Lenore Three Stars (Oglala Lakota), Lead Badass Grandma

Lenore was born on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  She received her B.A. from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.  Upon retiring from a federal civil rights career in Seattle, she moved to Spokane to be an active unci (grandmother) to her two takojas (grandkids).  She earned her M.A. through the North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies from Portland Seminary of George Fox University in Oregon.

Lenore serves as a facilitator for the annual Journey to Mosaic, a faith-based racial reconciliation experience in the Pacific Northwest.  She speaks, writes, and serves with nonprofits related to her interests in the local community, Native culture, and creation care.

Edith Woodley (Eastern Shoshone Tribe), Lead Badass Grandma

Edith Woodley is a speaker/mentor on issues concerning Native American Spirituality and Creation. As a full-time mother, grandmother and farmer, she has developed a unique relationship with the land and insights concerning how to raise a family on a small farm. Edith is an Eastern Shoshone tribal member who was raised on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. She graduated from Bacone Indian College in Muskogee, Oklahoma and is co-founder of several organizations with Randy Woodley including Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds. The Woodleys served on the Greater Portland Native Climate Council and together have been involved in mentoring Indigenous leaders and others for almost three decades. Over 30 years of service to the most disenfranchised people in America has made them deeply committed to peace, eco-justice, and fighting racism.

Erna Kim Hackett, Moderator

Erna Kim Hackett is the Founder of Liberated Together. She is a preacher, trainer, writer, that is passionate about building radical solidarity between women of color and helping WOC pursue justice in sustainable and joy filled ways.

She first met Lenore when they were co-learners at NAIITS, an Indigenous Learning Community. And she connected with Edith during her many visits to Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice when it was in Newberg, OR.

She currently serves as the co-chair of the Resurrect Eloheh Campaign and member of the Eloheh Board.

Robbie Pau (Nez Perce), Guest Badass Grandma

Robbie Paul, PhD, is an enrolled Nez Perce (Ni mii puu) tribal member, who was born and raised on the Nez Perce Reservation in the small community of Craigmont, Idaho. Her father was Titus J. Paul and her mother was Maxine S. Caster Paul. Her paternal Grandfather was Jess Paul; he was a survivor of the Nez Perce War of 1877 and was one of 7 Nez Perce children sent to Carlisle Indian Boarding school in 1880 from the exile camp of the Nez Perce Camp in Oklahoma. Her grandfather Jesse Paul helped form the first Nez Perce Tribal council and government in the 1920’s. She is the mother of two grown children and the grandmother of three granddaughters. Dr. Paul attended the University of Idaho obtaining a BS in Clothing, Textiles and Design, 1972; Eastern Washington University, MS in Psychology, 1994; Gonzaga University, Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership Studies, 2007. Dr. Paul’s research for her dissertation was historical trauma and healing, which involved researching five generations of her Nez Perce family going back to 1793 to her great-great grandfather Chief Ut-Sin-Malikan.

Fern Cloud (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota), Guest Badass Grandma

Fern Cloud is an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota Oyate, Agency Village, SD on the Lake Traverse Reservation.  Fern has been the Director of Dakota Wicohan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserve Dakota as a living language and through it, transit Dakota lifeways to future generation.  Fern is also an artist with work exhibited in Minnesota Historical Society and Minnesota Children’s Museum.  Artistic native expression has been a major part of her life.

Fern has 4 children, 10 grandchildren and 1 great-granddaughter.