Raymond Yakeleya is an award-winning Dene television producer, director and writer. Originally from Tulita in the Northwest Territories, he now calls Edmonton, Alberta home. Raymond is author of the Dene children’s book The Tree by the Woodpile and editor of We Remember the Coming of the White Man and Indigenous Justice. He wrote an extensive foreword in Nahganne: Northern Tales of the Sasquatch. Says Raymond, “Indigenous Peoples need to have a voice in mainstream media in order to tell our stories, our way. With the passing of many of our Elders, the telling of these stories has become more important.”
Rich Théroux is illustrator of Flight Through the Rainbow. Besides being a caveman, Rich is a genius talent at painting and drawing. His art hangs in prominent homes and galleries but he prefers not to boast about it. Rich is founder of Rumble House and also teaches junior high school art. He is the author and illustrator of Stop Making Art and Die, and The River Troll and is the co-author of the poetry book, A Wake in the Undertow with his partner Jess Szabo. He and his gang exist/co-exist in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Samantha Gibbon is illustrator of The Midwife and the Spirit of Life. She is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta and a descendent of Peayasis Band in Northern Alberta. Raised an otipemisiwak (Metis) and Nehiyaw Iskwew in Treaty 6 Territory on Papaschase Land (Amiskwaciywaskahikan/Edmonton), she’s a senior medical student at the University of British Columbia. Although she currently lives on Syilx territory, her heart forever lies in the prairie brush of her ancestral homelands of Northern Alberta.
Antoine Mountain is illustrator of the Bird stories and is from the Radelie Koe/Fort Good Hope area of the Dene Nation in Northwest Territories.. He is a Dene artist, painter, and activist who focuses on depicting the Dene way of life, his love for the land, and the spiritualism of his faith. He holds a Master’s in Environmental Studies from York University, and is currently doing a PhD in Indigenous Studies at Trent University. Mountain uses his voice and art to ensure that today’s youth do not forget their Dene identity.
