Kailani Sirois

Kailani Sirois (she/her) is an enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes and the Poundmaker Cree Nation. She is a junior at Dartmouth College, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Native American & Indigenous Studies, modified with English & Creative Writing. Kailani’s work is grounded in the storytelling traditions of her people, narratives that carry history, identity and ways of being that are deeply interconnected with land and water. Through her studies and writing at Dartmouth, Kailani seeks to honor the origins of these stories while reimagining their possibilities, creating a space where ancestral knowledge meets contemporary experience.

Her work pays tribute to the voices that came before while contributing to the evolving story of her people and Mother Earth. In her free time, Kailani enjoys spending time with family, being in nature, reading and engaging in climate justice work.

About Kailani’s Project

During her time in the Brave Heart program, Kailani plans to focus on teaching traditional harvesting practices and ancestral methods of preparing and cooking the foods her community gathers, including pit cooking. Most importantly, it would create space to share and explain the cultural significance of her lands and waters, as well as the native foods and medicines they sustain. The project would also explore how climate change is affecting these ecosystems, while affirming that Methow youth and community members must always have first access to the x̌ʷnámx̌ʷnam/Hummingbird lands, waters and future returned properties. Culture, for her people, is rooted in their connection to land and water.