Teara Fraser could be gladly called a wonder woman entrepreneur in Canada. She is the Founder of the first-ever female-founded airline company, Iskwew airlines, which is now buzzing in and out of the Vancouver Island airport. Teara is now one of the top 25 Women of Influence in Canada. Fraser wishes to do more for the Indigenous community. She also believes that the Indigenous youth is one of the fastest-growing demographics in Canada. And with Iskwew airlines, she just took her first step towards uplifting this community in her own way.
How Did it Start?
Teara, a Canada-based single mother of two, got into a small aircraft in October 2001 and soon realized that she was meant to be a pilot. She made up her mind of flying airplanes and within a year, she became a certified commercial pilot. She would fly passengers in northern British Columbia and as a young Indigenous woman, she aimed at making it big in the male-dominated aviation industry.
She founded Iskwew (pronounced as ISS-KWAY-YO) airlines, an air charter company based out of Vancouver International Airport, it recently started its operation between Vancouver International Airport and Qualicum Beach Airport, four times a week.
Something About Teara Fraser
Teara was born in the Northwest Territories of Canada. This 49-year-old Indigenous woman entrepreneur calls herself a ‘proud Métis woman. She is a part of the Indigenous group with very distinctive customs, collective identity, and a way of life. In 2010, she started as an entrepreneur and founded an aerial survey business that allowed Fraser to combine two things that she dearly loved; aviation and the land that belonged to her ancestors. After six years, she sold that business and a kind of rebirth happened with her dream of being an Indigenous entrepreneur.
While launching her airline, she said, “We need airplanes, but we also need to be really thinking about reciprocity with the land and how we walk more gently on our Mother Earth.” And while doing so, she wishes to be part of the solution that will “honor, uplift and energizes [the] Indigenous land story, sovereignty, and stewardship”.
To know more about Iskwew airlines, visit here – https://www.iskwew.ca/
To know more about Teara Fraser, visit here – https://www.iskwew.ca/our-people
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