that I had learned to love horses.

I grew up riding on my grandpa’s old chuck wagon bay mare, Tear Drops. This was the start of my pursuit in horses and desires to continue my education and learn all I can about horses.  My passion has always been about horses since I was young. At twelve I got my very own horse Roxy.  By grade 11 I moved to Texas with my aunty who was in university. I joined band class, which was amazing; I felt it was the best experience in high school. I played the clarinet and had made the marching band. The marching band gave me a sense of community and belonging being in a foreign place.

My Aunt transferred universities to Billings, Montana and it was there I graduated high school. I enrolled in the Horse Management program at Central Wyoming College, Wyoming. After a couple years there developing my horsemanship skills I transferred to Rocky Mountain College, Montana to continue dreams of colt breaking, advanced horse training and teaching riding.

In 2000, I moved to Alberta to work at horse racing farm and I found it to be a great learning experience. However, I discovered that working for someone else I was not having time for my own horses. I left the farm and decided to rodeo that year and earned substantial prize money to keep rodeoing. In 2002 I moved home to have my daughter.

Back at home I had realized how much I missed it. I continued to train horses and give riding lessons after my daughter was born and rodeo locally. I grew tired of jobs that really went nowhere and had no future. At the time I was working as a receptionist and came across the Native Indian Teacher Education Program (NITEP) and I applied. I completed my first three years at Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops. I found that being in NITEP has brought more understanding and learning about the history of Residential school. It had brought more clarity and understanding to the struggles and suffering my mother and family had come from. I realized what my grandparents where saying ever since I was a child about how important language and education is.

I plan on moving back home to teach in my community and continue to learn my language and culture. Gain experience in teaching and working with special needs so I can apply my professionalism towards my end goal.  My ultimate goal is to use my skills with horses and teaching to start a therapeutic riding for special needs and behavioural students.