Misipawistik isihtwawina – It Is the Way We Do Things - Chief Heidi Cook, Misipawistik Cree Nation

Chief Heidi Cook of the Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids, Manitoba) grew up in a fishing family and returned home after leaving for a university education. She worked in the Misipawistik Cree Nation lands department before being elected as a Councillor and then Chief.
She holds a BA in Environmental Sustainability and Politics, a Master’s Certificate in Project Management and a Masters in Development Practice (MDP) in Indigenous Development from the University of Winnipeg.
She works with her community to pursue development that is just, improves opportunities for health and employment, and ensures lands, waters and rights are protected. She is interested in understanding and strengthening Treaty relationships, cultural teachings and ceremonies, and applying those teachings to develop governance systems rooted in Indigenous laws and expressed in the modern context. “Misipawistik isihtwawina – it is the way we do things” Chief Cook will share the story and meaning behind the Misipawistik isihtwawina, a constitution represented graphically to reflect the teachings shared by MCN elders to guide the rebuilding of the nation’s governance system.
The constitution holds at the centre, mino pimatisiwin, a good life, which is the heart of the work for the Misipawistik Cree Nation.