Heather O’Watch will talk about her book Auntie’s Rez Surprise. Heather O’Watch (She/Her) is a Nakoda and Cree woman from the Okanese First Nation in Treaty 4 Territory. Heather is enrolled in a Masters Degree in Public Policy (MPP) at the University of Saskatchewan. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Studies from the First Nations University of Canada. Heather currently works for a global Indigenous Rights organization and advocates for Indigenous peoples and their rights. When not working or studying, Heather spends her time creative writing. Heather recently published Auntie’s Rez Surprise with Second Story Press. The book is available in Y dialect Cree and English.

You can purchase Heather’s book at :

Auntie’s Rez Surprise STORYLINE:

By Heather O’Watch, and illustrated by Ellie Arscott

Translated by Dorothy Thunder

tānisi! my little one, tānisi!

Plains Indigenous Sign Language (PISL)

Heather will be sharing PISL, a non-verbal language that was broadly used across the plains with many First Nations including the Cree and Nakota. Heather is actively learning PISL and is sharing some actions to help encourage others to learn and sustain this critical language. Join and follow along with Heather in PISL.