Jeannette Armstrong

Who is Jeannette Armstrong?

Jeannette Armstrong is a Canadian author, educator, artist, and activist. She was born and grew up on the Penticton Indian reserve in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. Armstrong has lived on the Penticton Indian Reserve for most of her life and has raised her two children there.

Armstrong’s 1985 work Slash is considered the first novel by a First Nations woman in Canada. Armstrong is the grandniece of Mourning Dove, who is regarded as one of the earliest Native American women novelists in the United States for her 1927 work Cogewea, the Half-Blood.

Armstrong is best known for her involvement with the En’owkin Centre and writing. She has written about topics such as creativity, education, ecology, and Indigenous rights.