Quelemia is a multi-disciplinary Indigenous artist from the Musqueam Nation. She is writer, actor, director, storyteller, host and dramaturge.

Though she works in various forms, much of Quelemia’s work centres Indigenous perspective, specifically her Musqueam knowledge and culture.

Over the past 20 years, she has been disseminating sχʷəy̓em̓ (Musqueam history), knowledge of placenames, land-based stories and teachings that were passed down to her from her grandfather Ed Sparrow Sr. and her grandmother Rose Sparrow.

She represented the Musqueam Nation during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics welcoming the world to Vancouver and since then has continued to do Welcomes on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh people.

She has worked across Canada as an actor, writer and director for various theatre companies including: The Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, Globe Theatre, WCT and The Stratford Festival. Some of her acting Film and T.V credits include:  Until Branches Bend, Motherland, Tribal, Clouds of Autumn, Blackstone, Cable Beach, Da Vinci’s City Hall and Da Vinci’s Inquest which she won a Leo Award for Best Female Guest Appearance.

She has been the protocol keeper and host of the Transform Cabaret since 2019 and over the years has co-hosted with various hosts such as Lisa Fa'alafi from Hot Brown Honey and the fabulous Venus, winner of Canada's Drag Race season 4.

Her writing and theatre practice is land-based and has been driven by a deep desire to reclaim Musqueam placenames, language and history.
Decolonizing her work occurred out of necessity leading her to develop her own Musqueam-based creation methodology Indigenizing the dramaturgical and devised theatre process with Musqueam culture and protocols.

Quelemia has continuously shared her knowledge on Indigenizing creative processes and has been a tireless advocate for bringing decolonization practices to the Canadian Theatre ecology and arts sector. She also works as a consultant within various sectors guiding the creation of policies rooted in reconciliation and decolonization. And offers a deeper understanding of culture and protocols.
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With her own Musqueam-based creation methodology she has written and created: ‘Almost Real’ Necessary Tomorrows/Al Jazeera, ‘Salmon Girl’/RavenSpirit Dance, Co-writer ‘The Pipeline Project’ /Itsazoo and Savage Society, A podplay ‘Ashes on the Water’/Neworld/Raven Spirit Dance, Indigenous consultant and Indigenous content writer for ‘Lysistrata’/Bard on the Beach, Skyborn: A Land Reclamation Odyssey/SavageSociety.

Most recently Quelemia has been exploring decolonial narratives and the intersection of Indigenous culture and technologies. She has been examining the political implications of AI in Canadian artistic and theatrical practices. Currently she is completing an Arts-Laws fellowship focusing on data sovereignty, cultural intellectual property and AI's role in Indigenous storytelling.

Upcoming projects: 'Tumulx' a commission with Neworld Theatre and a completed fellowship at UBC, ‘Women of Papiyek’ (Working Title) Full Circle/Animikiig Native Earth which will be produced by Bard on the Beach.

Listen to her narrative podcast episode called 'Almost Real' by Necessary Tomorrows on Spotify that she wrote and directed. You can also listen to an interview with CBC Unreserved about her narrative podcast ‘Almost Real’. 

Highlights for Quelemia so far this year: giving a Keynote on Indigenous Futurism at the PuSh performing arts festival.