IEA Council

Karon Shmon
President (Métis)

Karon Shmon was fortunate to mostly escape the time when the Métis hid their identity for cultural safety. Without knowing the dangers, she proudly chose to speak about her trip to the Trappers' Festival in The Pas, Manitoba, as her topic for her grade 4 oratory, extolling her mother's triumph in the women's snowshoe race. She could be heard sharing that her great-grandfather was in the 1885 Resistance, although while sharing this, she had been colonized enough to refer to it as the Riel Rebellion. That too changed. She proudly wore her mukluks to school in the winter and sent her grandfather a foot pattern as she grew and needed a larger pair each year. The family's time at Chitek Lake was as normal as breathing to her, as was accompanying her mother to visit Elders in the area, watch them play cards, and often leave with a bag of dry meat. Feeling the sting of racism as it was perpetrated on her more visible family members, Karon's sense of justice was sharpened at an early age. She was bewildered by people who thought her amazing, talented, witty, smart, and loving mother was less-than because she was brown. This led Karon on a lifelong path as an educator on human rights, human justice, and human decency. Regardless of the job title, she has fiercely sought justice for those whose rights are being violated while also trying to set the record straight on the miss-story which is subsiding but still abounds in most accounts about us and our history.

Karon has been the director of the Culture and Heritage Department at the Gabriel Dumont Institute for many years and is proud of the Institute's robust publishing program which boasts over three hundred titles to date. She is a volunteer board member of the Saskatchewan Ânskohk Writers Circle Inc. (SAWCI). Karon served as faculty at the Aboriginal Editors Circle in 2014 and participated in the Circle the following year. She has volunteered with the Indigenous Editors Association since 2021.

Rita Bouvier
President Elect (Metis)

Rita Bouvier is a Metis writer, editor, and retired educator. Having served formally in public education (K-12 and post-secondary) systems, Rita has contributed as a speaker, researcher, editor, and author to essays, reports and books on education, highlighting the experiences of Indigenous people. When called upon, Rita continues to work with communities and public institutions in their decolonization efforts. Her fourth book of poetry, a beautiful rebellion, was released April 2023 by Thistledown Press. Rita's poetry has appeared in literary anthologies and journals-print and online-musicals, and television productions, and has been translated into Spanish, German and Cree-Michif of her home community of sakitawak-Île-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan, Canada, situated on the historic trading and meeting grounds of Cree and Dene people (Treaty 10). She currently serves as a volunteer with the Saskatchewan Ânskohk Writers Circle Inc. and the Indigenous Editors Association, where she is a founding member. Rita participated in all three Aboriginal / Indigenous Editors Circles in 2014, 2015, and 2017.

Suzanne Norman
Treasurer (settler)

Suzanne Norman is a senior lecturer in the Publishing Program at Simon Fraser University. She teaches courses in digital and online publishing, book publishing, and entrepreneurship. She is the director of the Publishing Workshops at Simon Fraser University and the program's industry liaison to the Canadian publishing industry. Her research interests include copyright, AI, digital publication of the self, and the intersection of gaming and narrative. A graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland (BA), she also holds a post-baccalaureate diploma in Communications and a Master of Publishing degree (both from SFU). She is also the FCAT Champion for the Charles Chang Institute for Entrepreneurship. Over the years she has worked as an investigative journalist, a newspaper editor, and an editor of young adult fiction. Suzanne has been an active volunteer with the IEA since before its incorporation in 2019.

June Scudeler
Secretary (Métis)

Dr. June Scudeler is Assistant Professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies, cross-appointed with the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University. She received her PhD in English at UBC in 2016. Her research encompasses queer Indigenous studies, literature, film, and art. She is currently delving into Indigenous horror, particularly the Métis rougarou, a creature who is a mixture of French werewolf or loup garou, and Cree and Anishinaabe shapeshifters. June participated in the Aboriginal Editors Circle in 2014 and has volunteered with the Indigenous Editors Association since 2021.

Jeannette Armstrong
Member at large (Syilx Okanagan)

Dr. Jeannette Armstrong is Syilx Okanagan, a fluent speaker of Nsyilxcn, and a traditional knowledge keeper of the Okanagan Nation. She is a founder of En'owkin, the Syilx knowledge revitalization institution of higher learning. She is currently the Interior Salishan Languages Coordinator at UBC Okanagan. She has a PhD in Environmental Ethics and Syilx Indigenous Literatures. Dr. Armstrong is the recipient of the EcoTrust Buffett Award for Indigenous Leadership. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada. She is an author and Indigenous activist whose published works include literary titles and academic writing on a wide variety of Indigenous issues. She currently serves on Canada's Traditional Knowledge Subcommittee of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. She is an active supporter of the Indigenous Editors Association, where she served as president in 2020-21.