What I'm up to these days

Some of the thrillion projects I've got on the go!

Author and Freelance Writer

Current events, non-fiction, Indigenous Futurisms and sci-fi, graphic novels, children's books and a thriller in the works.

Speaker and Public Educator

Indigenous topics, writing and podcasting workshops, Land Back, and weirding all the things.

Cree Language Projects

My first and most enduring passion - making nêhiyawêwin (Cree language) materials more accessible for the next generations.

tânisi

Chelsea Vowel nitisiyihkâson êkwa manitow-sâkahikanihk nitôhcîn mâka ê-wîkiyân amiskwacîwâskahikanihk mêkwâc. otipêyimisow-iyiniw, omasinahikêw êkwa okiskinwahamâkêw ôma niya. mistahi nimiywêyihtên ka-ayamihcikêyân êkwa ka-masinahikêyân.

My name is Chelsea Vowel, and I’m a parent, author, freelance writer, public speaker, and sci-fi nerd living in Edmonton, Alberta. I’m Métis from Lac Ste. Anne, and a citizen of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government in Alberta.

I’ve been an educator for 22 years and am currently an Associate Lecturer at the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, where I teach the Cree language and Indigenous Studies. In addition to writing about the past and present relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Canada, I like to – as Cherokee scholar Daniel Heath Justice puts it – “imagine otherwise” through Indigenous futurist world-building. Whether it’s co-hosting an Indigenous feminist sci-fi podcast, writing short stories, making weird little video games, developing Cree-language resources, or co-creating an actual factual Métis land trust, I’m fascinated by the potential to “act otherwise” in the now in order to create the kind of futures we want to live in.

Over the last decade, I’ve had the incredible luck to be able to speak to a wide range of audiences across Canada and internationally, visiting K-12 classrooms, post-secondary institutions and academic conferences, professional associations, and community organizations. These face-to-face discussions and the relationships made are what inspire me most in my work, as I learn more about what others are doing to enact their own version of a better world. kinanâskomitinâwâw mistahi for checking out the strange things I do and write!

What Folks are Saying

extremely accurate sentiments
Jen Gobby

Jen Gobby

Coordinator, Research for the Front Lines

"Thank you sooooo much!
That [talk] was fantastic!
Very very appreciated!"

Molly Swain

Molly Swain

Co-host of Métis in Space, karaoke superstar

"Working with Chelsea is like a Vulcan mind-meld, but with the after-taste of Qapla' and top notes of Bajoran resistance fighter."

Image of a unicorn by Hansuan_Fabregas, downloaded from Pixabay

My 9-year-old

Professional Cultural Critic

"Your stories are okay but they really need more unicorns."

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