I am Katsitsawaks Diane Hill, a member of the Mohawk Nation, Bear clan from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in Ontario, Canada. For the past 37 years, I have been consulting on various Aboriginal education initiatives both nationally & internationally. I have worked to promote culturally-based training strategies in social work, education and Indigenous cultural studies and possess expertise in the area of portfolio-assisted prior learning assessment.I have also written several articles and books and have lectured on the topic of “Ethnostress” and Indigenous models of learning/teaching. I have been teaching and facilitating practices of quantum healing and wellness in an integrated Indigenous and holistic educational training model in New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya, South America and the USA.

Samantha Doxtator is a Personal Development Consultant who specializes in teaching life and employability skills that are grounded by traditional values. Her many years of experience and knowledge help build bridges of new understandings.

She has accepted the gift to continue the work and research on Indigenous Astronomy by her sister Sasha who passed away July of 2021. This presentation blends culture and science in an astonishing way and will change the way you look at the cosmos.

Samantha is the first Indigenous Woman to present at the Hayden Planetarium located at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and most recently shared knowledge at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and aspires to visit and share at many more planetariums all over the world.

Currently, Samantha is working on purchasing her own portable planetarium to share the perspective of traveling through the stars and has dreams to one day build an Indigenous Science Centre.

The sharing of this knowledge has been referred to as being very uplifting by many communities across Turtle Island, which aligns with Samantha’s intentions to nurture intergenerational gifts and brilliance.

Wakerakatste (Wa-geh-lah-gats-the) Louise McDonald Herne is a condoled Bear Clan Mother of the Mohawk Nation Council and a respected advisor to families and youth. She works closely with community members in homes and schools, bestows traditional names in the longhouse, and provides spiritual counsel to those seeking support.

As a matrilineal leader and mother, Louise is a founding member of Konon:kwe (Goh-noon-gwe) Council, a circle of Mohawk women dedicated to reconstructing the power of their origins through education, empowerment, and trauma-informed approaches. She champions Kahnistensera (Ga-nees-the-sa-lah), or “Mother Law”—a natural law that guides Onkwehon:we (Uhn-gwe-hoo-weh), or Indigenous, kinship society. She also leads the Moon Lodge Society, which brings women and girls together monthly in alignment with the full moon cycle

Since 2005, Louise has served as the principal organizer and leader of Ohero:kon (Uh-ho-low-go), meaning “Under the Husk”, a traditional rite-of-passage ceremony for Mohawk youth. Through this work, she has guided hundreds of community families and volunteers through self-reflection, Haudenosaunee cultural instruction, and ceremony.

A former Spirit Aligned Legacy Leader, Louise has presented at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and regularly lectures at universities across Canada and the United States on Haudenosaunee philosophies, women’s leadership, and self-determination. Affectionately known as Mama Bear, she is the Distinguished Scholar in Indigenous Learning at McMaster University’s Institute for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

Wendy Hill is a Native woman from the Cayuga Nation, which is one of the Six Nations/Longhouse people. Wendy’s spiritual knowledge began as a child through her dreams and spiritual experiences. She was raised through her people’s traditional ceremonies and continues her ancestors’ spirituality. At twenty years old she had a near-death experience and was given insight to her abilities as a healer. Today she works as a healer and peace-builder in many different Native communities in North America. She travels extensively, motivating community wellness and healing, as well as awareness of the Earth’s changes. She does hands-on healing for pain and illness, as well as emotional, mental and spiritual healing. Wendy continues to enlighten and share guidance, direction and healing wherever she goes.

Jamie Jacobs is from the Tonawanda Seneca Reservation located in Western New York. He is of the Turtle Clan. Currently, he works at the Rochester Museum and Science Center as managing curator of the Rock Foundation collections. He is also a ceremonial custodian in the ceremonial longhouse of the Tonawanda Seneca, which includes officiating traditional funerals, weddings, and ceremonies. Jacobs is very knowledgeable in the Seneca language and helped to establish the adult cohort language program on the Tonawanda Reservation, there there are no surviving first-language speakers. Among the three Seneca communities, the Seneca language is in a critical state. He also practices the traditional art of porcupine quillwork, and travels extensively to museums to research ancestral made pieces and study construction techniques and design. Jacobs works to ensure Seneca language will survive into the future, along with the traditional art of porcupine quillwork.