Who are we? 

aanii, ʔəy̓ sweyəl!

Another Anishinaabemowin word that contains oode is the word for fire, ishkode. Anishinaabe teachings about fire relate to care and maintenance. Fire speaks to our responsibility to apply the gifts that we arrived to earth with to what we do for our communities.

This is why we have chosen the name Oodenaw to represent our cooperative. We believe in care for each other, care for communities, and care for the earth, and this is how we work together.

Our current board and owners:

Estrella Whetung

(they/she/siya)

Estrella Whetung is a lifelong practicing multi-disciplinary Mississauga Nishnaabe (Alderville First Nation) Lucbanin Two-Spirit artist with a focus on traditional Anishnaabe beadwork, contemporary Woodlands painting, digital illustration, and mixed media. She has over 15 years of professional work experience as an artist and over 10 years of experience lecturing and teaching Indigenous art and media history. She holds a diploma in First Nation Community Studies, a B.A. (with distinction) in Cultural Anthropology and Indigenous Studies, an M.A. in Indigenous Governance, and is an IGOV PhD candidate (ABD), working within the fields of curriculum development, arts education, and community-based Indigenous research. She is grateful to be working and residing on the territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən, WSÁNEĆ, and Scia'new peoples and is constantly humbled by their abundance of compassion and generosity.

Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

(she/they)

Carmen Wiigwaas Craig is crane clan from Hiawatha First Nation, Pema-dash-kooda-yong, on Rice Lake in what is known today as Ontario. She is Michi Saagii Nishnaabe, Irish, Welsh, and German. Her nana was Casey Cowie-ba from Hiawatha and her papa was David Craig-ba from Sixmilecross in Northern Ireland. Carmen is grateful to live on Lək̓ʷəŋən lands today. Carmen is a big sister, an aunty, a daughter, a granddaughter, a niece, a partner, a cousin, and a friend.

Carmen's passions in life are for language and culture revitalization and resurgence, access to language and culture for all Indigenous people, accessible learning, and coming together as communities to uplift one another. She holds a B.A. (Hons.) in Linguistics with a focus on Indigenous language revitalization and an M.Ed. in Indigenous Language Revitalization, both from the University of Victoria.

Cassandra Dorgelo

(she/her)

Cassandra is Musqueam, Sechelt, Cowichan, English, Irish, and Dutch, raised as a reconnecting urban Indigenous person. She brings a lived understanding of what it means to navigate identity, systems, and community with care.

With a background in psychology and political science, Cassandra has ten years of experience supporting Indigenous-led and community-centered initiatives. Her work has included project management, policy support, research, strategic and operational planning, engagement, curriculum development, and facilitation. 

Cassandra is often invited into work that lives between vision and action—spaces where trust, clarity, and thoughtful coordination are needed. She is known for bringing grounding to complexity, caring as much about how things feel as how they function, and shaping internal systems that reflect the values and priorities of the communities they serve. Her approach is rooted in care and attentiveness, and she is most at home supporting work that turns meaningful ideas into well-held, practical movement.

David Griffin Brown

(he/they)

David Griffin Brown is a settler-Canadian who was raised on Treaty 6 Territory in what is known today as Edmonton, Alberta. He is grateful to live on Lək̓ʷəŋən lands today. His ancestral connections are to the British Isles, with most recent familial ties to Hereford, England, where his maternal grandfather was born. David is an award-winning short fiction writer with over twenty years’ experience as an editor. David holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Victoria as well as an M.F.A. from the University of British Columbia. He is the founder of Darling Axe Editing, where he supports writers to hone and share their stories with the world. David is passionate about storytelling, art, and community and is excited to support the work of Oodenaw as a settler ally and a jack-of-all-trades.

Let's Consider Working Together

We're a good fit for you if you are looking to support Indigenous-led change. Get in touch with us so we can discuss our potential work together. Miigwech, hay čxʷ q̓ə.