Our Team
Our team is made up of a diverse group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who love being on the land.
Each person brings their unique gifts to share with program participants.
nêhiyaw Language and Culture Advisor
Dorothy Thunder is Plains Cree (nêhiyawiskwêw) from Little Pine First Nation, Saskatchewan. She is a full-time Cree instructor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta (U of A). She is a Language Keeper, and educator who practices the traditional nêhiyaw way of life. Her passion for the Cree language began at the U of A, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies in June 2002 and Master of Science in Linguistics in December 2015.
She co-authored the book, Beginning of Print Culture in Athabasca Country, which won the Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year in June 2011. In March 2011, she received the Graduate Studies Teaching Award in recognition of her teaching excellence in the Faculty of Native Studies. Being a fluent nêhiyawêwin speaker and instructor has inspired her to continue developing resource materials and promoting nêhiyawêwin language programs. As an advocate for nêhiyawêwin, she shares various methodologies to strengthen existing or new Indigenous programs.
Her main focus is on integrating nêhiyaw language and literacy strategies from cultural perspectives of First Nations teachings, and the inclusion of Aboriginal stories and teachings on the land. She lives in Edmonton with her husband, Jason, their beautiful children, and three awesome dogs, who keep them busy.
Co-Founder & Program Director
Tiffany Smith (she/her) is a settler of Scottish, Irish, English and Welsh descent. She grew up exploring the ravines and concrete jungle of Toronto / Tkaronto (Mohawk), as well as exploring forests, beaches, lakes and trails along the Niagara Escarpment.
Tiffany holds a Master of Arts in Child Study and Education from the University of Toronto and a Honours Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo. She also holds an Alberta Interim Professional Certificate for teaching elementary education and a Level 3 Early Childhood Educator certificate. She worked with a bilingual (English/Inuinnaqtun) kindergarten class in Kugluktuk, Nunavut before moving to Edmonton / ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ / amiskwacîwâskahikan (nêhiyaw). There she began working in childcare then coordinating the U School, a program that introduces grade 4-9 students to post-secondary education at the University of Alberta, before raising her little one on daily “nature walks”. Her mixed race family continues to love exploring the river valley, and going camping and hiking in the Rockies.
Tiffany believes that by fostering relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people through land-based education, we can learn about each other, which will lead to a less racist society in time. On her personal journey towards truth and reconciliation, Tiffany continues to learn about her Indigenous neighbours whose traditional lands she lives, works and plays on. As a treaty partner, Tiffany is committed to listening and learning from Indigenous peoples, to making continued acts of reconciliation, and to working toward the Indigenization of colonial systems.
Co-Founder & Past Executive Director of YIEF
Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse is Mohawk (haudenosaunee) Cree (nêhiyawiskwêw) from the Michel First Nation, Alberta. Jodi grew up spending her childhood on the trapline, and in the bush picking berries and medicines with her grandparents and great uncles and aunts. Continuing the tradition of land-based cultural practices that have been handed down for generations, Jodi’s children are now active hide scrapers, berry and medicine pickers, and fishermen. It is critical to Jodi that her family continue to practice their inherent rights as First Nations citizens. Jodi is a student of the nêhiyaw and Isga language.
She is completing a Master of Science in Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta (U of A). She holds a Certificate of Community Rehabilitation from Mount Royal University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies from the U of A, specializing in Indigenous Governance & Legal Theory. Jodi has spent many years working in the education system at the primary, secondary and post-secondary levels in both instructional and administrative roles. Her earliest roles were Community Liaison and Community Rehabilitation Practitioner at Morley Elementary, Junior and Senior High School.
Jodi went on to be an Instructor with the Stoney Education Authority, U of A’s Faculty of Native Studies and Maskwacis Cultural College. Prior to her current role as Executive Director of the Yellowhead Indigenous Education Foundation, Jodi was the Reconciliation Advisor to the Office of the Provost & Vice-President (Academic) at the U of A. Jodi lives in Edmonton with her family including their rescue dog, Leo, who is the most beloved family member of all.