Growing up on my reservation in poverty was an immense motivator to prove to my people, family, and myself that, even with limited resources, I can be successful. I’m the first person on both sides of my family to receive their bachelors degree.

I wrote Atíka’s Medicine at the beginning of the battle with stage three thyroid cancer. I was upset and hurt that I thought I lived my life as I was supposed to but received cancer anyway. I’m a mother, wife, and preschool teacher. My life has been dedicated to giving to others. I went on long walks as I prayed to the Creator, “Why me?”

One day as I was walking, it’s as if somebody whispered into my ear: “Write.”

I instantly knew that should be something I loved, experienced, and needs to be heard. I wrote Atíka’s Medicine as a way to heal while receiving treatment for cancer. My goal was for indigenous youth to see themselves in books as people of today and not just the past – to feel comfortable to celebrate their culture, even if they are the only ones in the classroom who understand it. After two years of battling cancer, I received news that it was dormant – asleep. I thought after writing Atíka’s Medicine that I crossed that off my bucket list and was able just to focus on staying healthy.

This past March after teaching in a very mentally unhealthy school, I had a heart attack, which led to heart surgery. I was told by my cardiologist that I was not supposed to wake up from that attack. I began to write again.