Lisa Charleyboy

Lisa Charleyboy is a First Nations (Tsilhqot’in) writer and social entrepreneur. She is the editor-in-chief of Urban Native Magazine, which focuses on pop culture with an Indigenous twist. She writes, and also does appearances on radio shows and T.V. interviews to promote her magazine and give her opinion on current Aboriginal issues in Canada.^[1] Charleyboy has said in interviews that she considers herself a feminist^[2] and portrays a positive representation of Aboriginal people in her magazine.

Charleyboy has written about cultural appropriation, pop culture, and politics, and has been named one of Toronto’s Top Bloggers and one of Canada’s Top Ten Fashion Bloggers. Recently, she has been named by Huffington Post as one of three Aboriginal millennials to watch, and recommended for a Toronto DiverseCity Fellowship for 2013-2014.^[3]

Early life and Education

Charleyboy moved from Abbotsford, British Columbia to Toronto to attend Ryerson University for Fashion Communication. Her love of magazines, united with her desire to become a fashion editor led her to transfer to York University for Professional Writing.^[4]

Career

In 2007 Charleyboy created a blog, Urban Native Girl, (UNG) which is all about pop-culture with an Indigenous twist^[5]

In 2013 Urban Native Magazine was created as a spin-off of Charleyboy's blog, which is a Native lifestyle magazine geared toward inspiring Indigenous youth with positive success stories.^[5] Urban Native Magazine is aimed towards Aboriginal Canadians aged from 15-35. Many different types of social media are used to create positive change about Aboriginals and breaking the stereotypes and generalizations down.^[6]

In 2014 Charleyboy released a book with author Mary Beth Leatherdadale called "Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices".^[7]

Charleyboy has also served as a board member for Association for the Native Development of Visual and Performing Arts (ANDVPA), the Young Indigenous Professionals, and is now the Director of Communications for the Aboriginal Professionals of Canada (APAC). She has also been invited to give talks at Harvard University and to Aboriginal Women Entrepreneurs, and has become a regular writer/contributor and guest in the media.^[8]

In 2015, she hosted the summer documentary and interview series New Fire for CBC Radio One.

Publications

Indigenous

• "Idle No More: Canada’s Indigenous People Are Demanding a Better Deal," The Guardian, January 2013
• "No Doubt, Exploiting ‘hot’ Native American Stereotypes is never OK", The Guardian, November 2012
• "In the Arctic, A Hunger for Ancestral Foods", Spirituality & Health, November 2012
• "The Ancient Art of Smudging", Spirituality & Health, November 2012
• "Native Fashion; The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", CBC, January 2012
• "2010 Winter Olympics token tribute and Memorial March for Indigenous Women" Georgia Straight, February 14, 2010

Fashion

• "Urban Native Girl: Huntress On The Rise", Indian Country Magazine, August 2011
• "Urban Native Girl Muks It Up", Indian Country Magazine, February 2011
• "Fall in love with the season’s top trends", MSN.ca, September 2010
• "Luggage That’s Worth Its (light) weight", Travel Goods, Fashion and Accessories, Summer 2010
• "‘Bags that Really Have It All", Travel Goods, Fashion and Accessories, Summer 2010
• "Spring Fashion Trends", MSN.ca, February 2010

Lifestyle

• "Go Green with your Beauty Routine", MSN.ca, March 2010
• "Destress Your Life", MSN.ca, January 2010
• "Original Wedding Gifts", MSN.ca, February 2010

Education and Employment

• "Behind Inclusion Works, Canada’s top Aboriginal Career Convention", Job Postings Magazine, October 2012
• "Canadian Roots Exchange Brings Aboriginal Education to Life", Job Postings Magazine, October 2012
• "Northward Bound", Job Postings Magazine, November 2010
• "Aboriginal Opportunities", Job Postings Magazine, September 2010

References