Meet Melissa

Métis-Cree iskwêw, educator, and herbalist rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing.

Melissa Scott is a Métis-Cree iskwêw (woman) from amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton), with family roots in manitow sâkahikan (Lac Ste. Anne) in Treaty 6 Territory. She is a university instructor in Indigenous Studies and Women's and Gender Studies, as well as an herbalist whose work is rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing, Indigenous plant knowledge, and land-based teachings. Her herbal practice is informed by learning from Elders and Knowledge Keepers, self-study, herbal programs, and ongoing teachings from the plants themselves.

As an educator, she holds space for critical reflection and remembrance; as an herbalist, she works with plants as living teachers, approaching medicine-making as a practice of listening and connection with kin.

Grounded in her identity as an Indigenous woman and in her relationship with okâwîmâwaskiy — Mother Earth — Melissa's work is guided by a belief that healing and nourishment are acts of return. She creates herbal offerings with reverence and ceremony, each one infused with nurturing, nourishing, motherly care.

Across classrooms, community and ceremonial spaces, and her work with plants, she creates space for people to soften, reconnect with themselves, and remember their belonging to the living world.