VANESSA BROUSSEAU - Resilient Inuk

Vanessa Brousseau is an Inuk woman whose family is registered with and claimed by the
community of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut. Although her roots are in the North, Vanessa was born and
raised in Ontario, a reality shaped by the experiences of earlier generations in her family.

Vanessa’s grandfather was taken from his home by the Canadian government and transported by
ship to London, Ontario, where he was placed in a tuberculosis sanatorium for more than seven
years. After that time, he was transferred to Moose Factory Hospital, where he rebuilt his life and
worked for more than 30 years as an X-ray technician.

Moose Factory is also where Vanessa’s mother was born and raised, growing up between
cultures and being raised by a Cree woman and her Inuk father.

These histories are not distant stories from the past. They remain part of Vanessa’s family’s
living memory and shaped the path that led to her being born and raised in Ontario rather than in
her home community of Sanikiluaq.

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Understanding this history is one of the reasons Vanessa speaks about the colonial systems that
separated Inuit families from their land and from one another. Her presentations explore histories
such as tuberculosis sanatoriums, Indian hospitals, forced relocations, and policies like the E-
number system, where Inuit names were replaced with identification numbers.

Vanessa’s advocacy is also deeply personal in another way. Her sister, Pamela Holopainen, has
been missing since December 14, 2003. Her disappearance changed Vanessa’s life and connected
her directly to the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in Canada.
For families like Vanessa’s, this is not an issue that exists only in headlines or reports. It is
something they live with every day. Through her work, Vanessa shares the reality of what
families experience when someone they love goes missing and why awareness and
accountability are essential if real change is going to happen.

Vanessa also speaks about medical racism, an issue that affected her own family when her
mother died at the age of 45. That experience revealed how systemic racism can influence the
care Indigenous people receive and how these inequities continue to affect Indigenous patients
today.

In addition to her advocacy work, Vanessa is the founder of Resilient Inuk Creations, where she
creates Indigenous artwork and leads workshops that combine storytelling, cultural teachings,
and hands-on learning. She is also the author of three books: Becoming Resilient Inuk, Because
We Care, and the MMIP Allyship Workbook, which help audiences better understand Indigenous
realities and the importance of allyship.

Together with her husband Derek, Vanessa also leads Rolling Resilience, an awareness initiative
where they travel across Canada in their motorhome delivering presentations, workshops, and
community gatherings focused on awareness, healing, and education.

Whether speaking to youth, educators, healthcare professionals, or community members,
Vanessa’s goal remains the same: to create space for truth, reflection, and understanding.
She believes that when people truly listen to the stories of Indigenous peoples — the history, the
pain, the resilience, and the strength — it creates the possibility for meaningful change. That is
the work Vanessa has committed her life to.