Forever Our Home / Kâkikê Kîkinaw (Bilingual Edition, English and Plains Cree)

Tonya Simpson is of Scottish and Cree ancestry. She is a member of Pasqua First Nation and was born and raised in central Alberta. Tonya completed the MA program in anthropology at the University of Alberta and now works as a research assistant while raising her children at Pigeon Lake in Westerose, Alberta. Forever Our Home is her first picture book and was originally written as a lullaby for her son.

Carla Joseph is a Cree artist originally from Prince George, British Columbia. In 2016 Carla was the Artist in Residence for the Prince George Community Arts Council, and she has done design work for several organizations, including the Aboriginal Head Start Association of British Columbia, Northern Health and the First Nations Health Authority. Carla loves the way she makes people feel with her art. It inspires her to continue with her gift, and she loves to challenge herself by taking on many different types of projects, many of which can be seen around her community. She is also the illustrator of Be a Good Ancestor. Carla lives in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

Jean Okimāsis, D.Litt. h.c., was born at White Bear First Nations, Saskatchewan, and attended Lebret Residential School. As a Cree teacher and curriculum designer, Jean spent twenty years at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (now First Nations University of Canada) where she helped build the Languages program. For almost 40 years, her textbook, workbook and recordings, Cree, Language of the Plains, have been in constant use in Western Canada. She continues to champion Cree language revitalization and literacy through her work and many publications as translator and editor.