Wasakamon | Wellness Connections: Angela Lavallee

Angela will be sharing her perspective of what Indigenous Resilience and Healing means for Indigenous people impacted by the criminal justice system.

Angela Lavalee Bio

Angela Lavallee is an Indigenous woman, heart-led helper, independent mother, grandmother, Sundancer and graduate of University of Winnipeg Bachelor of Arts program majoring in Conflict Resolution and Criminal Justice. She graduated with a Master of Social Work – Indigenous Trauma and Resilience from the Factor Inwentash School of Social Work at University of Toronto. She is a woman who has overcome many forms of violence and has taken a journey that led her to healing from lived experiences. Angela is a trauma informed facilitator specializing in conflict resolution, grief and loss and trauma informed heart care. She is a registered social worker in Manitoba and Ontario. Her primary supports are for Indigenous people who seek out Indigenous ways of knowing and healing. She is the founder of her sole propriety Wasakamon Wellness Connections. Wasakamon is a plains Cree word meaning “It leads into a circle.” She incorporates the Indigenous ways of knowing and being into the heart work. Angela also supports Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited folks who are faced with experiencing gender-based violence, inequality, addictions, systematic injustices and who need a safe space to be acknowledged, loved, empowered, and valued.

Angela is an active community member currently residing in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 2015, her nine-month-old granddaughter, Zaylynn Emerald Rain entered the spirit world. Like many shared stories of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls, babies and Two-Spirited people, the loss of Zaylynn came with many forms of injustices and unanswered questions. Angela helped lead the vision of the Redress Warming Hut “Rainbow Butterfly”. All heart-led work, volunteer and education decisions made by Angela are led by her passion to help others.

Host or Publisher Aboriginal Legal Services