Melanie Carpenter is a Red River Métis woman born and raised in St. Vital, Winnipeg, Manitoba on Treaty One Territory, the heart of Turtle Island. Carpenter is a descendant of Cyfroy Jansonne (Sifroid Johnson) of Lorette, Manitoba and my Métis ancestry traces back to the Cadotte family of St. Norbert, Manitoba. Carpenter’s family history continues through Virginie Jancon (my second great-grandmother), her son Edmond Leonard (my great-grandfather), who married Clarisse Cadotte (Cree woman, my great-grandmother) of St. Norbert, Manitoba, and their daughter Beatrice Edna Leonard (my paternal Métis grandmother), who married Orville Carpenter (my paternal grandfather). Of their six children, one was their father, Wayne Carpenter. From his voice to theirs, their story lives on.