Artist-in-residence at the National Arts Centre of Canada says she’s been using cannabis as a creative muse for almost her whole life. “Cannabis is part of who I am and who I’ve become,” she says, adding that from her home in the Pikwakanagan community she works in the Sovereign Indigenous Cannabis Industry, one of her joys is working on a line of CBD wellness products called AKI Wellness, @aki.wellnes, the Algonquin word for land-earth.

“Cannabis helps me to balance my mental wellness, " she says. “I support recreational use, and as a pain relief to help my body recover from all that I put it through.”

Currently wrapping her film The Sickness, which she describes as: “through dance and storytelling taking the viewer on an emotional timeline of a woman's sensual existence, experiences with Misogyny, and a journey from pre-colonialism through the present day,” Josee sees her story as an evolving, powerful mix of grassroots work connecting the people back to the land through cannabis, and movement.

“The quality of life we have while spending our one lifetime is so important to me," she says. “Conversations where Indigenous culture, traditions, and wellness can intersect with cannabis, I’m here to be a strong part of the voice.”