Alma Brooks

Alma Brooks is a Maliseet grandmother from the St. Mary’s First Nation in New Brunswick.  She was an elected Band Councillor for one term before moving on to focus on the Maliseet Grand Council and the Wabanaki Confederacy, both traditional decision-making structures. Alma has developed and facilitated many programs for her community over the years, and was acting President of the New Brunswick Native Council for 18 years.  She is currently teaching a two year University Course in the Maliseet Language.    Alma is a lifelong learner in the area of the environment – from her spiritual roots to the action on the front lines of many protests, demonstrations and campaigns.   Presently, she is also working to raise funds for the Wabanaki Environmental Defense Fund.    The Wabanaki Confederacy includes members of the Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot peoples in Atlantic Canada.  The Confederacy has invited KAIROS to accompany them in their efforts to re-establish traditional forms of Indigenous governance in their territory, while actively working with local, national, and international partners to prevent ongoing and immediate threats to local lands and waters.

Alma participated in the Honouring Indigenous women’s wisdom delegation to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in May 2014 and the KAIROS Gendered Impact: Indigenous women and resource extraction symposium and GEMM (Global Energy Minerals and Markets ) 2015 Dialogue  in Vancouver in October 2015.