“When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was run sled dogs. That was my absolute dream,” shares Willie Poll. She is from Sault Saint Marie, Ontario and now lives on Prince Edward Island. Her family ran sled dogs and so did her ancestors who were mail carriers. She went to university for a degree in Indigenous Studies. After she graduated, she moved to the Northwest Territories and then the Yukon to run sled dogs. After living in different First Nations communities and seeing the impact of climate change on the North, she started writing about it. She became a picture book author and now she also writes graphic novels. Her stories are based on her land-based learning and navigating life.

When it came time to move away for school, Poll was reluctant to leave home because she loved her family and community. Her mom pushed her to pursue her education and she always warned her that she would have to go away to study. The push was helpful, Poll explains, “getting a degree did open a lot of avenues, but I still believe fully that the land is the best teacher that we have. I had a very diverse learning curve of both of those things, of Western learning and centered also in Indigenous traditional learning and oral storytelling and learning from the land and learning from elders, and so all those things kind of combined is what led me to do this.”

Her advice for students moving away to pursue their education would be, “I think it's just it is a journey, and I think everyone will get where they need to get to in a different way and in their own way and so just kind of believing in yourself and not giving up and knowing that it will be really hard, but that we can do hard things, and that hard things are possible to overcome.”

When Poll moved to the Northwest Territories, she moved in the summer when there was lots of light, something that was very supportive of her wellbeing. The winter impacted her mental health and so she found she had to get outside, even when it was very cold, and even very briefly. She takes walks and spends time with animals, with the sled dogs and doing equine therapy. Being around community keeps her from self-isolating so she goes to community events and ceremonies.

Growing up, Poll was surrounded by strong matriarchs who overcame addictions, domestic violence and who broke cycles. She is part of the first generation not to struggle with alcoholism and who is participating in therapy. Her cousins have modeled walking that path for her. She also finds a lot of inspiration on social media and is inspired by Indigenous lawyers, politicians, activists and artists.  “I think that we can find inspiration easier than we have been able to previously, because we can see it everywhere, instead of just in our own communities,” she muses, thinking of the positive impact of technological change.

As a mixed Métis and Anishinaabe person, Poll wanted to write books that featured the language of her ancestors. She is reclaiming her language in doing so and writing books for her nieces and nephews to enjoy. She took some language credits as part of her degree but did not excel in those classes. She finds language learning challenging but she’s doing it anyway.

In closing, to inspire Indigenous youth, Poll says, “Take up your space, you belong anywhere that you want to be. You can do anything you want to do, and there isn't a single way of doing that or a right path to get there. We all have our different journeys, and if you want it and are willing to work towards it, it'll happen. I believe in you, and I'm sure lots of other people believe and support you too."

When she was young, Willie Poll dreamed of running sled dogs and she made that dream come true. Writing stories with the language of her ancestors after being struck by the impact of climate change, she’s making a difference through children’s literature. Breaking cycles and creating change, she moved far and she’s making big moves.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.