A woman with long brown hair and glasses smiling at the camera, wearing a hand-sewn Capote with a red and green design, standing against a plain light green wall.

About the Artist

Taanishi kiiyawow, Mara Kersey d-ishinihkaashon.  Enn femme Michif niya.  Campbell River d-oschin.  Beaudry, Brabent, Brazeau, Chastellaine, Fraser pi Lucier mii noon di famii Michif.  Ma Michif paraantii kayaash oschi Li Rivyeer Ruuzh kii-oschiwak.  Deu aen garsoon d-ayawaaw.  Shane pi Levi ishinihkaashowak.

Hello everyone, my name is Mara Kersey.  I am a Michif/Métis woman.  I live in Campbell River, which is the traditional territory of the Liǧʷiłdax̌ʷ people.  My Michif family names are Beaudry, Brabent, Brazeau, Chastellaine, Fraser and Lucier.  My Michif family originated from the Red River area.  I have two boys, Shane and Levi.

I grew up knowing I was Métis from a very young age, however that had no real meaning to me.  It was something that we didn't talk about.  As a teenager I became interested in starting to connect with our Métis community, but after graduation life became too busy and other things took priority.

After having my boys and then the pandemic hitting the world I knew I needed a change.  I felt like something was missing from my life.  I began to learn as much about our culture as I could, so that I can pass on art, textile, language, dance and history to my boys.  Now when I see them go to school with their sashes on, proud of who they are, it makes my heart happy, I would have been too ashamed to do that as a kid.  To learn and connect to our culture, history, language and artforms has had a positive impact on our lives, and I am so grateful for the community that I have found.

Close-up of a black and white dog lying on a wooden floor, looking at the camera.
Person wearing glasses and a red beanie takes a selfie while wet scraping a deer hide, in a room with a white wall and some tools hanging.

A lot of my inspiration and designs come from our families Michif matriarch - Nancy Beaudry. She was born in Fort Carleton, Saskatchewan, in around 1813. Her parents were Louis Beaudry and Lisette Chastellain. She married Colin Fraser, a HBC employee from Scotland. Together they had fourteen children. Throughout her life they moved to Fort Edmonton, Jasper House and Pigeon Lake. She lived to be 87 years old, passing in 1900. Today, you can still view some of her beadwork at the Royal Alberta Museum. Me and my children had the opportunity to see both her beautiful powder horn strap and Colins bagpipes. Some of our family members have been able to sit with our families grandmother pieces and have shared other photos. These are a few photos that I have taken from our trip to Fort Edmonton (right) and RAM (below).

Mara, her children, and the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers standing together indoors against a wooden wall, smiling at the camera.
Three smiling people outdoors, two young boys and an adult woman, with a cloudy sky and trees in the background.

Nancy and Colin had a son, in 1847, Simon. He is my 3x Great Grandfather. Simon was born while the family was at Jasper House. He married Sophie Brazeau, who was also a Michif woman. Together they had thirteen children, including Betsy Fraser (born in 1884), who is my 2x Great-Grandmother.

Betsy married Louis Wood, an Englishman who worked for the RCMP at the time. Betsy and Louis raised their family on Pigeon Lake, Alberta. In the 1930’s they moved their children and grandchildren to Campbell River, on Vancouver Island.

Their daughter, Nellie Wood, is my Great-Grandmother, she was a strong and generous woman, She married Victor Hampson. I spent a lot of my free time with my Nana and Papa while I was growing up. We spent many weekends playing cards, checkers, doing puzzles and hitting golf balls on their large field, and watching the same couple VHS tapes. Hot chocolate was almost always involved, and I still remember my Nana teaching me how to blow bubbles with Hubba Bubba gum.

Vic and Nellie had two daughter - Dollie is my grandmother. She is incredibly artistic, when I was younger we would spend time painting and making driftwood houses. Now, we spend family nights playing Boggle.

And finally my mom Betsy, daughter of Dollie and Ron. When we were young children my parents had a large garden that we would grow vegetables and berries in. I remember my mom canning to preserve food for the winter. Today, my mom also connects to culture through beading. While we didn’t grow up knowing what Michif culture looked like, we can now look back at how we were raised and see that even though it wasn’t something spoken about, we were raised in some culture. Family meals, foods that we ate, our strong Michif women, the stories that we share and the stories that are yet to come.

Ma Faamii