Cheyenne MacDonald is the Agriculture Cooperative Development Coordinator with Mi’kmawey Forestry at The Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq. She is a member of Sipekne’katik First Nation and was born and raised near Waqmiak (Elmsdale) where she grew up as an only child filling her time by playing with the glatpedaq (catfish) and sqoljig (frogs) from the river along her property and exploring the nature around her home.
After earning her Esthetics diploma in 2010, she started learning more about holistic medicine which motivated her to begin her first step in aromatherapy education from Casaroma Wellness Centre in Dartmouth, N.S. This is also where her passion was realized to learn more about the traditional medicines passed down from her ancestors. Cheyenne then went on to earn her Bachelor of Science (Agri.) in Plant Science from Dalhousie Agricultural Campus in Truro during 2019 where she showed special interest in ethnobotany, particularly aromatic plants, and botanical medicines. During this time, she was a returning guest speaker for the Seedy Saturday event held in Truro where she held talks on Healing with Traditional Plants and she helped to coordinate multiple Mi’kmaq led events such as the Awtiget Youth Science Camp 2019, Mi’kmaq history month events and the Apuknajit Winter Feast event. Also, during the entirety of her degree up to now, Cheyenne has worked with Indigenous peoples around the world working with the Agricultural Transformation Through Stronger Vocational Education (ATTSVE) project in Ethiopia, sitting on the Ocean Obs’ Indigenous delegation in Hawaii which included 52 members from across Canada and the US and travelling to work with the Canadian Roots Exchange. She is happy to be working at CMM getting the opportunity to now work with other L’nu in her home, Mi’kma’ki.
Outside her role at CMM Cheyenne fills her time taking medicine and herb walks with her mentors, visiting her beehive and in the past has volunteered with Canada’s national parks where she has worked with the endangered Blanding’s turtle and the Bring Back our Boreal project and the Hope for Wildlife Organization – spending most of her time dedicated to environmental sustainability and being guided by the principle of Netukulimk.