Fierce With Heart was created by Helen Knott in 2019. Helen is a Dane Zaa, Cree, Metis, and mixed Euro-descent woman from Prophet River First Nations living in Fort St. John, B.C. She has her Bachelor’s in Social Work, and Masters in First Nation Studies. Helen has facilitated Provincially for a variety of age groups on different topics ranging from healing from sexual violence, sobriety, and storytelling. She has spoken at various National events and has worked on advocacy, wellness, and educational initiatives regionally and provincially. She lends her expertise by sitting on various Provincial advisory councils and tables. Helen has guest lectured for UVIC and been a virtual speaker in classrooms for York University and other colleges across North America. She has designed and instructed first year Indigenous social work curriculum locally and loves creating learning processes and programs. In 2016, Helen Knott was one of sixteen women globally featured by the Nobel Women’s Initiative for her work to end gender-based violence.
Her first book, In My Own Moccasins , was a National best seller and was short listed and long listed for awards such as the BC Yukon Book Awards and the RBC Taylor Award. Helen’s second book, Becoming a Matriarch, was released in August 2023 and was an instant National Best Seller- reaching #1 on the Toronto Stars Best Sellers list. The book went on to win the Jim Deva BC Yukon Book Prize was, a finalist for a 2024 Governor Generals Award in Non-Fiction, and long listed for Canada Reads 2025.
Helen has a variety of poetry and academic pieces published and is currently working on her third book. Most importantly, Helen is a single mother to her teenage son and is thirteen years sober from hard drugs and liquor. She currently spends most of her free time with her family, berry picking, or getting lost down backroads with the windows rolled down and the music turned up.
Wuujo Asonalah