{"id":107166,"date":"2026-07-23T08:24:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=107166"},"modified":"2026-07-23T08:24:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:24:04","slug":"how-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/how-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kelsey Olsen Built Michif Makers Into a Home for M\u00e9tis Artists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News What began as a practical way to pay off a car loan has grown into a thriving collective where M\u00e9tis artists support one another, share their culture, and create opportunities for future generations. For M\u00e9tis artist Kelsey Olsen, the beginnings of Michif Makers were surprisingly ordinary. \u201cI started it because I have a really high loan on my car and I wanted to pay my car off early,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cThat\u2019s what started it.\u201d At the time, she was working in a position where she didn\u2019t feel her experience and knowledge were being fairly valued. \u201cI also was working a job where I wasn\u2019t necessarily being paid in the way that I felt was fair for the amount of knowledge&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F23%2Fhow-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News What began as a practical way to pay off a car loan has grown into a thriving collective where M\u00e9tis artists support one another, share their culture, and create opportunities for future generations. For M\u00e9tis artist Kelsey Olsen, the beginnings of Michif Makers were surprisingly ordinary. \u201cI started it because I have a really high loan on my car and I wanted to pay my car off early,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cThat\u2019s what started it.\u201d At the time, she was working in a position where she didn\u2019t feel her experience and knowledge were being fairly valued. \u201cI also was working a job where I wasn\u2019t necessarily being paid in the way that I felt was fair for the amount of knowledge... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F23%2Fhow-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Kelsey Olsen Built Michif Makers Into a Home for M\u00e9tis Artists - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/how-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Kelsey Olsen Built Michif Makers Into a Home for M\u00e9tis Artists - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News What began as a practical way to pay off a car loan has grown into a thriving collective where M\u00e9tis artists support one another, share their culture, and create opportunities for future generations. For M\u00e9tis artist Kelsey Olsen, the beginnings of Michif Makers were surprisingly ordinary. \u201cI started it because I have a really high loan on my car and I wanted to pay my car off early,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cThat\u2019s what started it.\u201d At the time, she was working in a position where she didn\u2019t feel her experience and knowledge were being fairly valued. \u201cI also was working a job where I wasn\u2019t necessarily being paid in the way that I felt was fair for the amount of knowledge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/how-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-23T12:24:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/23\\\/how-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/23\\\/how-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"How Kelsey Olsen Built Michif Makers Into a Home for M\u00e9tis Artists\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-23T12:24:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/23\\\/how-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1044,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/23\\\/how-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/23\\\/how-kelsey-olsen-built-michif-makers-into-a-home-for-metis-artists\\\/\",\"name\":\"How Kelsey Olsen Built Michif Makers Into a Home for M\u00e9tis Artists - 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