“No matter what people are going through in life, don't be another problem in theirs,” Chelsea Migwi shares. It’s a lesson she learned from her grandfather. She grew up in Behchokǫ̀, Northwest Territories. She moved to Fort Smith and to Fort Providence but always ended up back in Edzo, her home.

She had been working with a company called Laughing Lincoln and they always wanted her to work with them, working with plants and selling products in Yellowknife. She moved to Yellowknife with her husband and found out she was pregnant. She had a good job working at the mines but didn’t want to work in the mines pregnant anymore. She called up Laughing Lincoln and told them about their situation and while they couldn’t have her collecting plants all day pregnant, they did have a project transcribing Tłı̨chǫ translations. Her Tłı̨chǫ skills were basic but she was excited to try. When she arrived at work she knew everyone in the room and she was immediately at ease.

At first, some of her colleagues were hesitant about her joining because of her skill level and she was too but as the months went by it worked out because her translator understood even if she didn’t.  What she found was even fluent language speakers struggled sometimes and they had to get Tłı̨chǫ dictionaries and language apps to work through more challenging projects. One time they even had to bring in a big map. In the end, she ended up enjoying the experience with the ladies, between the laughter and the daily prayers. She worked until she had her baby and she maintains contact with her colleagues to this day. They have said they have work for her if she wants to come back.

“Being able to listen to elders from back then really made me understand Tłı̨chǫ culture. It made me really understand how it was for every Dene person, being out on the land before, actually, before civilization. It was so hard,” Migwi reflects. “It's very beautiful when I really think about it. It makes me think our elders did work really hard for our people to get to where we are today,” she continues.

She remembers an elder describing how strange it was moving into a house and adjusting to being warm and not having so many chores because there was running water and toilets. Migwi also got to learn some Tłı̨chǫ. One of the areas that Migwi was particularly helpful was finding ways to say things in English in a respectful way. She loved the work and would definitely do it again.

Her advice for students who have to leave their home communities to pursue their education is “take that opportunity. As hard as it is to leave home, it's always going to be the same. It's always going to be there. Your family's going to always be there, waiting. Travel. Go as many places as you want. Experience life.…Do anything that you can to be successful…Sometimes you even have to leave in order to be successful.”

Migwi moved away herself and grew a lot from the experience. She took programs and worked a lot of jobs to survive. Now, she’s at a point where she’s relaxed and no longer in survival mode, with a daughter who looks up to her. She’s glad she did what she had to because she’s happy with her life now. “I wish that every youth could feel the same way that I'm feeling, because not a lot of them get to go through that path. A lot of them are still trying to find that path. I've met people in their 50s and their 60s that are still going on that path. It's never too late, no matter how old you are,” she shares.

If she could share a message with a younger version of herself it would be, “Don't be afraid to be yourself….don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Don't be afraid to be the person that you are. Don't be afraid to grow. There's more to just being in your hometown. Experience life. Just be yourself. Don't be afraid to ask for help. When the elders speak, listen to them. When your aunties and uncles speak, listen to them. When your mom and dad speak to you, listen to them.”

“Don't forget your support system. Don't forget to call your mom and dad.”

To balance her mental health and wellbeing, Migwi has people to talk to and look up to. Having a support system makes a difference, too. She tries to always look on the bright side and laugh. After taking sensitivity training, she learned not to react to people’s negative words because she doesn’t know what people might be going through in their life.

When it comes to inspiration, Migwi looks to the people in her life, particularly her grandfather. He inspired her first when she was eleven and he sat up late at night giving advice to an intoxicated person who showed up at their door. He showed no judgement, just sitting and listening with kindness. She hears many stories of her grandfather from other people she meets, too.

She didn’t know much Tłı̨chǫ but Chelsea Migwi had a chance to work as an audio transcriber and learn from the stories of her elders when she got pregnant and couldn’t work in the mines anymore. Working with a company called Laughing Lincoln where she previously worked with plants and sold products, the opportunity to do audio transcriptions taught her unexpected lessons and gave her beautiful friendships. Inspired by her family, especially her grandfather, she’s learned to be kind no matter what just like he was.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.