Darrel J McLeod is Nehiyaw (Cree) from Northern Canada, Treaty 8. His first memoir Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age won the 2018 Governor General’s prize for non-fiction and was shortlisted for many other prestigious prizes, as was its sequel, Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity. Darrel’s first novel, A Season in Chezgh’un was published in September 2023. McLeod has been a French immersion teacher, School Principal, Director of a curriculum center, Executive Director of Education and International Affairs at the Assembly of First Nations, and Chief Negotiator for the Government of Canada.