Patricia A. Monture, Aye-wah-han-day, is a citizen of the Mohawk Nation, Grand River Territory (near Brantford, Ontario). She is mother, sister and auntie. Since 1994, she has been employed at the University of Saskatchewan. Patricia is presently a full professor in the Department of Sociology where she is also the academic director of the Aboriginal Justice and Criminology Program. In 2008, in acknowledgement of her commitment of women’s activism in the university, she received the Sarah Shorten Award from the Canadian Association of University Teachers and an honourary doctorate of laws from Athabasca University. In 2009, she received an honourary ll.d. from Queen’s University. Her award-winning publications include Thunder in My Soul and Journeying Forward: Dreaming First Nations Independence.

Patricia D. McGuire, Kishebakabaykwe Bizhiw indoodem, is a mother and grandmother. She is citizen of Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek but shared summers as a child with her relatives at Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek in Ontario. She has worked with Anishinaabek communities developing and teaching in post-secondary education programs for more than twenty years. Patricia is on leave from Negahneewin which is located at Confederation College in Thunder Bay Ontario. She teaches in the area of Indigenous Studies, law, sociology and development. She is currently working on a Canadian Institute of Health Research grant dealing with Aboriginal resilience in Canada with ciet. She is a Ph.D. student at the University of Saskatchewan.