Katherena Vermette is a Red River Metis (Michif) writer from Treaty 1 territory, the heart of the Metis Nation. She has worked in poetry, novels, children's literature, and film. Katherena's father's roots run deep in St. Boniface, St. Norbert, and beyond, dating back over two centuries. Her mother's side is Mennonite from the Altona and Rosenfeld area (Treaty 1). Vermette received the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry for her first book, North End Love Songs. Her novel >The Break won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and her National Film Board documentary, this river, won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Short. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia. Katherine lives in Winnipeg.