Alvina Lake's (Eagle Woman) Bio

Alvina was born at the Wabasca/Desmarais St. Martins Hospital on October 8, 1957 in Desmarais, Alberta located in the Treaty 8 region of Northern Alberta. She is of Cree descent and is a band member of the Bigstone Cree Nation. Alvina is the oldest child of Arthur and Isabel Auger who are both deceased. Alvina has over 30 years of experience working in the field of addictions, health and wellness and sharing her indigenous knowledge with others. She started her own healing journey at 25 years of age with the guidance from traditional knowledge keepers and healers who were all following the spiritual path of wellness. Alvina has amassed an abundance of cultural and traditional knowledge and skills, gained in her 40 years of sobriety, which she shares with those struggling to overcome addictions. She has worked with and always expresses her gratitude to the elders who have guided and impacted her life in positive ways. Some of Alvina's past achievements include working at Poundmakers Lodge as an Addiction Counsellor for 17 years and also as the Aftercare Coordinator and Cultural and Event Coordinator. She then accepted a position with Nechi Institute in 2012 and worked in many different capacities for the organization including; Our Spirit Survived Project Coordinator (TRC Residential School Project); Off-Site Training Coordinator; Student Services Coordinator, Trainer and most recently as the Training Team Assistant. 

Alvina graduated from High School at Roland Michner High School in Slave Lake, Alberta in 1976 and received her formal training from Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton where she completed the first year of the Social Work program, however due to a serious accident she was unable to complete her training and moved to working at Poundmakers Lodge as one of their addiction counsellor from March 1995 to January 2012. . She continued her education at Nechi Institute where she graduated from; Community Addictions Training, Advanced Counsellor Training, Training of Trainers, Pharmacology, Our Spirit Survived and Crystal Meth Awareness Training. She then interned to become a Nechi Trainer. In addition to her formal training, 

Alvina's goal is to share her traditional and cultural knowledge with others in assisting them on how to live a good way of life on Mother Earth and to be able to return to the traditional values of life. She thrives on helping others in creating wellness for self and communities.