Sasha Smith (Tulalip)

Family Support Coordinator, The Tulalip Tribes

I am a dedicated member of the Tulalip Tribes, responsible for managing various family support programs within our community for over 15 years. My roles include overseeing the Moms Group: Skills for Successful Parenting, the Dads Group, and the Home Visiting Program, Family Spirit. I approach my work with commitment, integrating our cultural values and principles of respect into each activity to support our parents and uphold the traditions of our ancestors.

Shashana Skippingday (White Earth Ojibwe)

Director of Programs, Division of Indian Work

Shashana is a mother, healer, nurse, and dedicated community leader from the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota, now living near Minneapolis. She is a certified and registered Community Outreach Perinatal Educator/Indigenous Doula and Indigenous Lactation Counselor.

Committed to her community, Shashana holds a passion for teaching families about the foundational benefits of breastfeeding. She has built an incredible group of Indigenous women to lead Nitamising Gimashkikinaan (“Our First Medicine”), an Indigenous Perinatal and Lactation Support Circle. In addition to her work with Nitamising Gimashkikinaan, she is a co-leader for the Indigenous Breastfeeding Coalition of Minnesota and previously served as a Director for the Board of the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition.

Currently a Traditional Home Birth Midwifery Student, Shashana also serves as the Director of Programs for the Division of Indian Work in Minneapolis.