Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy (Just Breathe, Mother Earth)

A collaborative project led by Cree artist Sandra Lamouche and settler artist Melanie Kloetzel. Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy offers a journey into and out of climate anxiety. Examining the deep inequalities and inadequate nature of Eurocentric cultural responses to the climate crisis, as well as the cultural possibilities that exist in connecting to the land via Indigenous worldviews, Just Breathe, Okâwîmâwaskiy creates an opening for audiences to engage in a dialogue about reconciliation, the climate emergency and cross-cultural futures.  This event is part of Saskatchewan Indigenous Storytelling Month in libraries across the province. Learn more.  

About Sandra Lamouche

Sandra Lamouche is a nêhiyaw iskwêw (Cree woman) from the Bigstone Cree Nation in northern Alberta. She is a wife, mother, champion women's hoop dancer, award-winning educator and two-time TEDx speaker. She has a Masters of Arts Degree from Trent University and the title of her thesis was Ê-Nitonahk Miyo-Pimâtisiwin (Seeking the Good Life) Through Indigenous Dance.  This thesis is about the ways in which Indigenous dance serves as a social determinant of Indigenous health and well-being. Sandra and her family live in Blackfoot Territory (Treaty 7) in southern Alberta.  Sandra will also be leading a story time at Regina Public Library's Sherwood Village branch at 1:00pm on Saturday, February 7, 2026. Learn more.

About Melanie Kloetzel

Melanie Kloetzel is a Professor of Dance at the University of Calgary in Treaty 7 territory (Moh’kinsstis/Calgary).  She earned her PhD from the University of Roehampton and her dissertation was titled Dancing site: ethics, agency and the choregraphic art.  Melanie has developed events, workshops and encounters in theatre spaces, alternative venues, spaces of public assembly, Dr. Kloetzel has discussed her collaborative art-making practices and particularly her work with TRAction, a settler/Indigenous co-led arts collective that focuses on climate arts and justice