Illustrations by Ocean Kiana
Boozhoo, ahniin! I am a systems thinking & complexity geek. Anishinaabekwe indaaw (I am an Anishinaabe woman). Mooz indoodem (I am moose clan). Biigtigong Nishnaabeg izhinikaade ishkonigan wenjiiyaan (is the name of the First Nation that I come from). Melanie indizhinikaaz zhaaganaashiiong (is what I am called in English). Chi-miigwech (big thank you) for visiting with me.
Presenting niigani miinigowiziiwin
This beautiful gaa-gii-kwe-win (teaching) is the story of my walk in the woods with complexity. Stories are mashkiki (medicine) and this spirit being has been brought to life through a collaboration with Greater Good Studio, Anishinaabe artist Ocean Kiana, and by yarning with my relatives Eleanor Skead and Bert Landon. Miigwech (thank you) for being here, to share in the telling of this story. You can view the digital flibook or click on the side arrows below to advance through the storybook. You can also play the audio of me reading the story.
Illustrator Ocean Kiana's iPad recording, progress on the composition for Niigani Miinigowiziiwin (we give these gifts to the future)
Systems & complexity consulting
A systems approach
I am a Faculty member with the Academy for Systems Change, the Presencing Institute and the Wolf Willow Institute for Systems Learning. I am a doctoral candidate in Social & Ecological Sustainability at the University of Waterloo and I am a Research Fellow with the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation & Resilience. To make real and lasting change we need to recognize that we are part of the systems we seek to change. I facilitate collective wisdom journeys to uncover pathways to heal self, and heal systems.
Gaa-gitigewaad
My consulting company is Gaa-gitigewaad and it is located in Ketegaunseebee First Nation. I help communities & teams engaged in systems transformation work get a solid grounding in systems principles and practices from a uniquely Anishinaabeg perspective.