In this exclusive interview with Indigenous-SME, Shani Gwin, Founder and CEO of Pipikwan Pêhtâkwan and wâsikan kisewâtisiwin, shares how her Indigenous-owned, led, and majority-staffed communications and engagement agency is elevating Indigenous voices and stories across Turtle Island. From advocating for story sovereignty to guiding organizations through decolonization, reconciliation, and trauma-informed communications, Shani’s work is reshaping how narratives are told and understood. With over 15 years of experience and a deep commitment to uplifting Indigenous women, youth, and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, she is building long-term capacity and fostering authentic partnerships that honor Indigenous truths for generations to come.
Shani Gwin is the Founder and CEO of pipikwan pêhtâkwan and wâsikan kisewâtisiwin. Shani is a proud, sixth generation Métis and a descendant of Michel First Nation. She has a passion for elevating Indigenous voices, truths and successes.
pipikwan pêhtâkwan is uniquely positioned as a public relations agency that is Indigenous-owned, led, and majority-staffed. What motivated you to start this agency, and how did your personal and cultural journey shape its mission?
Growing up as a white passing Indigenous person, I think folks felt they could express their thoughts or biases about Indigenous Peoples and cultures to me, not knowing that I was Metis. I grew up surrounded by urban Indigenous community members, attending ceremony and both of my parents who were proud of our heritage – so these comments did not make sense to me. As a child, I wasn’t sure how to respond to these situations, but as I grew older, I was able to advocate better and started to see opportunities to change the narrative. pipikwan pêhtâkwan was founded with that at the core – to address the misrepresentation and lack of control Indigenous Peoples have over their truths and stories in the media and amongst the general public. Growing up, I experienced firsthand how stories were used to maintain power and control in the Western world, which is different from the Indigenous tradition where storytelling is one of the main ways of passing on knowledge and culture – it’s about sharing and ensuring sustainability for future generations.
When I started my career, most teams I worked with were not diverse, and so my perspectives were very different from other members of the team because of my lived experience and teachings. I could see there was a need to bring in more people of colour to the public relations field because we were only serving a white audience with a lot of our content, strategies and language.
My journey and the reality that public relations firms are usually quite expensive – I could see the impact it was having over Indigenous communities. Specifically with government and industry – they would have the ability to access these firms and control the narrative early on and then later we would see Indigenous communities trying to get their message out. However, many Canadians are not aware of the true history – so it’s a steep hill to climb to start at the same place government and industry are in influencing the masses. I was motivated to create an accessible agency that ensures Indigenous Peoples can share their truths and stories as equals while bringing a much-needed lens to the public relations/communications industries.
A core part of pipikwan pêhtâkwan’s values lies in empowering Indigenous communities to tell their own stories on their own terms. Can you talk about the importance of story sovereignty and how your firm supports this through client partnerships?
We are coming in as helpers and partners, and while we advise on how to be more strategic or impactful, our Indigenous clients have the final say in their narratives, truths and stories, even if it goes against traditional public relations/communications best practices.
We practice visiting to build relationships, which also ensures their voices are heard and it’s authentic – we do not speak for Indigenous Peoples. Our agency supports this by building strong relationships with clients and providing them the opportunity to validating their own stories, including the difficult or sad parts. We also celebrate together – we ensure that Indigenous joy is centered in our work, relationships and day to day.
This approach ensures that Indigenous knowledge is credited and not appropriated, highlighting the need for context and understanding of vulnerable communities. It’s an integral part of the work, as many of us have not been given the opportunity to share our truths without shame or being told it’s wrong. Many of our truths and the history of Canada has been reshaped and retold through the colonial lens without our input. It’s not an honest narrative and it harms our Peoples.
You’ve made it a priority to invest in Indigenous and BIPOC youth, aiming to build long-term capacity within communities. How do you envision this investment shaping the Indigenous communications space over the next decade?
Investing in youth who are not white will build long-term capacity within vulberable and underrepresented communities while also diversifying the communications field. This involves training people already in communities, changing hiring practices to prioritize people who are often overlooked and bringing diverse perspectives to the table, which ultimately benefits all projects.
Lack of diverse perspectives can lead to significant failures because we are not able to sufficiently consider all members of our audience.
We also have new, fresh ideas and perspectives at the table. I often tell all people on my team to not think of communicating with each other in a hierarchy – to reach out when you have a thought or idea, feedback for anyone on the team. We benefit from collaborating this way and encouraging direct, clear and kind communication between all levels of our organization. It’s not easy, but we work on it together every day – building our relationships and visiting helps this blossom.
Building with “seven generations in mind” is a powerful guiding principle. How do you incorporate this long-term, generational thinking into your daily operations, team culture, and client work?
In a colonized environment, there’s an impulsive need to do things quickly. Time is your enemy in a many ways to compete with the fast pace of society and deadlines. With seven generations thinking, it allows you to slow down. You’re not only considering the impact of your decisions for seven generations in the future, you’re looking back and understanding how you are accountable to the seven generations before us for the decisions you make. They were thinking of us so often when they moved forward – we owe it to them to consider our own legacy and impact.
We are focused on long-term impact when advising clients, taking on the projects we do and our business decisions. This principle is embedded in our values, ensuring space for sharing and accountability is reflected in our client selection, particularly requiring Indigenous partnership or majority ownership for resource extraction projects. We believe this ensures a sustainability lens in several ways. Economic sovereignty for those communities and people, and sustainability of the land, waters, and health of our people. We know it is more likely those projects will have a seven generations principle at the core when Indigenous Peoples are involved.
Finally, what advice would you offer to aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs who are looking to create businesses that not only succeed but also serve and uplift their communities?
I would encourage aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs to build a strong, trustworthy support circle and embrace the entrepreneurial journey. Believe in yourself, your mission and your team.
It is also important to understand personal boundaries and embrace both the pain and joy of being an entrepreneur. Growth comes from learning through difficulties and mistakes. This ongoing process requires a persistent belief in one’s capability, even when there’s doubt, to ensure the business not only succeeds but also uplifts communities. You’ve got this, just know when it gets tough – Creator and your ancestors still want you to succeed. They do want you to break the patterns and choose love and acceptance for self to continue on to the next step. When you do that, it invites more success, love and opportunity into your life, and those look different for each individual. Have fun!
