Hello, my name is Lana Ray. My spirit name is “the light that shines”. I am a member of the muskellunge clan. I am from the place of the pipestone (the community associated with this name is Red Rock Indian Band; however the Traditional territory that governs me expands far beyond the boundaries of the reserve). Also, I speak a little Anishinaabemowin. 

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Indigenous Learning, Indigenous Research Chair in Decolonial Futures and Director of the Anishinaabe Kendaasiwin Institute (AKI) at Lakehead University.  Previously I worked in the public and not-for profit sectors, including as the Director of Policy and Research at a provincial Indigenous organization. I do this work to contribute to the movement put into motion by mindimooyeyag, akiwenziiyag, Indigenous communities, grassroots leaders, and Indigenous scholars to advance Indigenous social, cultural and political realities through resurgent and decolonial praxis.