Indigenous Artist

Artist. Activator. Aunty. Zoey Roy is a rebel with a cause.

A humorous presenter and a luminous storyteller, Zoey offers practical wisdom for living well amongst the violence of settler colonialism. A lover of words, having fun and synthesizing knowledge, she has spent most of her life traveling the globe sharing her gift of gab through performances, keynote presentations and workshops. Zoey is a hip hop inspired poet with an insatiable appetite for learning and growing.

Nehithaw-Dené and Michif, Zoey is a citizen of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in Northern Saskatchewan and is based in Kingston ON.

A teacher at heart and by training, Zoey facilitates motivational, creative, and insightful experiences with the goal to encourage critical thinking, connection, and creativity. Operating an independent teaching arts practice, she maintains a working relationship with the National Arts Centre, Taking IT Global, and the Gord Downie & Change Wenjack Fund so classrooms across Canada get access to music programming for free.

She has a Bachelor of Education, a Master of Public Policy and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Education where she is looking at how Indigenous people are using social media to actualize their identities, families, and Nations.

Zoey’s career can largely be attributed to the quality of kinship connections she has fostered, developed, and maintained. As someone who needed witnesses early on in her life, she knew her support system was to be her lifeline. Her home community of Saskatoon and beyond continue to celebrate her. She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, the Indspire Award, and the Saskatchewan Arts Teaching and Learning Award.

Zoey’s research will tell the story of how Indigenous people are using social media to actualize their identities culturally and advance in society socially. As a performing artist and a grassroots researcher, Zoey is dependent on relationality in all aspects of her life.

Zoey shares a message about love and wonderment, how she used it in her life to propel her in the direction of her dreams, and how she found gratitude along the way.

INDIGENOUS ANCESTRY

First Nations

SELF-IDENTIFICATION

Nehithaw-Dené Métis, a member of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation