Serena Francis of Elsipgotog is an Elder, educator and story teller. She received a B.A.in History, B.Ed. in Elementary along with a Certificate in Mi’kmaw Immersion all from St. Thomas University in New Brunswick. Serena is a fluent Mi’kmaq speaker and has done a lot work keeping the language alive. One of the highlights of her 30 year careerin teaching is the development of an online Mi’kmaw Language course for high school students in New Brunswick.

Serena now enjoys teaching about Mi’kmaq culture and is currently sharing her knowledge about L’napsku’l and wampum teachings through workshops she does with her granddaughter Susan Bernard and niece Melissa Lunney. An avid believer in life long learning she continues to learn from other elders like Claude Aubin. She now shares that knowledge with others through workshops and sharing circles.

Serena is a part of Regeneration of Mi’kmaw Star Stories with Susan, Melissa and her daughter Carola. Together they want to help regenerate our Mi’kmaw knowledge about the cosmos through storytelling, wampum belts, podcasts and more!

Susan Bernard is a Mi’kmaw storyteller and Future Legacy Leader from Unama’ki with a practice deeply rooted in community and inter-generational learning. Susan is passionate about learning her own Mi’kmaw and other Indigenous cultures. She strongly believes in the transfer of knowledge about culture, arts, craft, teachings, and ceremonies from generation to generation. She brings this dedication to nurturing traditional knowledge-sharing and community care to all of the work she does.

Susan has collaborated with her Mi’kiju (grandmother), Serena Francis, on several projects including Regeneration of Mi’kmaw Star Stories through Storytelling along with Carola Knockwood and Melissa Lunney, which has led to the opportunity to speak with many Knowledge Keepers across Turtle Island. She has also co-hosted a podcast titled Strength from Stardust, presented classes at UNB and CBU, facilitated a Webinar, cofacilitated, organized and planned multiple Wampum Belt Workshops in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which she later translated into an online workshop – all in close collaboration with Serena.

Susan wants to bring her people’s ancestral knowledge to young people in her community, but also into spaces like public education.

Carola Knockwood grew up in the Mi’kmaw traditional district of Siknikt, but now calls Unama’ki home. After a year in the Integrative Science program at Cape Breton University, she completed a BSc in Biology followed by a B.Ed., and taught several grades at Maupeltuewey Kina’matno’kuom (community school) in Membertou.

An MEd graduate at Wheelock College, Carola’s work is grounded in Mi’kmaw Ways of Being and Knowing and guided by Etuaptmumk / Two-Eyed Seeing (E/TES). Her goal is to see Mi’kmaw Knowledge system side by side with western knowledge in education.

Weaving Mi’kmaw knowledge and understanding of the natural world needs to be included in science curricula, especially in all Mi’kmaw classrooms.

Melissa is a Mi'kmaw woman residing in Fredericton NB. She received her certificate in Mobile Application Development from CCNB in 2016. Since then, her passion has been helping Indigenous entrepreneurs solve problems by merging technology with tradition. With this project, Melissa has been applying this same approach, designing the Regeneration of Mi’kmaw Star Stories website, managing social media, and editing podcasts and webinars. She is eager to be learning and sharing star stories through a Mi’kmaw lens and grateful to be a part of this project.