Boozhoo! Renee indizhinikaaz. Superior, WI indoonjibaa.
Hello! My name is Renee. I am from Superior, WI.
I was born and raised in Superior, but have made my home in the Twin Cities since 2008.
I am a proud Red Cliff (Gaa-Miskwaabikaang) tribal member. I grew up not very connected to my native side. It was never a hidden thing and we would go visit relatives βon the rezβ but at a young age it also just wasnβt something I felt required any energy of me. But around 2015, I started to feel a call to start a journey of reconnecting. Prior to that, I wasnβt an enrolled tribal member. I was able to get enrolled in 2017, a luxury I know not all Indigenous peoples are able to have. It is an ongoing journey of reading, listening, and coming to realizations of things I wasnβt aware of growing up in a very colonized world. I am aware of the struggles that I DIDNβT have to deal with being that I am very white passing with the addition of my French and Irish heritage as well.
In June of 2021, I decided to start learning how to bead earrings. It was the most amazing thing Iβd ever learned how to do. I caught on very quickly and it was the only thing Iβve ever done that felt like it came easy to me. I truly believe I found my calling and itβs been the absolute greatest connection to my Native roots that I could have ever hoped for. It requires patience, discipline and focus (things Iβm not very good at outside of beading, ha!) while at the same time being completely meditative and calming.
Nothing has given me greater joy than to be able to create pieces that I can share with others. I will forever be a work in progress and I want to say miigwech (thank you) for being here!!!
Chi miigwech!!