Quelemia is a multi-disciplinary Indigenous artist from theMusqueam Nation. She is writer, actor, director, storyteller, host anddramaturge.

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 herfrom her grandfather Ed Sparrow Sr. and her grandmother Rose Sparrow.

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

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

She has been the protocol keeper and host of the Transform Cabaret since 2019and over the years has co-hosted with various hosts such as Lisa Fa'alafi fromHot 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 deepdesire to reclaim Musqueam placenames, language and history. Decolonizing her work occurred out of necessity leading her to develop her ownMusqueam-based creation methodology Indigenizing the dramaturgical and devisedtheatre process with Musqueam culture and protocols.

Quelemia has continuously shared her knowledge onIndigenizing creative processes and has been a tireless advocate for bringingdecolonization practices to the Canadian Theatre ecology and arts sector. Shealso works as a consultant within various sectors guiding the creation ofpolicies rooted in reconciliation and decolonization. And offers a deeperunderstanding of culture and protocols.

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 ‘Asheson the Water’/Neworld/Raven Spirit Dance, Indigenous consultant and Indigenouscontent writer for ‘Lysistrata’/Bard on the Beach, Skyborn: A Land ReclamationOdyssey/SavageSociety.

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

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

Listen to her narrative podcast episode called 'Almost Real' by NecessaryTomorrows on Spotify that she wrote and directed. You can also listen to aninterview with CBC Unreserved about her narrative podcast ‘Almost Real’. 
Highlights for Quelemia so far this year: giving a Keynote on IndigenousFuturism at the PuSh performing arts festival.

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