ABOUT ME
Boozhoo Kitaay Bizhikikwe ndizhinikaaz, waabizheshi ndodem. Anishinaabe miinwa Métis ndow, bezho Mide kwe ndow. Amanda Myers is my English name, I have worked with the Indigenous Student Centre at Western University over the past seven years, focusing both my educational studies and visual arts practice on identity. I choose to focus on identity, as someone whose ancestors chose not to register in a community, who chose to live their life as they always had, off the land. I draw on my family lineage which connects me to many communities in Ontario, northern Wisconsin, and Michigan through my Cadotte/Cadeau and Myers/Maillette ancestors. I have now called London home for ten years, where, as a professional artist and goldsmith, I work with acrylic paint, stained glass, beads, leather, natural elements, precious metals, and, stones. I have always loved to share my skills with others which led me to a path in education. Through workshop facilitation in southern Ontario schools and in working with the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health in the Fourth R program here in the Thames Valley District School Board, I have come to realize that my place is in helping our youth to feel confident in their identity and move forward in a positive direction.