Cultural Background : Ojibway, Pasqua First Nation, SK

Simone McLeod, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962, belongs to the Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of the ᓇᐦᑲᐌ (Nakawē-Ojibwe Anishinaabeg). She is a member of Pasqua First Nation in Saskatchewan. Simone, who feels a strong spiritual kinship with her mother's people, the Azaadiwi ziibi Nitam, or Poplar River First Nation of Manitoba, is a versatile artist: not only does she paint; she is also a talented poet, writer, and photographer. Simone McLeod is descended from a long line of Ojibwe Midewiwin healers on both parental sides. Her traditional Anishinaabe name is Aki-egwaniizid, or Ahki-ekwanîsit, which means Earth Blanket, or All That Covers the Earth.