Treaty Teachings & A Smudge
Open to All Races & Ethnic Backgrounds

Jody Kechego is a Medicine Person from the Chippewa and Oneida Nations. A strong advocate for Indigenous culture and connection to the land, he has been conducting and participating in traditional ceremonies for over 30 years. Kechego is also a recognized thought-leader and advocate for Native sovereignty. From 2009 to 2015 Kechego was a senior policy analyst and political advisor to two Grand Chiefs and forty-five Native communities in Ontario, Canada.

During his tenure as a senior policy analyst, Kechego sat on national technical committees and treaty rights-based negotiating tables. He also helped coordinate movements such as “Idle No More”, and Native tax exemption protests. Prior to that, Kechego was a treaty researcher in land claims for nineteen years where he helped initiate and negotiate three separate land claim settlement agreements.

As a researcher/writer, he is accredited by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation for his work on The Healing Has Begun: a report on government expenditures on residential schools from 1877-1965. A published author (and an aspiring author for middle-grade fictional chapter books), Kechego currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. He continues supporting the cultural revitalization of Indigenous ways through treaty teachings and ancient ceremonies.

“Spirit is not bound to treaty agreements, but treaties are bound to spirit.”