Michelle Voyageur

Michelle Voyageur calls Fort Chipewyan home; she is a Band Councillor with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and is passionate about the work she does impacting her community and the communities around Fort McMurray. Her biggest achievement is seeing the opening of the K’ai Tailé Market, a grocery store owned by the ACFN, in Fort Chipewyan, AB.

Michelle left the region for a number of years, to peruse her education and to work in various positions that exposed her to regional, provincial and national topics that help build her skill set, allowing her to return home to use her education and experience to help her nation grow. Education is very important to Michelle.

“I like working for the people and seeing things happen,” Michelle says. “I feel that I am a doer!”

Sitting on a number of boards and committees, she enjoys volunteering wherever she is needed, whether at the high school, with the Elders or with many of the ACFN’s programs. Michelle is also helping to promote the use of the Denésǫłine language by helping to create learning materials and assisting in the development of the “Learn a Dene Word a Day” initiative.

For Michelle, being a part of this community is very important. “It allows me to create new and professional relationships, and a provides a feeling of belonging,” she shares. “Knowing that the work that I do benefits others in the community is important to me. Even though I reside in Fort Chipewyan much of the work that I do impacts the local communities that surround Fort McMurray. It makes me happy to know that the community is benefiting from the work that I do.”