About

Raising the Revolution

Tasha Spillett, PhD (she/her/hers) is a New York Times bestselling author who draws her strength from her Indigenous (Cree) and Trinidadian bloodlines. She is also a celebrated educator, scholar and public speaker. Tasha is most heart-tied to contributing to community-led work that centers the liberation of Indigenous women and women of color and creating a world that affirms the joy and well-being of children.

As an educator, Tasha infuses her teaching pedagogy with her extensive cultural knowledge to support Indigenous students, and strives to build equitable relationships between all communities. Tasha acknowledges her unique opportunity as an Afro-Indigenous woman and responsibility to create learning environments that are culturally responsive, and foster belonging for Indigenous students, students of colour, and their families.

Tasha is also the author of the multi-award winning three volume graphic novel series, Surviving the City (HighWater Press), the New York Times bestselling picture book, I Sang You Down from the Stars (Little Brown Books and Owl Kids), and her most recent picture book, Beautiful You, Beautiful Me (Owl Kids).

Tasha weaves her cultural identity in both her scholarly work and relational responsibility to contribute to a body of research that echoes Indigenous women’s demands for justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people. Her work is both a continuation of the resistance against the assault of colonialism that she has inherited and a celebration of the beauty and brilliance that flows forward from those who have come before.

As her career continues to evolve, Tasha looks forward to continuing to connect with and work alongside communities of people who are actively engaged in creating a world that is worthy of our children.

Interview

What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?

I always loved learning, but didn’t always love school. I think that this is a common experience for a lot of Indigenous and racialized students. There were many critical points in my own school experience, where I felt like I didn’t belong or like I wasn’t smart enough to be there. I remember during my first academic advising appointment at the University of Winnipeg, I was told that I shouldn’t plan to complete my B.A/B.Ed program within the 5 years because I would probably end up getting pregnant. Sometimes, racism hits you like a freight train and you don’t have a minute to collect yourself. I wasn’t able to respond to the ignorance at that particular time, but I’ve spent my career dismantling the intersecting forms of oppression that create it.

What or who inspired you to really go after the profession you are in now?

All the young people that I’m blessed to have in my life are my daily inspiration. I am fully committed to creating places of learning that are worthy of them. It’s not enough to say that ‘youth are our future’, we need to do everything we can to prepare them for keeping our Nations going.

What critical choices or decisions did you make that helped you get where you are today?

The choice that I’ve made to center the teaching that have been passed on to me in ceremony, is what has carried me to the place I’m at now. It’s also ceremony, that connects me to a circle of people who help me along the path that I’ve chosen. The truth is, I haven’t been able to accomplish anything beautiful in my life on my own. The people that I love, make all things possible.

Do you have a message of encouragement you'd like to share?

The gifts that we were given aren’t for our individual benefit but for that of the collective, so share them generously with one another. It’s all of our responsibility to work towards becoming good Ancestors.